I’m looking after a friends 18 month old Doberman for a week and he keeps biting or trying to (not proper bites but they still hurt) me and my wife for no reason!
Is this an attempt to show whose in charge or because he is not liking his change of enviroment?
I would ask our friends but don’t really want to bother them while away.
We are not dog owners but are not scared or intimidated by them either.

Sounds like he’s missing his folks.
Ask the owners. It’s their dog and it may be a problem they have solved with a toy bunny or suchlike.
It’s good you aren’t intimidated. If he meant you harm you’d be shitting yourself!

Its perhaps something they let him get away with, without realising he’ll then do it to everybody who looks after him. I’d ask about it because at least then they’ll know he’ll do it in any situation and they may try to curb the behaviour.

Quite a difficult one when the dog isn’t your own… check out some google links on play biting, might get some ideas off there.
I know what I did with my own dog, but I’m not sure it’d be suitable in this case.

Bite his ear hard enough to make him yelp. Sounds cruel but it works.

Bite his ear hard enough to make him yelp. Sounds cruel but it works.

Don’t do this, it’ll be carnage!

Sounds like he’s missing his folks.

This has crossed my mind. However we do spend quite a bit of time with him.
I will speak to them when they come home, hes a lovely dog and is not aggressive to other people or dogs!

It’s good you aren’t intimidated. If he meant you harm you’d be shitting yourself!

i should be, I teased one for years on my paper round and then it got me !!!!

Bite his ear hard enough to make him yelp. Sounds cruel but it works.

Don’t do this, it’ll be carnage!
would you like me to video it 😉

Is he focusing and play biting on your hand’s? If so with some adolescent dogs it’s because they have been trained using treats and they get boisterous trying to tell you they want something!

I’ve found with our weimaraner if you make a high pitched yelp/ouch they stop, something to do with how they find their play limits as pups, ours is 4 years old nearly and this still works if she’s getting giddy. I know others use distractions ie a toy/ball/getting the dog to fetch you something and then praise the fetch rather than telling it off for the bad behaviour.

I have a Doberman so can probably help.

first, you need to understand the breed a little. They are very affectionate and bond very strongly with their owners. They are not aggressive by nature but do have some natural guard instinct. Very alert and VERY intelligent and gentle.

This makes them **** hard work. Not just because of the breed but becuase of others Disney perception of them so you have to be mindful of that when meeting other **** with poorly trained mutts.

You need to speak to the owner but my guess without seeing it is that it’s attention, play driven. I would suggest trying the following options:
1. divert the mouth from the human to a toy and play and reward
2. Yelp and turn your back arms folded
3. Be consistent

I doubt its dominance – at 18months he’s barely getting his first pubes adolescent wise. Reward good behaviour, exercise and stimulate mentally.

Whatever you do, do not hit or get angry. Ignore the bad reward the good. Make sure you have treats on you. Biting a dog that size is a stupid suggestion, please don’t do it.

I can’t offer more than that without knowing what the base dog is like in its own environment. We’ve invested heavily in ours in terms of socialising and training. He’s the same age and awesome 🙂

There’s nothing more irritating than a Dobe in need of stimulation. They like to be with you and in the thick of it with the family.

Where are you based?

Edit – I cannot stress enough to divert to desirable behaviour and reward with lots of positivity and praise. Be kind. Be consistent. You should get the benefit quickly.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m a huge fan of the breed 😉

Puppies learn not to play bite when the other puppies yell or shriek when nipped. Just yowl when it bites, he should get the message. If not a blast of water from a super soaker!

OP – pls do not blast the dog with a soaker. Do not bite the dog. Definitely (before someone else suggests it), don’t hit the dog.

Yelp and substitute human for toy. The dog doesnt want to hurt you, he wants to play/attention.

You do not want a powerful strange dog to associate you/people with something unpleasant.

Thanks for the advice, esp Captain slow.
I will try the yelping and yes he has been trained with treats.
As you say they are very intelligent.

Don’t worry I won’t squirt him or hit him and definately won’t be biting him ha ha ha..

I am near Halifax but his owners will be back Thursday 🙁

Groovy. Try and have fun – like kids the more you put in, the more you get back 🙂

So just to be clear. There is going to be no video of the OP trying to bite a doberman? 🙁

*puts down popcorn*

It seems harder than bringing up kids 8)

Def no video, I will try and post one of him running around our garden with my shoe though!

I will try and post one of him running around our garden with my shoe though!

That will be acceptable.

*picks up popcorn*

There is going to be no video of the OP trying to bite a doberman?

Almost as disappointing as when someone on bikeguide said that they would video themselves fighting a wild bear if they got enough ‘likes’.

Not sure if this will work
https://www.facebook.com/spencers.trousers/videos/1072332272853899/
It was a brush not my shoe, don’t worry I took it off him straight after!

“Content not available”

Ill try again

Cool. Have to keep it on a loop to enjoy your popcorn bongo!

Interesting post Captain Slow – needed someone with proper knowledge of the breed to help.
Was wondering – do you play fight with your Doberman?

We see a bloke wrestling his juvenile Doberman around the block here every day..

It would be funny but when it was a bit younger it had a good go at a little terrier type thing and bit the smaller dogs owner

It now wears a muzzle and has some sort of weird leash but the thing still drags him around bouncing and leaping all over the place.. The guy also has a tiny dog now too, but seeing him pushing his twins in the pushchair, with tiny dog trotting along and the Doberman just frolicking about like a spring lamb is pretty comical

Had a couple of dobies over the years, super intelligent and loyal, my second favourite breed.
If the dog has been trained with food/treats then they will bite/nip, even gently to get what they want. Sternly tell them they are bad for doing this and reward good behaviour with a good dog and a hug.
Also they need LOADS of stimulation or they get bored and then destructive/aggressive.
If it is just for a couple of weeks while your mate is away, probably best to ask him upon his return rather than trying to ‘correct’ owt!

We see a bloke wrestling his juvenile Doberman around the block here every day..

It would be funny but when it was a bit younger it had a good go at a little terrier type thing and bit the smaller dogs owner

Are these 2 things related? Idon’tfinkso

uwotmate?

😆

Dez – we play and we do play games where his teeth will be on me but were not play fighting as such and I’m very careful about what is acceptable. I’ve got young kids and am conscious that I don’t want him thinking it’s acceptable. Usually what I will do is substitute human for toy.

That’s just my approach to it, I’m no expert. He’s well socialised and trained well – an absolute joy to walk.

Cattle prod to the balls.

Now try and bite you little fecker.

And that’s why I bought 2 Bichons. Lick the burglars and good with kids.

Dobes are fantastic with kids and people. People you meet out, people who enter your home through the front door.

Probably not so good with people climbing through the window uninvited but that’s thankfully untested 🙂

Cattle prod to the balls.

They are already gone, poor lad 🙁
And would never do that anyway!

Captainslow is correct, he is great with any new dogs we have met and is really gentle with my neighbours child, who is the same age but a lot lot smaller 😉
(he is held on a secure lead while she strokes him before I get flamed)

I tried the ball/ arm exchange then reward thing this morning and it sort of worked but i’m not trying to correct him, hes not my dog at the end of the day, but will speak to my friends when the get back and see if he does it to them

Dog’s being pack animals and it’s merely trying to demonstrate it’s position in your family, which is above you. Next time it does it grab it by the mouth and push it’s head down to the ground whilst looking directly at it and hold it there for a while. It will soon get the message. This is what we were told with our GSD’s and it works a treat, seems harsh but no harm is done.
18 month old dogs chew like hell so watch your furniture.

HAve you read the rest of the thread Craigxxl? You may be right as a long term training aid, this is a similar approach I took with my dog, but, as I said in my first post, it may not be right in this scenario or with this breed.

I don’t see it as breed specific but just another dog characteristic. As I said our dog (and owner) trainer showed us this technique. She was a short, skinny old woman easily in her 70’s and the first our dog (nearly 50kg) nipped at her as she tried to demonstrate something with him she used this technique. He tried it a few times during the class and each time she did the same to him and praised him after when he stopped struggling. By the end of the class he was subservient to her.
When we got home I had my wife do the same with him as he nip at her feet and chew her shoes and it stopped him doing it much to her relief.