I'm a first time pet owner, who is strongly considering getting a doberman. I've always loved them! I understand that puppies are all usually highly active. But how about adult Dobies? What is their typical energy level and how can I train one to be mellow and laid back instead of jumpy and hyper?
I'm not a first time pet owner (i've had many cats) I'm a first time dog owner.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Cut his balls off.
drug him up and cut his balls off!
Give him five valium with a big glass of wine. That’ll do it.
If you adopt an adult Dobe from a rescue you will know what you are getting upfront. Check http://www.petfinder.com and type in your breed and zip code. Write to some Dobe rescues with your questions. A good rescue will match the adopter to a dog that fits their lifestyle.
Usually all you would have to do is either spay or neuter him/her. But you can also take him/her to a trainer
That is the natural personality of the breed. If you want a mellow dog, get one from a breed with a mellow personality, like a labrador retriever or some other type of hunting dog. Getting a dobie and expecting it to change it’s personality to suit you is unreasonable. That is how so many dogs wind up in shelters and euthanized.
If you insist on getting one anyway, get it spayed or neutered and be prepared to take him on a long walk every day. Long walks really help to control the dog.
ALL pups are “active”!!
ALL pups need TRAINING & DISCIPLINE & MATURITY!
All puppies are extremely active. Some dogs stay like this their whole life. But it really comes down to the owner. To mellow out a dog, start by getting them as a puppy. Start training very early on; feed them a healthy diet (lay off on table scraps and potato chips like some people feed their dogs); finally: exercise exercise them. They need their walks/runs/play time/attention multiple times per day. Set boundaries so that your dog doesn’t have free reign of the house, but still is able to say its his/her house. All puppies are hyper, but not all dogs have to be a nervous mess when they grow up
Good luck on your dog search!!! The most important thing is to love your dog 
The key is adequate exercise. If you have a large yard it is easy. Get a ball and play fetch and let them run around for at least15-20 minutes every day. If you don’t have a yard, you need to vigorously walk them, which is also good exercise for you. Dobermans are not house dogs, they like to have something to do, so if you can’t give them a lot of room and time for play and activity, get a little dog that can just run around inside.
A high energy dog needs lots of exercise. I have a German
shepherd and I exercise/train him for over 2 hours a day.
(1 hour per session). After our exercise sessions he is so
mellow and happy. If I didn’t exercise him like this he would be
jumping off the walls. I don’t crate him, so he has free run of the house. He has plenty of chew toys and the only thing he
has chewed up was the cover of one of my dog training books.
You dont really have to take him out running all the time, you
can find games to play with him that will wear him out. Take
a piece of rope about 7 foot long and spin it in a circle or run
with it…..it is good exercise for the both of you. I started doing
things like this and just gave up my tredmill.
Hope this helps a bit, but its either exercise or drugs to keep
him calm.
I guess you have made the decision to become a dog owner and that’s great. You will need to do a lot of research as doberman’s are beautiful dogs but how puppies turn out has a lot to do with the owner so your personality and how you train it will results in a well developed dog both physically and mentally.
Have you taken into consideration all the costs of owning a dog? It takes a lot of money, time and endless energy to care for a puppy or dog as they are dependant on you for everything and you can’t have a day off when you don’t take them out or feed them. Good luck with your quest. Cathy
well if u adopt then they will tell u wht ur going into when u adopt the dog here are some breed facts
http://www.puppyfind.com/breed/?breed_id=47&back=%2Fsearch%2F%3Fsubmit%3D1%26str%3Ddoberman%26page%3D1
http://www.akc.org/breeds/doberman_pinscher/
~ Until a Dobe is around 18 months old it is verly likely to be anything but mellow and laid back ~
The Dobermann is not a breed for the weak willed or faint hearted person, but it is because they are such an intelligent breed that they do not suffer fools gladly. They need to respect their owners, and if they suspect the slightest weakening or indecision in their owners, they cannot respect them and problems will occur.
The Dobermann who is respected as a valued member of the pack, and who is able to respect his owner, is a wonderful asset to the pack, and will look after the family with their life. They will naturally start to guard from around 6 months – don’t worry if your Dobe doesn’t guard at this age, it will come in time. It is also important to maintain control over their natural ability to guard, to prevent it becoming a possible problem as with any unruly behaviour.
The Dobermann may sometimes be perceived as being unfriendly to strangers, however, it is important to remember that they are a guarding breed and are not meant to rush up to strangers and be over-affectionate. They prefer to take time to get to know people, so there is no point in pushing friendship upon them.
The Dobermann is an incredibly loyal, faithful and devoted dog, valued for it’s physical and mental ability. The Dobermann needs mental stimulation as much as physical exercise. They thrive on being worked and mentally stimulated, and will not be satisfied being house-bound 23 hours a day with one hours run around the park.
Despite their tough exterior, they are actually a very sensitive breed, and being over harsh or shouting too loudly will never be forgiven. You do need to let your Dobe know his or her place in the pack, and that is at the bottom of it! If it seems mean to say that, most Dobes will try to take advantage given the slightest opportunity or weakness in their owners. Dogs are happy when they know their place, and they must not be allowed to be higher up the dominance scale than your family.
Because Dobermanns are such an intelligent breed and very much have a mind of their own, they are not a breed for a novice handler. Some people believe that they need to be hard with their Dobe in order to gain the upper hand. However, hard handling can make for a shy, cautious animal which is as much of a danger as an over-confident dog. As with all dogs, a combination of love and discipline is important, and there is a very fine line between being too hard and too soft. It is finding the right balance that determines how successful you would be in owning this breed.
The Dobermann will play by the rules, as long as they know the rules. They cannot take their rightful place in your family home if it is not made clear what their place is. This breed will naturally try and assert their dominance over the rest of the pack – you and your family – and unless you have the strength (of character, not purely physical), to control them, this is not a breed for you. You must be of a secure confident personality to own a Dobe; if you are in any way unsure of how to control or train your Dobe, they will sense it and start to treat you with contempt.
This breed love to work, they need mental as well as physical exercise, so if you want a breed to walk around the park for an hour after work, get another breed! When they are fully grown, Dobes require a minimum of 1½ hours hard walking/ free running each day, every day. If you don’t think you could manage to exercise your dog this much, get a cat
There are two types of training, positive (reward based) and negative (punitive). Dobe are very easy to train, are incredibly quick learners,and because they are usually very focused on their owners, they want to please. For the owner whose dog pays them no attention, training is useful to encourage the dog to concentrate on them. Dobes thrive on being kept mentally alert, so a good training club (not just one that teaches your dog to heel and sit at the roadside) should be able to help with exercises to keep your dog alert and focused on you.
Due to some bad press and poor public opinion this breed has had, it is now more than ever vital that you train your Dobermann. The breed is headstrong, and as above, needs firm (not hard) control.
It is vital to be consistent with the training of your young and adult Dobe and you must ensure that your family trains the dog the way you do.
~ As mentioned above, Dobes are not generally for the first time dog owner, I would advise you to speak to someone at your local Dobermann club and visit some breeders to see if this really is a suitable breed for you now ~
I’m not sure a dobie is a really good first dog but it is doable if you’re a strong leader. Dobies act like puppies long after they actually they are. Mine chewed up 27 pair of shoes. She would also dig holes so deep that she could sit in them and only her head was visible. My second dobie chewed our wedding album, baseboards and anything else he could find. These were both before kenneling dogs when you go away was so popular. (We also learned to close our closet door.)
On the other side of this debate is how they are when they’ve grown up. Awesome! My female would go from window to window when I would say “watch em”. But on Halloween when the kids came up to get candy, the parents would stand back when we opened the door and the kids would say, “don’t be scared. It’s just Tasha.” She loved kids. My male wasn’t as protective but his energy level was higher. He would stand in the middle of my son and husband when they played ball and go back and forth trying to catch the ball until he would almost keel over from exhaustion.
If you are looking for a good pet for a first time dog owner, consider a greyhound. They are already mellow and most are already housebroken. I have two and I also foster. If you have a fenced in yard, you’re set. If not, they require a 20 min. walk a day for exercise and then a few potty breaks. They are beautiful and thin like the dobie but layed back like you’re looking for. I have included a webpage for you to look at adoptable greyhounds. Click on “Adoption”, at the top of the page and then “Current Adoptables” below. The one I am fostering right now is Go Peanut Go and you can read her blog. We all have blogs on our fosters so you can get a sense of their personalities. No matter where you live, there should be a greyhound rescue pretty close. We happen to be just north of Atlanta.
Good luck. I love both types of dogs.
Please reconsider. Dobermans are a fabulous breed, but not for a first-time owner. Besides being high energy, they are also highly intelligent & willful and will rule the roost unless you are a strong, fair, consistent, experienced leader who can provide the physical AND mental exercise the breed demands. You cannot “train one to be mellow”…the energy level (and intelligence) is simply part of the breed and should be honored as such with obedience and daily physical/mental challenges beyond just a walk around the block. A restless, bored dobie will find his own means of entertainment, whether it’s chewing up the sofa, barking at every leaf that goes by, trying to intimidate anybody/everybody within sight, etc.
I have owned Dobes for almost 20 years. I work with a rescue and train dogs as well.
Dobes can make wonderful dogs in the right homes.
If you are planning on a walk or two a day with a Dobe this is not going to work out well. You will have a frustrated destructive and very hyper dog.
They need lots of exercise and by that I mean running full out and they do best when they can chase attack and play very hard and rough with another dog. A pair of Dobes is best as they have the same play attitude.
My house tends to look like a dog fight but it is just the Dobes playing chase and kill. They have a blast and no one ever has blood but it sure looks like they could.
Dobes require training and lots of it. It must be firm and consistent. You must be fair and pick out hte rules then stick to them always.
Dobes are not a good first time owner dog. Even if you have had dogs before Dobes are a huge commitment.
You should talk to a rescue group and go and meet some of the dogs they have. They can give you ideas about the breeds general stuff.
Some dogs are more laid back than others. I had a female who was WILD until she was about 7 or 8. She was well behaved and socialized but at home given any opportunity she would run all over and attack the others dogs to getthem to chase her. She caught rabbits and squirrels and was just a wild child.
No dog is ‘hyper’ – they are untrained and unless you are adept at training I wouldn’t suggest you get a Doberman puppy as a first time dog owner (no, cat ownership doesn’t count). Any dog can be ‘jumpy and hyper’ if it isn’t properly trained – maybe contact a legitimate rescue organization and see about getting an adult Doberman that can help train you about owning dogs. Realize please that just because some person wants a dog that doesn’t mean they are suitable for dog ownership. Go to some shows and trials and meet up with some decent breeders and examples of whatever breed you are considering and learn about them and see if you are right for them and they for you before deciding if you need to be getting a dog.
add: I have owned and successfully trained Dobermans for over five decades and hardly ever took one for a ‘walk’ as even five walks a day are not what a dog or a Doberman needs. It will wear you out but it sure won’t bother a dog and it isn’t mentally stimulating at all. You need to be able to train and interact with your dog (of any breed) – and that would mean finding someone who can help teach you to train that has actually been successful in it and not just ‘playing one on the internet’
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