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    When training a Doberman please remember they are very intelligent.  By the time you teach them one thing correct, they have learned several things wrong.  Most training problems are due to human error not dog error.  In training you need to be consistent in the way you train and the more often you train the better.  (This doesn't mean to train the dog hours on end.)  Several sessions per day would be wonderful, but most people now days do not have time for this.  If possible aim for two times a day at least, the amount of time depends on your dogs age, a puppy does not have the attention span that a 3 year old has, a 10 year old does not always have the stamina that a younger dog has.  Please pay attention to your dogs attention span when training, so you can judge the timing.

    In training their is several commands that I feel is important.  First is the command come or here,  this way if your dog does get away you can call him back.  Second the sit or sitz command if your dog is sitting it is not getting into mischief.  Third is the heel or fuss.  I don't know about you but I hate to see a dog walking his owner especially if the dog weighs over 60 lbs.  Fourth is the down or platz, with this they can go lay down while you can do things or when you have company instead of your dog jumping up on your guest, you can put them in down and not have to lock them in a cage or put them outside.

    BEFORE YOU START TRAINING PLEASE REMEMBER ONLY TELL THE DOG ONCE.   If you tell the dog more than once it will remember this.  

        ITEMS NEEDED:

        4 and 6 foot leash

        choker collar

        prong collar opt.

        treats

        lots of praise

        30-50' leash                        picture of correct choker                     picture of correct prong

                                                                Please look closely to the placement and directions.

                                           TEACHING SIT

     When teaching your puppy to sit say your puppy's name and "sit" and hold your hand above the puppy's head with a treat or a reward.  It's best to start with them at your left side because proper placement is at the left side with their shoulder in line with your knee. When you say "sit" move your hand slightly behind the puppy's head, you can have a treat in that hand to help get their attention. The puppy will raise its head to watch your hand and his rear end will lower. When the puppy's rear begins to go down, say "good sit" get very excited like he just conquered the world.  Repeat 3 or 4 times or less if the pup loses interest. 

    When teaching a older dog to sit the only difference is that the dog is larger and may need a little more encouragement to put his rear on the ground. The principle is the same however. If the head goes up, the rear goes down. Depending on your dog, the puppy method may work. If he won't focus on you, find something that will get his attention such as a treat, a ball, a stick or etc., so he is looking up at you. Say the dog's name and "sit" and pull up on the leash and push down on the rump with your other hand. As he starts to sit, say "good sit." Don't pet him until he sits all the way with his rear firmly on the ground. Then pet him briefly and remain still for a few seconds. Then say "okay" or "free" to release him from the sit. Teaching your dog when to stop sitting is almost as important as the sit itself. Gradually make the sits longer, try 30seconds up to a minute until the dog really gets that sitting means "sit until I say it's okay not to anymore." Taking this few minutes a day to teach your dog this one simple command can completely change your relationship with your dog and save you a lot of heartache and frustration in the long run.

                                        TEACHING COME

    When teaching your dog or puppy to come always start on leash.  This is where the 30-50' leash comes in handy.  You can start by always calling your to come when it's feeding time.  In teaching your dog to come always make it pleasant.  Call their name in a happy tone and say come.  Ex: Fido come Fido come!  If they don't start to come right away start to pull them in by the leash.  When they get to you tell them what a good dog they are and that was a good come.  Then give them a treat, a ball, anything that they enjoy.  Do this several times, but make sure you don't over do it and keep it fun.  No dog is going to willingly run to any human if the dog has had a bad experience once he got there. When training the dog, remember the old marketing axiom WIIFM, which stands for "what's in it for me?" Just as a person buying needs a good reason to part with his money, your dog needs a good reason to come to you when you call him.  The worst thing you can do is to call a dog to you and punish it. If the dog has done something wrong, you must go over to the dog to reprimand it. If you don't take that extra effort, you will never have a dog that comes when you call.

 

                                         TEACHING DOWN

    Some dogs will learn this very easy and some will be more stubborn with the down.  Start with your dog in the sitting position.  Get his attention with a treat or something that he likes.  Put your hand with the item in front of the dog start to lower you hand to the ground as you tell Fido down.  If this doesn't work put Fido in sit and you can lower him to the ground by pulling on the leash towards the ground  ( you can also use your foot to hold him in a down position by placing your foot on the leash close to the dogs neck, but don't choke him.)  Do not let him up right away make sure he is fully in the down position.  Start by having him down for 40 sec then say "ok good Fido good down"  As Fido starts to progress make the time longer and start to move away from him.  I always start to walk away placing my right foot first.  The reason for this is you always work the dog on your left side and when you go to walk away with the left foot it is beside him and he most of the time will start to move as well.  When starting to move away if you dog gets up or starts to move to much ALWAYS start back at the beginning, you may need to decrease the time some and then start to work back up.  Remember no two dogs learn a like.

                                        TEACHING HEEL

    You'll have a lot more fun and freedom when you can walk with your dog not your dog walking you.  For this exercise you will need a choker or prong collar for the older dog, for a puppy you will need either a nylon or leather collar.  Always start out with "Fido heel" and as you are walking tell Fido good heel.  When you stop very quickly help Fido to sit at your left side with his shoulder beside your knee, as you do this tell him sit.  With puppy's you can lure them to walk with you by bending over and offering them food to get them to follow or a lot of times they will follow you for the attention.   Start out by having Fido on your left side in a sit and tell Fido to heel, start out with your left foot.  As you walk tell Fido good heel!!  Be happy in praising your dog, when walking talk to them you want them to look up at you when heeling so try to keep their attention.  With an older dog they may want to pull ahead or drag behind, this is where a choke or prong collar come in handy.  If this sounds like your dog place one of the collars on him and place him in the correct starting position.  Tell Fido to heel and start to walk.  Every time that Fido starts to pull or drag, have a tight grip on the leash and make you a VERY sudden u turn.  A few times of doing this and most dogs will soon learn to pay attention to you.  HINT: give the dog enough leash so you are not straining yourself trying to hold them back this only causes them to pull harder.  When teaching heel I use a 6 foot leash so when the dog wants to pull there is enough room for me to turn and it give the dog a nice firm correction.

    Always use the same command and never say it more than once. Practice is the key.