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E-mail received at dog fun on 31/01/01.

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Hello I have a Doberman pincher, ( He is 5 months old), I have been reading allot of books which describe the dog in different ways. In the dog encyclopaedias the Doberman is not included in the guard dogs section whilst I know the dog is used by the police as an attack and guard dog. Other books state that Dobermans must socialise form a young age otherwise they became vicious to man and other dogs. How can I enhance the dogs protective/guard nature, without making him vicious for no reason? He always wants to be were I am for example when I sit on the couch he wants to come on and he sleeps on my shoulder or my legs.
Should I let him sleep on the couch with me, will this distort the behaviour of the dog? ( even when I sit on a chair he wants to come and sleep on my legs) I leave the room for a while and he cries out for me, I have never seen something like that and I had two Labradors.
Thanks

Jade's reply.

Dear Vrahnos,
Thank you for your e-mail about your Doberman. Firstly I would say that you will not need to enhance your Dobermans protective or guarding nature he will have had it born in him! The breed was created to be personal companions and guards but with the emphasis on the companion. He is already displaying the companion side of his nature and the rest will come. The reason that you have read about them being used by the police is because they are very intelligent and, although headstrong, quite trainable. The problem with training a dog to be a guard is that
you have no room for error and it will be very difficult for the dog to remain just a pet. If your dog doesn't sit when you tell it too then it is just annoying, but what if the commands were of a different nature?

You should decide what you want from your dog and don't expect too much from him at 5 months as he is still just a child and will become considerably more serious with time. I would suggest that if he is to be a family pet and house guard you will not need to give him special training. The fact that he obviously loves you, and wants to be near you all the time, should mean that were you to be under threat he would protect you as you are clearly a very important part of his pack.

Socialising your dog, as you say, is very important as this will make him more confident and as his confidence grows he will be more able to deal with any situation that might arise. I would never recommend encouraging any form of protecting or guarding as if a trained professional does not help with this you could quite easily confuse your dog. You might find that he will end up protecting not just you but his favourite toys from you, his food whilst he is eating etc. I would recommend one thing, if you want him to guard your entire house he must have access to your entire house. He will only guard what he feels to be his own territory, he does not know that you own the house in fact he will think that it is his house. If for example he is not allowed upstairs he will not feel that it is his problem if someone not familiar to him enters this area. But should that person come down the stairs watch out! I would recommend being as caring and close to your Doberman as you can, make him confident and not paranoid and you will find that he should never let you down!

If you are considering having him trained for any other purpose, to be a working dog for example you should definitely only work with reputable dog trainers qualified to help in this area. He will be what you make him and I would suggest that a fearless family pet would be the best option.

All the best, Jade the Doberman

As with the rest of Dog Fun we are only offering advice, we have learned a lot through our own experience and would like to further that knowledge with your help. If you have any good tips or advice that would help dog owners drop us a line to jade@dogfun.co.uk and we will display your advice and give you credit for your help!