How to Leash Train a Doberman Puppy

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How to Leash Train a Doberman Puppy

Medium

2-14 Weeks

General

Introduction

The Doberman is a stunning, aristocratic-looking dog who, though often appearing intimidating to those who don't know her, is a loveable ham with her family. Your Doberman is probably full of energy, loves play, and is already showing the breed's tendency to look to their human frequently and to engage them fully. The Doberman is clever and sensitive, prone to seeming to try to figure things out as much as participate.

The breed was developed by a tax collector to protect himself on his rounds, and this makes the Doberman one of the few dogs actually bred to accompany a person on walks. This gives you a definite advantage in training your Doberman puppy to walk well on a leash, but keep in mind that this is an active, energetic dog that will need to be well exercised if she is expected to walk gently with you on-leash.

Defining Tasks

Teaching your Doberman puppy to walk nicely on a leash will rely on tapping into her innate tendency to stay beside you. It is essential that you begin on-leash socialization early so that your Doberman puppy will not develop a reactivity to people or other dogs while on a leash. This is very important for all guarding breeds, but especially so for the Doberman, who was bred to protect her owner on walks.

To encourage walking nicely and to make walks a pleasant experience for your puppy, have her favorite treats and toys available. Use your particular Doberman puppy's personality to determine what sorts of rewards she will like best, but bring a variety in case this active dog loses interest in one or another. Determine early on what distance you would like your Doberman to walk at. Dobermans are very good heeling dogs, and if you would like a conformation heel, you can work with your puppy towards that, so long as she has plenty of off-leash exercise as well. If you would rather give your dog room to lope beside you on a flexilead, ensure that she is quick on a recall in case she should get too far from you. You don't want to have to reel in your Doberman puppy on a flexilead.

Getting Started

Your Doberman puppy should not have too much exercise until her developing body and growing bones are able to sustain the impact. Take it slow with your Doberman puppy until she is able to keep up with you. With that said, it is also essential that as much of the puppy crazy is out of your Doberman as possible before you work with her in leash training. Play with your Doberman at home to get the edge of her energy off before starting your walk. Even if you do this, you may find it useful to do some of the training at a bit of a jog, so that your puppy can conceptualize the idea of staying near you without coming up against the leash just because she wants to go faster. Make sure that at no time is your puppy running for longer than a few minutes on-leash, even if she clearly wants to go, so as not to stress her growing bones. Dobermans have a delicate long neck that can be injured by neck leads, so it is best to use a harness with your puppy. If your puppy is an especially enthusiastic puller, a gentle leader can be used, but this should not be necessary for most dogs.

The Click and Treat Method

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Step

Click means treat

Teach your Doberman puppy that a click means a treat is coming by clicking and treating as soon as she looks at you.

Step

Click to stay close

Start walking, holding the leash loosely. Click and treat periodically, to reward your Doberman's attention and walking beside you.

Step

Extend time between treats

Go longer without giving treats, so that your puppy begins to sniff around and act normally. As soon as she begins to take up slack on the leash, click and reward her for her attention.

Step

Change direction, go backwards

Test your Doberman's 'heel' and make it a game by turning suddenly, going backwards, etc. Click and reward steadily for attention.

Step

Click and treat for impulse control

Begin going without treats until you see your dog get distracted or start to wander and then come back towards you on her own. Reward for this so that she will think to keep track of you on her own.

The Pull, Relax, Treat Method

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Step

Hold the leash

Hold the leash firmly at a set length; generally about five feet from you is good.

Step

Pull, pull back

When your Doberman puts pressure on the leash, pull back, gently but firmly enough that she will look at you.

Step

Treat the relaxation

As soon as your puppy relaxes the pressure on the leash, reward her.

Step

Pull, pull back, reward

Keep walking, pulling back and rewarding the relaxation whenever your Doberman pulls.

Step

Reward for anticipating

Reward your puppy for stopping her pull before you pull back. Keep practicing until your dog self-corrects her pull every time.

The Tie to You Method

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Step

Tie your puppy to you

Tie your puppy to you at about five feet, using a leash with some elasticity so as to reduce abrupt pressure.

Step

Walk and change direction.

Walk along, and as soon as your puppy puts pressure on the leash, change direction.

Step

Reward attention

As soon as your Doberman looks at you to see where you are going, reward her.

Step

Walk, pull, change direction, reward

Keep walking, changing direction whenever your doberman pulls and rewarding whenever she looks at you.

Step

Reward attention before pull

Begin rewarding only your doberman's attention before she puts pressure on the leash. Soon you won't need to change direction often to reinforce that your doberman should watch you and not pull.

Written by Coral Drake

Published: 02/01/2018, edited: 01/08/2021

Success Stories and Training Questions

Training Questions and Answers

Question

Grabba

Doberman Pinscher

8 Weeks

0 found helpful

Question

0 found helpful

Grabba

Doberman Pinscher

8 Weeks

How can i stop my little dobie from nipping and biting me. He’s getting stronger and stronger.

11 months ago

Grabba's Owner

Caitlin Crittenden

Dog Trainer

778 Dog owners recommended

Hello Raymund, First, check out the article linked below. Starting today, use the "Yelp" method. Use the "Yelp" method so that pup is still getting some type of feedback from you. At the same time however, begin teaching "Leave It" from the "Leave It" method from the article I have linked below. As soon as pup is good at the Leave It game, start telling pup to "Leave It" when he attempts to bite or is tempted to bite. Reward pup if he makes a good choice. If he disobeys your leave it command, use the Pressure method found in the article below also, to gently discipline pup for biting when you told her not to. Know that it takes a puppy a lot of practice to develop impulse control in general though - it's normal for progress to be very gradual with this, keep practicing and it should pay off! The order of all of this is very important - the yelp method can be used for the next couple of weeks while pup is learning leave it, but leave it will teach pup to stop the biting entirely. The pressure method teaches pup that you mean what you say without being overly harsh - but because you have taught pup to leave it first, pup clearly understands that you are not just roughhousing, so it is more effective. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite When pup gets especially wound up, he probably needs a nap too. At this age puppies will sometimes get really hyper when they are overtired or haven't had any mental stimulation through something like training. When you spot that and think pup could be tired, place pup in their crate or an exercise pen with a food stuffed durable chew toy like a Kong for a bit to help him calm down and rest. Also, know that mouthiness at this age is completely normal. It's not fun but it is normal for it to take some time for a puppy to learn self-control well enough to stop. Try not to get discouraged if you don't see instant progress, any progress and moving in the right direction in this area is good, so keep at it. Another good thing to do at this age that can help is to get pup used to being touched and handled calmly. Use pup's daily meal kibble to practice with. Gently touch pup somewhere like an ear and feed a treat at the same time. Practice this with ears, paws, the collar, opening mouth gently, belly, tail, ect...Rewarding with a treat each time and being very gentle. You can have other gentle people do the same thing with pup to help with pup's socialization also. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

11 months ago

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