How to Leash Train a Doberman Puppy

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.

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.

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.