JoeyLarson
06-29-2006, 12:23 PM
Okay, this is probably going to be long winded, so I apologize in advance.
I have a year and a half old neutered male Doberman who I’m having a rather annoying/scary problem with. He is extremely territorial. No one is allowed in my apartment but my mother and my best friend (he adores them both and showers them with love and kisses). Anyone else is lunged at and nosed (this weird thing where he’s not biting but just shoves his snout into the person’s leg, reminding them that this is his space and that they should vacate). :eek: This has only started to develop over the last 5 or so months. Before that, he was okay with other people. He has acts like other people don’t exist. At the dog park he plays happily with the other dogs, but ignores their owners, unless they have something he wants (toy, food, etc) in which case he gives the item (not the owner) his full attention (sitting nicely). Same goes for walks or in any other public place, he just ignores people. Another problem that he has as far as being territorial is his tendency to lunge at people when they are within a certain distance of my apartment (on the stairs leading to it and the grounds around within a close proximity). I try to put a good bit of distance between us and the people before the problem occurs, but it doesn’t always work. Since I can usually see him tense up before he lunges, I place a death grip on the leash and restrain him. Fortunately, he’s never actually got someone, but it does scare the crap out of people. Once we are outside of the area (even if it is only by like a foot), he is back to ignoring them.
I have had him since he was 8 weeks old and spent countless hours socializing him. For the first couple of months, he was always with me, even at work where many strangers were interacting with him. He was never overly enthusiastic about people, but he was never aggressive either. I use to have friends over, and he would interact with them by playing fetch; but now he doesn’t want them in his house. If I take the same person to a neutral territory, he will play. I met both his mother and his father, and the father possessed the same aloofness that he does (the ignoring of anyone who isn’t “family”). From birth to 8 weeks, he was around other dogs and children as well as people. To my knowledge, he has never been mistreated.
The only change that may have something to do with this (that I can think of anyway) is that I recently moved (2 months ago) from a house on 1 acre to an apartment. However, the problem started back when I was still living at the house.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Any thoughts, ideas, and/or advice would be appreciated. I’m working on getting a professional to come check him out, but it will be a bit before that happens. Anything I can do in the meantime? :confused: (Right now I crate him if I have company, and as I mentioned earlier, I avoid people while outside in his territory). Thanks so much. :)
I have a year and a half old neutered male Doberman who I’m having a rather annoying/scary problem with. He is extremely territorial. No one is allowed in my apartment but my mother and my best friend (he adores them both and showers them with love and kisses). Anyone else is lunged at and nosed (this weird thing where he’s not biting but just shoves his snout into the person’s leg, reminding them that this is his space and that they should vacate). :eek: This has only started to develop over the last 5 or so months. Before that, he was okay with other people. He has acts like other people don’t exist. At the dog park he plays happily with the other dogs, but ignores their owners, unless they have something he wants (toy, food, etc) in which case he gives the item (not the owner) his full attention (sitting nicely). Same goes for walks or in any other public place, he just ignores people. Another problem that he has as far as being territorial is his tendency to lunge at people when they are within a certain distance of my apartment (on the stairs leading to it and the grounds around within a close proximity). I try to put a good bit of distance between us and the people before the problem occurs, but it doesn’t always work. Since I can usually see him tense up before he lunges, I place a death grip on the leash and restrain him. Fortunately, he’s never actually got someone, but it does scare the crap out of people. Once we are outside of the area (even if it is only by like a foot), he is back to ignoring them.
I have had him since he was 8 weeks old and spent countless hours socializing him. For the first couple of months, he was always with me, even at work where many strangers were interacting with him. He was never overly enthusiastic about people, but he was never aggressive either. I use to have friends over, and he would interact with them by playing fetch; but now he doesn’t want them in his house. If I take the same person to a neutral territory, he will play. I met both his mother and his father, and the father possessed the same aloofness that he does (the ignoring of anyone who isn’t “family”). From birth to 8 weeks, he was around other dogs and children as well as people. To my knowledge, he has never been mistreated.
The only change that may have something to do with this (that I can think of anyway) is that I recently moved (2 months ago) from a house on 1 acre to an apartment. However, the problem started back when I was still living at the house.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Any thoughts, ideas, and/or advice would be appreciated. I’m working on getting a professional to come check him out, but it will be a bit before that happens. Anything I can do in the meantime? :confused: (Right now I crate him if I have company, and as I mentioned earlier, I avoid people while outside in his territory). Thanks so much. :)