Thanks Karen.

I've been taking her to a qualified obedience trainer since she was able to go out. (She was able to safely walk on the ground on a Monday, and the classes are on Thursdays.)

She's fine at the classes, and loves playing with her "Best Fur-friend", who is a large Mastiff mix. Bee* is friendly, but barks excessively for play, hence why she's at the class. My pooch hasn't yet barked at her in play, but, at the start of the classes, she did nip at her tail if we were walking behind. That was, erm, "nipped in the bud" and now she's cool with walking behind any dogs or person in the class.

I'm not sure if the fact Bee* barks during play has anything to do with the way my pup greets other dogs. It doesn't seem like it. But it could be. A tiny bit. Maybe.

My girl also goes on a walk every Saturday with a friend, our other dogs, and her Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Very obedient, well mannered, friendly, quiet...the list goes on!) so she does have a lot of play with other dogs that have a naturally good personality. We also walk five days a week with a little Jack Russell who shows slightly nervous and very submissive behaviour to other dogs, but greets them nicely, plays, and loves people.

I've been given some great advice by other "Doberman people" and was told that it's "normal Doberman behaviour" but I don't remember our other girl acting like this at any age. Seeing as I've never experienced this with the three other Dobes we've owned, I'm taking the advice I've been given, which was to use a long line, stay calm around other dogs and people, brush up on training and do more 'strict' training session.

My pooch is most motivated by her ball, so I take that out with me, as well as a "bumbag" (think America calls it a "Fannypack" ) stocked with: treats, a clicker (yet to be used for her), spare lead, more yummy treats, a 'lure treat', and a small rattle bottle, which I'm hesitant to use. Do I really want her to associate dogs with loud/scary noises? Naw...I'll need to get more opinions on that and learn when to actually 'zap' it. My trainer loosely suggested it, but wrinkled her nose at it, saying that dogs will react differently, and it's not the best idea unless you know what you're doing.

I want to mention that she was 'attacked' by a Black Labrador before. We were in the OB class, and I was talking to the owner of the Lab, who was described as "boisterous and just wanting to play" (WRONG!) and my girl was lying down next to me, as she was pretty pooped after class. The Lab was sitting under a table near the owner, and he crept forward so slowly, we didn't really notice. We noticed he was closer when we saw the really intense stare he gave my pooch. She looked away and tried moving away slightly, but the dog lunged forward and nipped at her. She backed away slowly and calmly, which was good. The trainer stepped in and got between the Lab and my girl, but they weren't allowed to greet each other again. Fine by me! No physical damage was done to either dog, but it did cause a bit of a 'mental problem' for mine.

That was the first Black dog she's seen, aside from her siblings, and now she's very weary of Black dogs. I allowed her to greet a neighbours calm Black Labs, and she growled and backed away. I stayed up there with her for a few more minutes, with her in the Sit, Wait position. I didn't let the dogs get too close, because mine didn't relax at all. You could see the whites of her eyes and she was really rigid, glancing between the dog and the house. So, after about five minutes, I took her in.

She's still pretty weary of black dogs. We're working on it slowly, by putting her back on the lead around black dogs and asking if they an say hello calmly. I have her in the Sit, Wait, and give her a treat every 20-50 seconds when we're greeting Black or Dark grey dogs, and, if the owner's fine with it, I give the other dog a few, as well. I treat them both at the same time if possible. I never give her toys when other dogs are around. She had a tiny problem with 'property aggression' as a very young puppy, but that was only once. I'm keeping her out of possible-problems' way, every way I can. There's really no need for her to have a toy when there are other dogs close by. I'm not going to cause problems by giving her one.

I usually do a quick up and down the lane trip prior to heading to any public parks or woodland area's with her. It gives her a warm-up focus heeling exercise, as well as a little less energy, but not so much that she refuses to do anything. I'll make sure to give her a quick run up the field, where she can go off lead safely, before taking her on her 'social walks' into town every Saturday.

Considering she's only six months old, and has only been walking for about two months, she's doing really well. She can go off lead reliably, but, as she barks and charges other dogs now-a-days, I keep her on the long line (training purposes), she greets MOST people nicely...Though, today, we were walking back from the local shop, and some guy really scared her (and me!) by 'jumping' out from behind a bush. She barked and pulled into the road, which was pretty worrying, but I can completely understand why she was shocked. Neither of us were expecting it. I'm just glad no cars were coming. It wasn't just herself she dragged into the road!

She's only been able to go for proper walks since mid-February (14th), if it makes much of a difference to further posters.