New Doberman Puppy! + Puppy Q's

[Redyre Rotties]

I strongly urge you to visit YouTube and go find Kikopup's channel. You will get SO many wonderful ideas about how to shape your puppy's behavior from her.

You can also do a search on BITE INHIBITION. This is how you want to deal with your puppy's mouthing.

 

[PoultryPower]

I would watch that tail!
I know someone who adopted a rottweiler mix from a bad past.
When I first saw the dog I immediately knew that someone had tried to dock the tail with a object of some sort (years of watching animal cops as a kid has paid off ).
At first the dog was fine, no problem with the tail except it looked funny.
One year later the dog got a terrible infection in its tail, almost died, and had to have the whole tail removed.
When they cut the dog's tail open, sure enough, they found some sort of round object that someone tied to the dog's tail to cheaply dock it, when the tail fell off the object did not and the skin grew over it.
This dog came from a high end, no kill shelter and they didn't even catch the issue.

 

[Duffysma]

Congratulations on your new family member - she is lovely! Great advice here and it seems as you are getting her off to a great start! A puppy's brain at her age is like a sponge, it is never too early to start her training. It is important that she learns to accept any kind of 'handling' she may need - she should allow you to pick up her paws, touch her ears, etc. Especially important is that you should be able to take something out of her mouth. You can easily make this 'training' part of playtime! Have fun with her and take lots of photos of her - you will never regret it!

 

[Oregon Blues]

Anytime she starts pawing for attention, have her "sit" using the lure to teach her. THEN pet her once she is sitting. If she gets up and rowdy, stop the petting and have her "sit" again, luring her into position if necessary. It won't take her long to figure out the proper way to seek attention.
Also, if you get her used to always sitting to greet people, you will never have a problem with her jumping up when people come in the door!

This works well, but if you do it, you MUST notice when she sits for attention and reward her by giving attention. If she comes and sits and nobody notices her, she will soon be trying something else to get attention. "Attention" doesn't have to be playing or petting every time. you can speak to her, or give her ears a quick fondle if you are busy and it is not a good time. But focus on her as a reward even if it is very brief.