Attention Doberman Pros!
Hi, we have a 3 year old neutered male Doberman Pincher. A beautiful dog, loving, proud and just a joy. We also have 3 year old spayed female Chihuahua and they are getting along fine. How ever he has pined her on her back on several occasions over the years but has never hurt her. Our Dobe has a good life, has been socialized and taken care of very except exercise was not enough but this is currently changing he is getting a run twice a day min 30min each. Now to the bad stuff our Dobe bit my husband and drew blood on his hand 2 days ago. He has NEVER bitten any person or animal ever however he did snarl and show teeth at us on occasion such as petting when he sleeps, or touching his feet or chest over the past couple of years not daily but it did happen a couple of times. My husband was leaning over him (big mistake) and checked on his feet because he was licking them and then he felt his chest to check his heart beat while the Dobe was on his bed. This made me nervous because his bed is sort of in a corner and we both know he doesn't liked to be messed wih when he is on his bed because it happend before when he jumped up ans snarled and showed teeth but like I said this doesn;t happen often so and my husband was towering over him meaning no harm just checking on him and then all hell broke loose. The Dobe jumped up and bit my husband to the point where it punctured the skin and drew blood. It took the Dobe a while to snap out of it and my husband told him to back off and he (Dobe) finaley left the room. Now my husband is afraid of him which I can understand after he was bitten and he is in shock that this happened he loves this dog more then anything. The bite was bad but he didn't go to the hospital because he could fix it at home. Anybody out there who has worked with a Doberman or owns Dobermans? and got bitten before if so how did you deal with it and did you ever trust him again? Please keep in mind we are responsible owners,we have never mistreated our dogs in any shape or form but we have made some mistakes by letting him get away with some things such as demanding pets from us and begging for food from the table and we gave in. We are re-training by making clear who the pack leaders are, with exercise, limitation and positive reinforcement. I am sure it was all our fault not the dogs, but the problem is my husband he loves him but his is now thinking negative about him. Please do not answer to my questions if you never owned a Doberman and don't understand the breed. I just want to know from people that understand the breed and love the breed and what they personally did to trust the dog again.
We are currently searching for a professional dog behaviorist to help us out as well as getting him a medical check up. Sorry for the long message but I am not sleeping well over this and I want to keep my family happy and safe.

Thank You,
Julia

Sorry this happened, sounds like you weren't totally surprised though, that you knew there might be situations that might trigger him. I've never had my own dog bite me, but I can only imagine how upsetting it would be. Sounds like you are asking advice on how to regain trust, and there probably is no easy answer. Working with the dog, understanding what happened and why are all good places to start though. You said you are seeking professional help, I think that is an excellent idea and probably the best thing you can do.
Hope it all works out for you.

HI Dan,

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I guess I was wondering how to start to regain the trust or just talk to someone and that actually understands the breed, believe some of the advice people give to others on the Internet it is absurd and out right disturbing. We are working with him daily he has to work for everything. He is a good dog I am sure we will overcome this it just takes a time but we understand what happened and why it happened. How many Dobies do you have? Did they ever challenge you? Such as snarl and show teeth?

Have a wonderful Day.

Thanks,
Julia

I just have one (almost) 4 year old male. Twice as a puppy he tested his boundary by growling at us, both time as we attempted to move him, once with me once with my wife. Luckily he was a puppy which made it easier to deal with.

It's either a relationship with your dog issue or a temperament issue or both. It requires observation by someone knowledgeable about dog training and temperament. What you describe does suggest that your dog is posessive of his bed and feels that he can assert his position when he is on it. There seems to have been some kind of mutual loss of trust since he is defending himself when he is on his bed. If the dog isn't temperamentally unstable, you will probably have to rebuild the relationship through training and I think it will take some time. If I had a situation like the one you are describing, I would go back to crating the dog when he is resting and avoid situations that could cause repeats of the bite incident. I would not allow him to "own" any furniture or place. I would not try and dominate this dog when training, I would change the whole dynamic and make him work for rewards (food and play). It's not just about obedience, it's about how the dog sees you as the owner. You have your work cut out since this dog has somehow gotten an upper hand.

Good luck, keep us updated.