DobeMom

I'm look through all of your games and I also have several of the Ottosson puzzles. They can solve those in under 5 minutes. He had a snuffle mat but he learned to pick it up and shake it. He tried to eat his lick mat so I save it for bath time. I love the treasure hunt game. I do train them to sit for the baby gate. I walk up and put my hand on it but don't open until both are sitting. They only knock it down if they are each on an opposite side and trying to play over the gate. Thanks for all your advice! I feel like I'm doing a lot that is right already and don't feel as bad crating and separating them. I feel like you know them now...here is a picture when they are good puppies.

Thank you for all of the input. Some are new ideas and some I'm already doing. Unfortunately her ears are taped 24/7 for 3-5 days at a time, down for less than an hour and posted right away. This is due to her having a lazy ear that doesn't stand at all when it isn't taped. She could potentially need to be taped for another year (although I'm hoping that won't be the case). I have sprayed her ears with bitter apple and tried bitter vet wrap but he didn't mind it. I've recently switched to a zip tie method which is flatter and doesn't cover the outside of the ear and he is leaving that alone a lot better. 1. I have already been working on a time out during play. I yell time out and they come and sit and get a cookie. That is going well and can break a situation where I feel he is being overbearing. 2. I do need to find either a mat or maybe an area where they can be tethered in the same room to learn to lay down without constant play so I can get some rest and TV time. I'm not very good at teaching lay down and stay over there. I can get lay down and stay while I watch but lay down and don't get up for 20 minutes is beyond my training. 3. I am already doing clicker training with both, hadn't considered doing that during a rare quiet time. Will try it. 4. Crate time...how much time is too much time? They are both crated all night in my room from 10pm-7am. They are crated if I leave the house (no more than 2-3 hours). I feel like adding to it just for separation/quiet time would be a lot of crate time. Of course I'm used to 3 or 4 dogs that were never crated because they were old and well behaved so crate time makes me feel bad. 5. I do plan on training them together once the girl gets better. I've been working with Fenwick since he was a baby but just with Riversong for a couple months. It really makes me see how much progress I made with him. 6. I do have 2 tall baby gates, one to keep them out of the rest of the house and one between my office and the dog room. If they can see each other they stand and play over the gate, eventually knocking it down. I can have one crated and one loose in the room but otherwise he is trying to play with her. Sometimes I can give him a sucky blanket and he'll leave her alone for an hour. Thanks for all the info. I do need to go back to training Fen to leave it. We were working on training a lot and then got the sister and stopped the sessions. When it is cooler and less smokey out I also want to go back to some of the things I did with him before she came. I believe a tired dog is a good dog. We had frequent trips to Home Depot (especially the bathroom with the scary blow dryers), the mall that allowed dogs and I did some urban mushing with him (training him to pull me on a scooter). I think I need to focus on tiring them out individually and supervising the playtime for now. I've looked at all of the sessions...if you have any other games or training let me know.

Their ears were cropped when they were 8 weeks old, completely healed at this point. There is a cotton ball on the bottom of the post and he pulls on the post to nibble on the cotton ball as well as just grabbing her by the ear post and pulling her. He licks her ears but doesn't bite them when they are not taped. I added her when they were 8 months so she has only been here 3 months. They played great for 3 weeks after she arrived and then he got a serious head bump (possibly from playing hard on the patio) to the point we had to have it drained and separate them for 3 weeks. When he got better they played for a week and then she went into heat and they were separated for 4 more weeks (except for short supervised play once a day). Now that he is better and she is not in heat I've put x-pens around the covered patio so they have to play on the grass/dirt. She jumps the x-pen to get in the patio. Last night she did it while he was inside crated so it may not be totaled related to him. As soon as I let her in she went straight to my BF (who usually sits on the patio) who apparently has been giving her people food. I'll pay more attention to when/why she is jumping and try to find a way to dog proof that area (the BF smokes out there and leaves stuff laying around) and make sure he isn't rewarding this behavior. She doesn't jump over when he is sitting out there. At this point I think it would be most helpful to know if there is a way to teach him to play nicer. I am going through your training for both of them separately. I work from home and she is in my office 60% of the time while he is outside or in the "dog room". She is very quiet while I'm working and he isn't so she gets more office time. Adjacent to the office is a bedroom that has a doggy door that is 100% dog proof. When I'm not on a conference call they have full run of the yard, the dog room and my office. They only go in the rest of the house with supervision because they get into too much stuff.

I got a Doberman puppy in December as an only dog (the last of my other 4 passed away a few months earlier). He is high energy and only wants to play. He got a lot of time outs at doggy day care because he was a bully and wouldn't leave other dogs alone.They wanted $40 to train him in addition to the fees for day care and it was too costly so we stopped going. In June I had the opportunity to get his sister which I did. They play great together most of the time and take turns being the aggressor. There is a doggy door so most of the time they have the choice of being inside or out. They are currently 11 months old and are both intact. Both sleep in crates at night but prefer to be outside their crates. Problems: 1. Both have cropped, taped ears. He won't leave hers alone and will grab her ears like they are a toy. She whines but he doesn't let up. Her ears need to be taped for a few more months. 2. She likes to play but is ok not playing, mostly she just wants to be with me. She can hop over a 3 foot x-pen (he can't). She seems to get tired of his attention and will hop over the x-pen that prevents them from entering a covered patio (I don't want them wrestling on the cement). The only other time she jumps over the open is if the doggy door is closed and she can't get in the house. Questions: 1. How do I get her to stop jumping over the x-pen barrier? If I am correct that this is her "safe" spot is there a way to teach her to come inside and somehow (not sure what) setup another safe area for her? I've been removing her from the patio and giving her a time out in her crate figuring if she wants to get away from him that will be a safe option. 2. Other than crating him I haven't found a way to calm him down. I've taught them to come to me and sit for a cookie when I yell "time out" and that works well. Any other ideas to get him to leave her alone? He is bold and confident, she is quiet and sensitive. I live on a busy street and am worried if I don't let her jump INTO the patio area she may decide to try to go over the fence outside of the yard. I have a system of rotating throughout the day with one free and one in a crate but my goal is to have them both out of their crates, both calm at the same time and both tired from playing with each other all day. I will be delighted if I can get them both to sit with me while I watch TV. Thanks!