I was called out to a home due to a female Dobermann barking accessively when the owner wasn't home. Also the dog was continually doing frantic and intense laps of the back yard, and bashing up against a fence consistently when it heard people or a dog on the other side, even while the owner was home.

The owner of the dog first called a dog training company (franchise) out.. He was informed by this company that the dog was being overly dominant and dominating him, he therefore needed to put some training into the dog. One Vet actually told the owner to find a new home for the dog where  people were home home 24/7...  A member of the RSPCA had told him, that if that Dobermann had have been brought to them, it would have been put to sleep!

After this intial consultation with the company and advice from his Vet, he called me out.. After spending some time observing the Dobermann, and discussing the history of the dog with the current owner, I came to the conclusion that the Dobermann was in a state of extreme anxiety, and this had nothing to do with dominance! This dog was continually stressing itself, due to a  relationship with its previous owners. No amount of training was going to relieve this dogs extreme anxiety and stress. I could not understand how the other company came to the conclusion that the dogs abnormal behaviour was dominance related...

I normally do not sugest putting a dog on medication. If however I feel the dog is overly stressed and axious, then to help the dog deal with the behaviour modification advice, and not become more stressed during this period, then in my opnion it is warranted. I suggested that for at least 2 months this dog be placed on calming medication, such as Clomicalm, and crating the dog for periods of time when the owner wasn't home. I also discussed with the owner about not reinforcing the anxiety in the dog for any reason. To read her body language and only reward calm submissive state of mind. I set rules and boundaries for this dog that the owner should maintain consistently. Also whenever the dog began to show any sign of anxiety, to crate the dog until it calmed down. As the dogs current behaviour was reinforcing this anxiety and stress.

Four weeks later I returned to see how the Dobermann was doing. The owner explained to me he couldn't believe the change in the dog... No more excessive barking, anxiety or stress. The dog was a lot calmer. The dog didn't even bash up against a particular fence when she heard noises behind it. He had been following my instructions. Put the dog on a course of Clomicalm, and purchased a crate. I too noticed a big change in the Dobermanns behaviour, and body language since my initial visit. I have suggested that the owner continue with the Clomicalm for another 4 weeks minimum, and possibly for 2 more months, and continue with the crating, and the behaviour modification techniques I had advised. We would then gradually take the dog off the Clomicalm once we had removed the responses to all the triggers that were creating the anxiety and stress in the dog. I will admit, I am not 100% certain how the dog will react once taken off the Clomicalm. However I do believe that if we can work on the trigger responses correctly, the dog should vastly improve.

I am at a loss as to how this company (a franchise) came to the conclusion that this dogs behaviour was dominance related and therefore offering totally the wrong diagnosis, and behaviour modification techniques. The advice offered by this company would not have controlled or modified this dogs behaviour, and even possibly over time made the stress and anxiety worse. This poor female Dobermann displayed the most extreme anxiety in a dog I had seen in a long time, and was obviously overly stressed. I understand that at times a dog could be misdiagnosed, however this dogs behaviour and state of mind was quite obvious.