Do children and Doberman dogs mix well? You'd be surprised at how gentle these so-called vicious dog breed can be. Granted, Doberman dogs, whether from the US or Australia, are fierce and a bit terrifying to look at. However, if you think about it, much of the Dobermann dog hype comes from movies where these dogs are used to scare off people, usually intruders.

There is only one real reason why you should not get a Doberman dog if you have children running around, and that's if you get an adult Doberman that hasn't been trained properly. Obviously, the best way to go would be to find puppies for sale from reputable breeders or sellers because they have a name to protect, and will never sacrifice this just to make a sale.

The Benefits of Having A Trained Doberman

Doberman dogs are capable of being gentle. Being pack animals, they usually see children as theirs, and would treat them as they would their puppies. They can a little rough, but not dangerous. Also, children will need to be taught how to interact with the dogs or puppies like not pulling the ears or tail, and not teasing them with treats.

Sometimes, in their eagerness, Doberman puppies could accidentally nibble on fingers and snap a treat from the hands of a child. If you instruct your child to never hold a treat within biting distance of a puppy, then they avoid one of the most common accidents between dog and child.

Doberman dogs are also very protective, and this will extend to the people the dog is familiar with and relate to on a regular basis. Doberman dogs are definitely not cute, pretty, adorable-looking dogs, but they have the heart of gold - once you gain their trust and respect.

A trained Dobermann can be tasked in helping a parent protect the child, especially in cases when danger arises from a stranger or wild animal. In Australia, this type of situation can happen often, in places where you have wide, open spaces and animals are allowed to roam freely, like in Queensland and Victoria. They run faster than any parent can, and do not need anything but their growl, menacing look, and maybe an actual attack, if necessary.

Need For Caution Nevertheless

Even with disciplined training, the owner of the Doberman must maintain his Alpha status. This refers to being the leader and one that Dobermann dogs will follow above all else, even the dog's own instinct. There have been cases when dogs have misjudged a non-aggressive person as a possible attacker, and the owner of the dog has to signal the Doberman to stand down.

For this reason, leaving a child with a Doberman dog, trained or in the process of being trained is not a good idea. It's the same with any other breed or animal. It is a grave mistake to tag Doberman dogs and puppies as higher risk breeds as compared to a beagle.
In the same manner, part of a child's learning process is discovering how to handle other children, adults, and animals like pets. It will help if they get exposed to pets because it gives them an awareness of living things and how to care for them.

As long as the Dobermann puppies are not an alternate nanny for a parent, then the risk decreases to almost none. And this leads us to why it is important for members of the family to be actively involved in the training of a Doberman puppy.

With the presence of the members of the family in the training sessions, the puppy will learn to acknowledge the Alpha status of each member. In fact, Doberman breeders have been known to advice their clients that when a Doberman puppy jumps up when the owner appears, it is a basic instinct acknowledging who the boss is. However cute it may look, part of the training would include training the puppy to sit instead of jump as a sign of respect. Can you imagine what would happen if the jumping was not corrected at an early age? He would grow up thinking that jumping is okay, and one day, end up overpowering someone he loves.

No doubt the argument for or against Dobermann dogs being around children as a pet will continue to rage on. Keep in mind though that there are other objects inside a home that are more dangerous than a trained Doberman pet. That would be knives, matches, bathtub, string, oven, stairs - the list goes on and on. Ultimately, what should help you decide is whether or not you have the space for the Doberman, resources to train the puppy, and the vigilance to make sure young children are not left alone with the pet, unsupervised.

 

Source: Article sand box