Doberman Temperament Issues
Children and the Doberman
The Doberman tends to treat the children of the home as he would puppies. Puppies are valuable in the dog mind. The Doberman can also sense the importance of children to their master as well as the children’s vulnerability. Because of this, the Doberman is highly protective of the children.
This attribute is of course helpful if danger is near the child such as strangers of wild animals.
The protectiveness of children in the Doberman is one of the many reasons the Doberman owner must maintain his alpha status. A guest lifting his arms or laughing loudly near the baby may cause an angry Doberman to appear, growling and shielding the child. This can be a little disconcerting to a guest and is a good example of when the alpha should correct the behavior.
This Doberman tendency to treat children as puppies created other areas of concern. Rough play, for example, could worry a protective Nanny Doberman. I have never heard of a Doberman actually harming a child or adult who is playing rough with the Doberman’s children, but I have hear and read many stories of Dobermans gently gripping a person on the arm who is playing too rough. Not in an aggressive manner, more as if to say, "excuse my, please be gentle with our baby. I'm very patient but also willing to administer a Doberman tattoo."
In general, the Doberman is great with kids. However, I recently hear it said, “if you have kids, you shouldn’t risk it – get a dog you know can’t hurt your kids.”
If this is wisdom – remember no dog is safe. Especially dangerous are the cut little innocent looking ones. Very few people breed these little cuteys for reliable temperament. They may not be capable of as much damage as a Doberman, but they are still capable of great damage. Additionally, smaller dogs and dogs not as reliably tempered as the Doberman are more likely to react adversely to things children do; loud screams, pulling on ear, accidental collision.
The bottom line is: children should be trained in how to act around a dog and should also be under supervision. The Doberman is not a baby-sitter, he is a baby-sitter’s helper.
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