One of the reasons we have had such strong relationships with dogs over the thousands of years is that dogs form strong social bonds, like we do. Seperation from their family is usually followed by behaviors which are used with reuinting; increased agitiation, exploring, distress vocalizations and if there are physical barriers, chewing, digging, scratching etc. Although they are not very well prepared genetically to be alone, let alone all day, they learn. It is so common place in our society. It is not genetically natural for them to be alone, so steps must be taken to make the dog able to be alone.
To make training go smoother in puppies or new dogs, who don't have severe seperation anxiety, set the precedent right away. A lot of people will tend to spend oodles of time with this new, fascinating and adorable puppy, will not go to work for weeks so they can constantly be with the puppy with the intent of making him feel secure. But then they all of a sudden go back to work and it's a big let down for the puppy. He has to adjust suddenly to this void. So, right away, start leaving the pup many times for brief periods. Teach him from the get go that people will not always be available and that when people leave, they always come back. Leave him in a dog proof place or crate with stuffed chew toys so he won't guess wrong what to chew. Be sure he's getting good predatory play on a daily basis. Fetch, tug, and hide and seek.
Come and go continually. Don't make a fuss over hellos and goodbyes so the puppy or dog becomes somewhat less attentive to all these departures and returns. It is absolutely normal for puppies to distress vocalize when you leave them alone, even for brief periods. It's the way they are naturally. You can modify that. If you reinforce the whining, barking, crying it will become stronger. If you withhold reinforcement, it will extinguish. When you return, if you don't want this barking and crying, wait for a lull before you walk in the door. Don't worry if you think he needs to go to the bathroom or anything else. You're trying to train out the crying. If you don't remove the reinforcement, the dog will tend to carry on anytime you come and go even if he's not upset. So, in other words, if you like the noise, respond to it. If you don't, don't.
Keep all your comings and goings low key. The gushing hellos and long good-byes with tons of loving, cuddling and talking and not only useless, but serve only to increasee the contrast between when you're home (happy) and when you're gone (emptiness) Try everything you can think of to make this contrast less. Save the best chew toys for when you're gone. Play fetch, tug toys when you're at home with your dog. Give that predatory energy an outlet. Get him out into the world for socialization, new sights, sounds and experiences to process every day. This tires out his mind too.
I know some dogs can hold their bladders and bowels for a very long time, but those last hours must be pretty miserable, so do what you can to get someone over there hopefully more than once. It's not fair to make him hold it for too long. Four hours is already a long time for a pup.
Never punish your dog for chewing something after the fact. I don't like punishment at all for teaching. If you come home and he's wrecked something (if he's not in a crate) even minutes later is not fair. He won't make the association.
A Doberman really needs a lot of time with their owners. They're quite miserable left alone. They're so programmed to be near their owners. This is a hard breed to have when you're not home with her. Do whatever you can to get someone to come over more than once if you're gone over 10 hours. You'll have your work cut out for you when you come home after a long, tiring day at work, won't you. I assume you looked into the breed thoroughly before getting her. They definitely need a ton of exercise, but careful with young bones and an outlet for their drives and mind. If they don't get enough, they become incredibly destructive and a real problem. They're sensative and punishment based training is hard on them IMO....
So, good luck and I hope things will go well for you.
