Doberman Pinscher (thinking about getting one)

[CellarDweller]

I think that "Dobies" are not as 'feared' as they used to be, they've been replaced by pit bulls and their overblown reputation.

AS long as the people who come into your home are reassured that the dobie is trained and docile, it should be ok, but be prepared for people to still have some fear.

I for one, would be very hesitant to be in your home because of the dobie, because of past experiences. When I was younger (in the 70s) there were no leash laws in effect. I was riding my bike down a side street with no traffic, and went past a house that had 2 dobies and a German Sheppard. They were unchained, and the dobies ran out of their yard at me on my bike. They knocked me down in the street and I was bit a few times.

My father flew into a rage and threatened the owner with calling the police to have the dogs destroyed.

[meridannight]

i've never feared dogs. none of them. when i was a kid, 4 or 5 years old, i remember i was at my friend's relatives. and they had this dog, big-sized, always chained (he was never let off) and he always barked at everybody. and they told me to stay away, i specifically remember that. but for whatever reason, he didn't scare me at all. that's what i vividly recall, being told the dog was bad with people and the perception not adding up in my mind when i actually looked at the dog. and one day i was at their place again i just went up to that dog and it was fine. i patted him, and he didn't do anything to me. my friend was perplexed because nobody who wasn't part of the family had ever approached that dog.

then in high school, we had a friend we visited who had a Boxer. he was usually loose on the yard, but had to be locked up when they had any guests over. we usually went to that place all together, several of us, and nobody dared to get in through the gates until they were sure that dog was locked up. i went in there to make sure that was so. every single time. and i wasn't ever scared.

there were other experiences like that.

when i went to school i had this one route that had a very unsocialized dog on the way to go through. literally. it was a more isolated place, and the dog was chained up so that he got almost halfway out on the gravel path. nobody walked that path (like i said it was an isolated place), and that dog would have eaten anybody had he only got his teeth on them. but it happened to be a shortcut between my home and one of my friend's house. and a lot of the times i used that route. that dog never got used to me all those years. every time he came at me as far as his chain would allow and then i would have to walk past him like that (on the other side were the bushes and the owner's house, so i couldn't even go around much). i had maybe a 10-foot clearance on him. and i continued to use that route that my friends categorically refused to go near. eventually they did put that dog down, but that was when i was already out of high school.

point is, from when i was a very small kid, i remember getting along with dogs really well. and with ones people told me not to go near. it wasn't some abstract courage either. i took it on a case to case basis. i looked at the dog and determined whether there was anything to fear or not (this is the best way i can put it, and it is actually how i did it). as a result, i ended up approaching some rather aggressive dogs, and getting along with them. i only ended up being bitten once, back when i was in the 9th grade. but by then it was too late to have one minority negative experience make me scared of any dog.

and i think that's how i've never been afraid of them. already as a kid, i could look at the dog and somehow in some way communicate with the animal. i am an animal. i know what will set an animal off. i can understand it in some primal way. at least some parts of it.

another important factor that played into this, i was taken hunting as a kid and taught never to run when coming upon a wild animal. but never show fear either. that was repeated over and over when i was a child. and there was always a part of me that intrinsically understood that that was the right thing to do. and i think all of that got so deeply ingrained in my brain, either through some biological/genetic imprinting, or through early childhood exposure to wildlife and animals, or both, that i could read very accurately when a dog was an actual threat and when not. all my friends thought i was crazy. but they didn't read the animal, they read the situation and the outward signs. and they showed fear. but there was nothing crazy about how i did it. i read the animal, and i understood when i could approach and when i couldn't. and i was damn proud of myself too, that i knew how to handle those situations.

that's some bits and pieces from my childhood and experience with animals. i grew up in the countryside, so i was exposed to a lot of animals. dogs, horses, cattle, wildlife (foxes, deer) on a regular basis. still some of the best memories of my life.

[meridannight]

okay...the Doberman pup i was supposed to go see today has already been sold meanwhile. even though the owner clearly told me i could come and see him today....

but she told me she could arrange a new one for me if i wanted to (from another breeder apparently).

but she also mentioned some other things that i need clarification on from people who actually have had experience with Dobermans.

so [MENTION=20359]Cuddly[/MENTION], [MENTION=21084]Virge[/MENTION]

she told me that there are different types of Dobermans. that there are the pet-Doberman type (that are not suited to perform in training competitions and such), and then there are Dobermans who are specifically for (official) training and competition purposes (physical training, agility, obedience and such, i'm not talking about show competitions). and that if i wanted a Doberman who was of the latter type (the training-type Doberman) then i wouldn't be able to handle the dog myself. i asked her why, and she said from her experience it just couldn't be done.

is any of this true? i have read up on Dobermans, on various sites and official Doberman club pages, but nowhere have i heard it mention that there are two types of Dobermans like this. have i missed something? i thought any Doberman can take the official training courses, if the owner wanted so. i've also never heard that there is a specific type of Doberman that couldn't be handled by his owner without official outside training. i know the breed needs attention and training, and involvement. they need exposure to a lot of people and activity. yes i know. but that there is a specific breed of Dobermans who cannot be handled by the owner unless they are trained by an outside party....never heard of that.

and, by the way, she also told me that she will provide and help me with the training if i get a Doberman from her. i know some breeders will help, that's not really anything weird, but this there-is-a-specific-type-of-Doberman-that-can't-be-handled-by-the-owner sounds off to me.

Cuddly, Virge, do you have anything to say about this? or, Cuddly, would you be willing to ask your father's input who has had lifetime experience himself? if you can, and if it's not a trouble, i don't want to impose on you.

also, i have met a couple of other Doberman breeders before. one breeder's male puppy i went to see a couple of years ago. he was fully up to all the Doberman standards and came from a good lineage. and when i talked to that breeder she didn't mention any of this. she did ask me if i planned to partake in competitions (show and physical) with him, but she also said it was all up to me.

[Virge]

I've never heard of this with dobies but it could be true. Some bloodlines of dog breeds carry traits like the woman described.

But every Dobie I've met has been easy to train. Once they've learned two or three things it gets easier to teach them everything else.

[LJay]

Some people get along with dogs better than others. Some people get along with people better than others. It is all a matter of how much empathy we have and how well we communicate it. Then we have to face the expectations of others when they meet animals. Many people just can't be comfortable around animals. Do dobermans tend to be dominant dogs? That could account for a lot.

[meridannight]

Some people get along with dogs better than others. Some people get along with people better than others. It is all a matter of how much empathy we have and how well we communicate it. Then we have to face the expectations of others when they meet animals. Many people just can't be comfortable around animals. Do dobermans tend to be dominant dogs? That could account for a lot.

no, this wasn't about the Doberman breed in general. of course a person has to take their own life routine and preference into consideration when choosing a breed. this wasn't about that. this was a suggestion of there being a type of Doberman that a person cannot bring up on their own unless the dog received professional training.

i am aware Dobermans will benefit from physical training, but i've never heard of such a thing either, like Virge said. the difficulty in teaching them varies between every individual Doberman of course, but the idea that there's this variety of Doberman that is untrainable by the owner, i've never heard of that. and it doesn't sound plausible to me.

[meridannight]

I've never heard of this with dobies but it could be true. Some bloodlines of dog breeds carry traits like the woman described.

she didn't describe any traits at all. she just said if i wanted a Doberman for those competition purposes, then i wouldn't be able to handle the dog on my own. i asked her why. and all she said in response was it can't be done. she provided not reason at all.

[meridannight]

i thought about it some, and i might have misunderstood something myself. maybe she meant that if i wanted a Doberman for those competition purposes then i wouldn't be able to train him myself for the competition purposes. that of course i agree with, that makes sense. she just worded it in a way as if i wouldn't be able to handle the dog, and i thought she meant it in a general sense (which of course doesn't make any sense at all). her language usage wasn't the best either (there was an influence of some dialect there). so maybe that contributed to it too.

at least this would make sense. so i probably just misunderstood her that way. of course if i wanted to take part in those physical competitions with my Doberman, he'll need official training.

[LJay]

I think she was expressing her opinion more than any sort of recognized distinction in the breed.

[Cuddly]

Sounds like hot air to me, perhaps to pump prices.

I've never heard of it, but I was never included in the picking of the dobermans.
My mum let me pick one of our 3 german shepherds though. Best dog ever, that was. She died a year ago :'(

I'll call my dad. Finally something to talk to him about..

Oh btw., I do know that the primary concern when they picked the dobermans was avoiding the really inbred ones. Supposedly inbreeding is a common problem with dobers, atleast around here (Denmark-Germany).