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I’ve owned Dobies or Dobie mixes for over 20 years now. It amazes me that to this day there are still people who think the breed is unstable and aggressive. They often ask me why I’m not afraid that my Dobermans might attack me. I can honestly say that in all the years not one of mine has ever been aggressive to me. There was one small incident as I trimmed my second Dobie, Zoom’s nails. She let out one little half growl that was met by me with a sincere death threat. She looked at me in shame and promptly allowed me to finish the job at hand (or paw) and in all of her 12 year life that was the only incident.
Doberman’s earned the reputation for being aggressive and unstable back in the 70′s. At the time they were a very popular breed because of a movie released in 1973 called The Doberman Gang where a pack of Dobies were trained to rob a bank. Dobies became in demand and as a result were over bred so of course the breed suffered for it. What happens when a breed becomes very popular is that people who have no concern for the health or breed standards start breeding and selling puppies just for profit. What happened back then was that genetic brain tumors were being passed down from parents to puppies so then the dogs truly were unstable. They would attack anyone or anything without provocation. I myself once saw a service dog for an epileptic lady who developed one the brain tumors. This Dobie had been as sweet and behaved as any service dog is. When the tumor grew she started trying to attack her owner and even attacked herself! I watched in horror as she snapped and snarled and bit her own feet as though they were the enemy. Nowadays this is rarely seen. In the 80′s, as the breed’s popularity waned, serious and caring Doberman breeders worked very hard to keep the brain tumors out of the breed lines. By the 90′s it was already very rare to see it and that was when I witnessed the service dog with the tumors.
So you may wonder why it is after seeing one of the last over bred Dobies with the disorder I would choose the Doberman as a family dog. It’s because of all the breeds out there that I have interacted with and owned the Doberman is the BEST family dog for me. When my daughter was little my Dobies loved her as if she were their own and of course she was. Dobies love and protect their families in ways only other Dobie owners can understand. I’ve read things about Dobies being so protective of their families that they would not even accept a newborn baby into the family. Personally I think that those stories are a load of bull pucky. If it is true then those people are clueless about the dogs they own and probably shouldn’t even own a dog, let alone a Dobie.
My Daughter at age 4, LA Pet Expo with a Dobie on exhibit
Every one that I’ve ever owned stood down on command no matter who it was that came into my home or onto my property. My Dobies always looked to me on how to treat a visitor. If I was happy and relaxed then so were they. However if they sensed that I was distrusting of the visitor they would stand down but stay watchful. This is a big part of why I love this breed so much. Other guard dogs have to be put outside or locked in a back room when you have guests or workmen in your home. How can they protect you if something were to go wrong if they’re locked away?
Even working in pet hospitals and meeting hundreds of Dobies that didn’t know me, I have never, ever even come close to being bitten or even threatened by one. Dobies are usually smart enough to know when to guard and when not to. They will protect you and even your car (Zoom used to growl at bums in Los Angeles when she thought they were getting too close to our car, never average people, just bums) but they know they are not the guardians of the world. They only protect their own people and their own property. There was one Dobie at the last hospital I worked in that the Vet and the other Tech warned me to be careful of. I walked right into that exam room and said “Awwww! What a pretty puppy you are! Come here and get some lovins!” She came right up to me and was instantly my friend and I never had a single incident with that dog. I would have kissed her on the lips to prove my point but she’s a dog and she’s got dog germs! I think the problem was that she sensed uneasiness from the Vet and other Tech and being in a scary place with scary smells she just didn’t trust them so she would occasionally act out. After befriending me she became friendly with them too. Maybe they needed to see that the big scary Dobie was just a silly little pup at heart to be at ease with her so she in return relaxed with them.
Dobies tested in the top 5 of smartest dog breeds. Rottweilers tested in 9th place and German Shepherds tested in 3rd. Sorry, I just don’t buy it. I trust very few Rotts and I use caution around German Shepherds until I know them pretty well. Rotts in particular will often attack without provocation. Most German Shepherds are pretty smart and know when to attack and when not too but there’s a LOT of them out there that are overly aggressive. I’m sorry and you can disagree with me here, but I think that unwarranted aggressive behavior does not show any kind of intelligence at all. If you’re looking for a dog to protect your family both Rotts and German Shepherds are worth considering but remember you may have to put them outside or in a back room when guests or workmen are in your home as mentioned above.
I did have one scary incident when I first adopted my female Dobie named Star. We had only owned her for about 20 hours when the UPS man came to deliver a package. Somehow my husband was entering through the dog run gate as the truck pulled up and Star got passed him. I was inside and I heard a lot of screaming and yelling so I threw on some sandals and ran out my front door. What I saw sent chills down my spine. The UPS man stood stock still as Star made a bee-line for him, hair standing up and teeth bared. She was going to attack him no matter what he did. I yelled her old name “Lady” that did nothing. I yelled her new name Star and that did nothing. For a split second I weighed my options. Either risk getting attacked by my brand new dog myself or let her attack the UPS man. Yeah, the choice was simple. I ran as fast as I could putting myself between him and Star. As she continued her course toward him and now me, I put my hand out and touched her thinking I was about to become a dog chew but the minute my hand touched her she transformed. Her hair laid down and she was once again my sweet and goofy Star Baby. That night I thought twice about letting her sleep in bed with us again but I did. We’ve had her for 5 years now and nothing like that has ever happened again. Now she’s like any other Dobie I’ve had when it comes to strangers. I think she was just so new to us that she did not understand her role in our home. Dobies just seem to get it I tell ya…
Star the night of the UPS Man incident.
When you own a Dobie you get to see the goofy side of their personalities. They are usually very playful even into old age. People they don’t know will rarely, if ever, get to see this side of them. I’ve got plenty of pictures to prove it if you don’t believe me. I know there a lot of people out there that don’t believe it when I tell them that my Dobies are silly and goofy but it’s true!
Dobies are extremely loyal dogs. When I lived out in the country my dogs would take off when we were taking them into the house from the dog run. Even my Dobies would go for a little “joy run” but they were always the 1st to come back never being gone for more than 10 minutes while the other dogs would sometimes be gone for up to an hour. My first Dobie mix, Sophie would occasionally jump the fence but she would never leave. She seemed to be hopping the fence just to guard the other side. There was one time, right after we moved into town, that my dogs managed to open the gate to the backyard. All of them came back when called except for my Blue Dobie, Kojak. He seemed to have vanished. My husband went out looking for him and found him sitting in the central most intersection of town just waiting to be found. Kojak wasn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed so we’re pretty sure he just couldn’t find his way home so he just sat and waited for home to find him. Even the dumbest Dobie is pretty smart.
I’ve owned of the 3 most popular colors of Dobies, black and tan, red and blue. Personally I will never own another blue. We named him Kojak because about half of all blue Dobies lose their hair by the age of 3. Most of the unusual colored Dobies are plagued by skin and other health problems throughout their lives. I knew what I was getting into when I bought Kojak but I also knew that I could handle anything that came our way and I had the solemn promise from his breeder that they were getting out of Dobie breeding and that he was the last of the line. Good thing too because poor Kojak was a health mess and only lived to be 4 yrs old when he was taken by a grand mal seizure. I was heart broken but I’d known all along that he was probably not long for this world and he had a good life even though it was so short. Now I stick to black and tans or reds with black and tans usually being the most sturdy.
Sweet, goofy Kojak
There are also 2 sizes of Dobies. There are the standards weighing up to 80 lbs (which I will only own) and the kings or king sized weighing as much as 125 lbs. I guess I’m a traditionalist when it comes to this. I will never get a king because I prefer my dogs to live as long a life as possible and the bigger the dog the shorter the lifespan. I’m also concerned about hip and joint problems in the larger kings.
As for health problems that are common in the breed the two big ones are Von Willebrands (a blood clotting disorder) and Hypothyroidism. There’s also some heart problems but I myself have not seen a whole lot of it in them but I hear it’s quite common. Another problem in the females of the breed can be urinary incontinence. They will be unable to hold their urine and what happens is that it can leak out when they stand up. This is usually easily dealt with by medication. One vet that I worked for told me there was an easy way to avoid the problem. He said if you let them have one heat cycle before spaying them then the problem would not occur. If you should decide to go this route be VERY careful not to let her get pregnant! There are enough dogs in the world and accidents should never be allowed to happen.
For more information on Doberman Pinschers and their origins click here.
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