| Although I have always found this "myth" particularly hilarious, there is inevitably a grain of truth to everything.
There is a documented neurological disorder in canines (maybe someone else here can help me out and tell us what it is...Im not that smart) that causes extreme unprovoked aggression and an almost dementia-like mental state. The way I understood it, it was basically like a brain tumor. It usually affects older dogs. I believe that this condition occurs at its second highest rate in dobermanns. Ironically enough, the breed most disposed to this is the always benign and ever-loved german shepherd dog.
Provided all of that is accurate, it would only stand to reason that in 1979 and 1980, when dobies were the #2 breed in terms of registration numbers, it would only stand to reason that more dogs would have been afflicted with this disorder just because of the sheer numbers. Even at that, I believe it is a fairly rare disorder, and the actual number of cases is still so small as to be almost insignifigant. |