gracieface

berkdogg, what exactly were you expecting from a working dog? I'm curious that you think your dog couldn't do his job b/c of his size, that attitude is more important in my opinion, and I have a 10 month old girl who is only 55 lbs, but she can do the job the dobe was intended for, knock a person down and hold them, when she comes running at you you had better brace yourself or she will knock you on your ass- just as was intended. And I know she will grow more, especially as she isn't being fixed. Is your boy neutered? that does effect their growth.
sorry, but I think when you post you have to be prepared for the responses to be negative too, I didn't like your comments about caelestis, she is a level headed, knowledgeable person.

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Elizabeth
Dobermans aren't my whole life, they just make it whole.

gazoo02

Hi Berkdogg,

I took a quick glance at your past posts and noticed you said your dog was a picky eater and had roundworms that required three treatments to get rid of. Picky eater and roundworms is more than likely why your dog is underweight. Give him time and he will pack on the pounds. My first Doberman came from a byb and came packed with worms. She was undersized, but grew to standard once we had her treated and on a quality dog food.

As for whether or not you are entitled to a refund or replacement, read your contract. If your dog came from a reputable breeder than you should have a contract that states what you are entitled to. Also, call the breeder!! Many of your questions and concerns could probably be put to ease if you talk with your breeder.

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Tori

feverone

I'm jumping in here.... your dog is 26 inches...... he will probley go to 27... as My male grew 1 inch between 8mths and 18mths.... and if he does turn out to be 27 , he is in the standerd for the breed... and totally capable of doing what he was bred to do. He will suprise you!
as far as a breeder replacing him? well if it was me I too would say that is NOT a valid reason to return a dog? I would probley just say give me the dog and heres your money , and tell you to use the money to buy someone else's dog.... and tell you that maybe you should look into an older dog so that you would already know the size...
JMHO

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jdd

Tell us his pedigree. Someone might have an answer if we know who he is.

Lexxsmom

My dog is of equivalent size to yours, he is 13 months, 67lbs and I would guess at just shy of 27 inches. I often consider that he may be underweight and undersize for a male doberman, but in reality, they are MEDIUM sized dogs, meant to be 26-28 inches tall at the shoulder and there is no weight specification in the standard to the best of my knowledge.

this means that if your dog is not yet fully grown, and is already 26 inches, he actually IS within the standard and there , by your words "IS a doberman..."

I can't imagine dictating what breed my dog is by his size. He might be smaller than I might have wished, but he is definitel ONE HUNDRED percent doberman. In looks, and definitely in attitude.

as for his abilities, my trainers 62lb female can take someone down faster and harder than her 85lb male. So, I don't think his size will affect his abilities.

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berkdogg

Thank you Gatehouse, this is the type of reply I would expect from a forum member. I will also look at his pedigree.

CMax

I don't think he is getting enough...
One of my males when he was a youngster was terrible eater - worst you've ever seen. He was on raw diet... wouldn't even eat sirloin steak if he didn't feel so inclined... He was a show dog at that moment so we had to keep his weight normal. Boy, was it an ordeal! Hand-feeding... gourmet cooking... oh my oh my...
Luckily, he started maturing at around 18 months. At 4 we got him a companion... and bye-bye eating problems

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RedFawnRising

So, let's sum this up, Berkdogg:

He's your dog, in your care and custody--and you have had concerns over his growth rate for six months and have not once pulled a baseline bloodwork?

You do not know the size or growth rate of his littermates, and apparently haven't contacted your breeder to find out.

You did not answer the questions about your conditioning program, so I can't speak to that issue, but it's an important one.

His diet looks like it could use some tweaking. Have you spoken to the breeder about it? A good dog nutritionist? (NOT a vet as they typically have little to no training on nutrition.)

And he has a history of roundworms--have you had any advanced fecal studies done, like a snap test or fecal cultures?

Look, raising a pup into a well-rounded (both literally and figuratively) adult is a ton of hard, intensive work.

I remember one of your past posts where you cited some incidents of aggression as positive things and as protection, where at least one of them smacked much more of resource guarding than protection. (Not an attack on you or your cool puppy, just a worrisome observation.)

I say, buckle down, read, read, read, talk respectfully to your breeder and THEN see where your thoughts lie on your pup's size issue.

Or, you could go buy from Kimbertal. They will have a hugetastic dog for you and a ready set of easy to hear spin doctor answers for any of your concerns.

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Murreydobe

[quote=berkdogg;195750] Like I said I wanted a dog particularly for working, and should it turns out that he be smaller than most females, then I am definitely not happy with the purchase.

It is a good idea to determine the weight of his litter mates.

He is a little over 26" and is about maybe 65lbs (has been since 8.5 months old).

QUOTE]

If he's over 26", then he's within the recommended size range for the breed, definitely not out of standard.

Let's not forget that one breed used *extensively* in working applications is the Malinois-a breed that's significantly smaller than the doberman. In fact, I believe the Malinois standard DQ's males over 27". So I don't think you'd get agreement from any quarter that a 26" doberman is physically unable to fulfill the role of a working dog.

Taking both of these factors into consideration, I don't think you'd have a leg to stand on to expect a replacement puppy.

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Rosamburg

I would not be so concerned about the size. It is far more important what is inside the dog than what its dimensions are. The old adage is true- it is not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog.

My sch3/IPO3 bitch is 63 Lbs. In terms of a working dog I would prefer a very compact, medium sized dog. At 26" at that age, I would not want it to be much more than that. The nastiest dog at our Sch club is a little GSD bitch that Lance Collins brought back from Germany last year. She has speed, power and drive up the Kazoo and she can't be more than 24" tall and 55-60Lbs.

You still have not told us the pedigree. That would be interesting for us.