Question for the Breeders - Page 4

**RedFawnRising** · 06-24-2008, 04:51 PM

Berkdogg, this is copied from your link: Another reason that the Doberman Pinscher is not as popular today with guard dog owners is their relatively small size when compared with other guard dog breeds.

I guess I'm a bit confused, especially if that was your main source of info, as to why you thought a Doberman would be a large "guard dog."

That site is in India, and seems to have a lot of misinformation in general on it--not just concerning Dobes. They make a lot of sweeping statements, with no cites to back up their generalizations.

At any rate, looks like you're getting good advice.

It would be helpful to see pics of your boy--looks like many members here can share photos with you, to compare development, at the same ages.

Also, I've seen this "guard dog" term bandied about on several threads--but, if you bought him to be a working dog--is he enrolled in any classes yet? What type of training are you going to be doing over the next couple of years with him?

Do you not have breeder support, with him?

I can't imagine a good breeder sending a dog out as a personal protection candidate and not following up on that, making sure an educated owner is enrolling the pup in appropriate training, etc.

**dobermansrule** · 06-24-2008, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by berkdogg

Hey Caelestis, I did by from a reputable breeder and my dog was purchased as working dog, not pet quality.

His diet consist of 1 cup of bill jacks/raw ground beef, 3 cups of proplan (puppy), 1 spoonfull of unflavored yogurt, 1/2 cup ground carrots. He will usually eat 1/2 in the morning and the other half at night.

I have not had any blood work done as of yet, I am just speculating at this time that there may be something wrong with him from the post I have read here. Fecal scans continually come back negative.

I know that I am not in control of mother nature but I figure breeders should at least be able to roughly gauge the weight and height of pups from particular breedings. 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).

And Caelestis, if you are a Breeder please tell me the name of your operation so I can stay away from self assuming, pompous, know it all, unfair breeders, who don't stand by the dogs they sell because they don't know what the hell they are doing.

then he is within AKC standard height (no standard weight). At one year old, he may be close to being finished growing in height but not finished developing muscle/weight. Is he neutered? There are others on DT with smaller dogs. me for one - we have a 27" 73lb 20month old dog. He is very much a doberman.

So you don't even want to give your guy a shot to prove to you he is a doberman in heart, drive and stamina? From other threads on DT, I have come to appreciate that the bigger dogs are not always the best working dogs - what by the way do you mean by working? Maybe that is an important distinction to help readers understand your frustration.

**RedFawnRising** · 06-24-2008, 06:06 PM

I worry that some folks, not picking on any one person in particular, think they can buy a dog of a certain breed (Dobe, Rott, GSD, whatever) and just automatically count on the dog to "protect" judiciously and only as needed and called upon.

They just do not understand in the least all the honing of a dog's natural instinct that goes into this.

The countless hours of learning, for both dog and handler, the intense training, the time, the expense, the practice, the dedication.

Sadly, all too often, a "working" dog, or "family guard dog" ends up as an uncontrolled, ill-mannered, confused dog who aggresses only where and when the dog thinks appropriate.

That leads to humans and other animals being potentially hurt (or even killed) and usually with a one-way ticket to the euth room, for the dog, through no fault of its own.

**dobermansrule** · 06-24-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedFawnRising

I worry that some folks, not picking on any one person in particular, think they can buy a dog of a certain breed (Dobe, Rott, GSD, whatever) and just automatically count on the dog to "protect" judiciously and only as needed and called upon.

They just do not understand in the least all the honing of a dog's natural instinct that goes into this.

The countless hours of learning, for both dog and handler, the intense training, the time, the expense, the practice, the dedication.

Sadly, all too often, a "working" dog, or "family guard dog" ends up as an uncontrolled, ill-mannered, confused dog who aggresses only where and when the dog thinks appropriate.

That leads to humans and other animals being potentially hurt (or even killed) and usually with a one-way ticket to the euth room, for the dog, through no fault of its own.

so true. And what about the folks that buy the stereotypical breed - say a doberman - "to protect my shop". In other words, buy doberman, stick in fenced shop yard and say "sick 'em".

**MIA** · 06-24-2008, 08:26 PM

My dog was a string been until she was about 3 and she's still lean as ever but gets TONS of food and is 100% muscle. She is about 68lbs and standard height. She can easily take down a large man if need be. If you are wanting a guard dog train him for protection, that's the best thing to do. He sounds like he's growing at a normal rate to me and will probably fill out nicely but as others have said, have a fecal done in case, worms are nasty little buggers and I personally would up his food, they have so much energy it amazes me how much Mo can eat and not get fat, man I sure wish I could do that!!!

Dobeman · 06-25-2008, 12:30 PM

I understand where Berkkdogg is coming from. I personally don’t care for undersized dogs (or oversized for that matter). I would be concerned as well and his questions are valid. However, I personally would have first contacted the breeder and see if he/she has any suggestions. I would try to find out how tall littermates are. Certain Euro lines, however, are known to produce undersized dogs. A lot of times that is why certain dogs are being sold to the US. Berkdogg’s Dobe may still grow a bit, but it as well may not. So be it.

None if this changes the fact that the dog is loved and well taken care of, and it certainly does not change drive or working ability. As a breeder you cannot really predict how tall each puppy is going to be as sometimes the smallest one in the litter ends up being the largest.

Reputable breeders will take back their dogs no matter the age or situation. Berkdogg has made clear that that’s not what he wants.

The dog definitely has a ton of filling out to do still – and probably needs more food.

Keep us posted on the blood test results.

Best wishes,