Nyx is my first Doberman and all. I'm not unhappy with her personality, she is just not as outgoing/loving as I see many others are. I don't want to say 'normal' vs 'abnormal' but I can sit and discuss the various intricacies of Afghan Hound temperament all day. I'm asking dobie people to do that to me for dobies.
She is 9 months old now. 25 1/2 inches at the shoulder and 48lb. I love her.
She is simply suspicious of new situations. She is not fearful, she is cautious and watchful. She is suspicious of new people. She wants to watch them and not interact/be handled by them. After she has categorized them she will go meet them, but she is not their best friend. Its like she then dismisses them.
Not a sign of aggression. She is not fearful. She is simply not out going. She has been through puppy kindergarten as well as basic obedience and she starts foundation agility (if I get in the class). She has never been outgoing to strangers and I've never encouraged it If people want to meet her I always let them meet her with her in a sit. She is nonreactive to these strangers she meets but she has zero interest in them. My friend was over four days and she would just watch her from a few feet away. Not obsessively. She'd konk out on the couch and snooze or attempt to sleep in my lap, so she seemed comfortable.
She is dog friendly if introduced but again she will happily not meet other dogs as well. Frankly, she acts like my afghans with my GSDs guarding habits. Friendly at home, aloof in the street. Like her vet visit a few weeks ago. She stood in the room and sat by me when the vet came in and went over the other dog I had in (one of my afghans). When it came time for her rabies vaccine she was not interested in interacting with them at all and sat like a rock through her exam and vaccine. Of course she took the food they offered her. She eats anything and everything. In the lobby there is this insane lab mix that wants to rush us (Owner kept it back fortunately) and she and Sage just stand there and watch the other dog calmly by my side on loose leads.
Now with the husband and I she is a clingy love bug. She thinks she should sleep between us. We've gotten her to select the outside edge of the bed or our legs since we would like to cuddle each other. She is good about staying close but she will wander the house. She doesn't have to be near me/pressed against me in social situations. She doesn't have separation anxiety or destructive behavior. We have started limited, enclosed enviorment off leash work since her attention span is doing a bit better as she ages. I don't push attention span in young puppies.
She has started to become protective. In so far as that if the hubby comes home when she is on the bed (she doesn't get bed privileges 100% of the time) she will stand over me and watch the door until he comes around the corner (dogs are behind a gate to the bedroom so they can't go wander).
She is intelligent, hugely responsive in class, and in basic obedience beat the boarder collies in the obedience games they had us do. She won a mound of toys from class because she is very focused on me when she isn't drooling and acting as if she was never fed before when she gets offered treats.
However, I don't know that many Doberman. She is not that dissimilar to the ones I have met but they where all working dogs. Her personality is wonderful to me. We're having to work on her accepting my handler. She gaited about 50 feet with him, realized it was not me at the end of her leash and put the breaks on the first time he took her out to go over her. It was a bit amusing.
(Photo from last month)
Those two are from my breeding, and the middle one is one of my two pupsicles.
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