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Hello from Northern Virginia

4K views 51 replies 15 participants last post by  Ninabug 
#1 ·
I am so glad I found this site - what a wonderful trove of experience and advice! We are looking for a red female puppy, taking our time and hoping around Nov-Feb time frame. We live in Northern Virginia, and narrowly avoided making a mistake with a nearby breeder only (thank goodness for all your posts and info). We have a fourth-grade daughter, who will be the primary caretaker/trainer, and two mid-age inside only cats. We intend the puppy to be a family pet only. I had several dogs, including doberman and shepherds as a child, and our daughter rides horses and loves her cats and any other animals she can get hold of. My husband was not raised in the US and was not accustomed to pets, although he loves our cats and really wants a dog. For these reasons, we prefer a submissive female. In the meantime and from this forum, I am interested in a few things, if you would all be so kind to help me out:
1. We are no longer limiting ourselves to the local area, and are simply focusing on the top breeders in the US, understanding we can ship. I found the DPCA breeder referral (and the local chapter), but am still looking for some kind of ranking of most reputable breeders (found the Breeder of the Year list at AKC and a few in the Working Dog category were Doberman breeders). Any ideas?
2. I believe we are planning to dock the tail but leave the ears uncropped. Will there be any issues if our daughter wants to show the dog or anything that would make the dog unacceptable standard-wise (I have a vague understanding that cropping is outlawed in Germany, UK, and some other countries, but done in the US)?
3. I understand there is a difference between European and American dobermans, and I am not sure, but it seems that the European are stronger and bulkier, while the American are more beautiful in line but not as hardy - is this basically the case?
4. From reading many of your posts, I am going to insist on titled parents, with lineage back at least 2-3 generations; no more than 2-3 litters/year; all the recommended health tests on puppies and their parents; and evidence that the breeder also shows her dogs, not just making money by breeding; and temperament testing (I believe there is such a thing?). Is there anything else we should be looking for/doing?
5. Can anyone recommend a very good course in the Northern Virginia area for training our doberman?

Thank you all for your help!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hi! Welcome from Woodford! I'm 25 minutes from downtown Fredericksburg. :)

Schutzhund Village is in Charlottesville. Ill be training there with my girl.
Depending on specifically what you want (working sport or conformation) we can help narrow down breeders.

Does your daughter show? I show the BSHA circuit with Beth Linton. Gotta love schooling shows! If you want to chat Dobermann or horse, send me a pm. :)
 
#5 ·
I got my Doberman in 6th grade and was his primary caretaker, but also had a wonderful mom to help me :) He was my best friend through puberty, heartbreak, and all the wonderful things adolescence and teenage life brings. I hope the same for your daughter! Oh and I'm a former northern Virginian, fairfax county to be precise.
 
#9 ·
You will find it very difficult to find a show quality dog in the US with uncropped ears. It's already tough to find a breeder who will leave ears uncropped on a pet quality dog (though that can be done). If you are interested in seriously showing, uncropped ears are going to make it really, really tough.
 
#10 ·
Thank you all for the nice welcome. I have already found several threads, and I believe helped us narrow down breeders. I am just waiting back on replies now, so hopefully we will get lucky. Quite honestly, we have been on the fence with the ear cropping. I appreciate the feedback, and looking at some other posts, we are probably going to stay with the standard cropping, after all. Now we are just hoping to find that special little red girl. As for rescue, our two beloved cats were rescues, and if not for the fact that we would have to get the puppy used to both cats and a young girl, and want her around for plenty of years, we would indeed go the rescue route. I have been checking out some other threads and learning tons! Thank you all again. Sinister, thanks for the info! Our daughter is in early cantering stage now, not yet showing horses (she has only been riding for about 1.5 years). Will give you a holler, though, when we start up that road - much appreciated.
 
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#15 ·
Good info on the ear cropping. Sinister, not sure if we are going the working dog or show route, depending upon our daughter's preferences and skills in that arena - all unknown at this time :) Sigh...still waiting for responses...must...have...patience :) Just so hard when we are so darn excited about her arrival (whenever that may happen). My daughter has been dragging me to every PetSmart dog rescue event in the area to play with the dogs and occasional puppies.
 
#17 ·
After hours of running through threads and posts, there were several that had good mentions and were on DPCA lists, but you never know (until you run into several threads/posts that indicate some concern):

Marienberg
Cara
J-Win
Triadel
Firefox
Kalora
Niklby
Friendship
 
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#20 · (Edited)
Who told you that J-Win is a good breeder?? Rescue has had more than one of her dogs!! I personally would not recommend Judith Washner - the fact that she is a DPCA member burns my butt.

And other than the fact that Friendship Dobermans has gotten several of their Dobermans from Pat Reinhard of Shadeko, I don't see that they do anything with them other than breed - suppose I could be wrong but that's what I come away with when I look at their website.

I'm not sure what your criteria is for a breeder, but I think you need a little more research - fortunately, you have come to the right place. :)
 
#21 ·
First, you may not want to hear what I have to say but if your daughter is interested in showing or working, then you really need to figure this out before you contact breeders or you are wasting your time and theirs. What you want, depends on who you contact. I know several breeders who will not consider selling their "show" puppies unless they are going to a "show" home, which means they want your word these puppies are going to be shown. If you get a "show" puppy or vice versa, and then your daughter decides she doesnt want to do this afterwards, then that wouldnt be good as you now have this puppy that was sold for a purpose and you are not fulfilling what you purchased it for. Maybe take your daughter to some shows, have her watch confirmation, agility, obedience and take her to some working events...let her experience all of this and that will give her a better feeling of which way she wants to go - then you all will have a better understanding of what is involved and can then go in the direction of her interests. If you are so on the fence, some of these breeders may not consider you as a home as they want someone who can assure them they are going to do what they say they will with the dog. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
#22 ·
Welcome to the forum!

Just FYI, cropping and docking are illegal in the UK, Germany and most of Europe (Docking is legal for working dogs, however no dog can be shown or compete in agility ect if it has a docked tail or cropped ears, unless is was docked before the ban was implemented) but it is legal in the USA.

I believe, but am no expert, that the AKC says the ears are 'normally cropped' but it is not a solid breed standard. I guess you will lose/gain points based on the judge’s preferences, I'd say do what you think is right.

There are loads of topics on Euro vs US dogs on here, its a much debated subject! You an see the different breed standards here :) http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-related-chat/1971-akc-fci-doberman-standard.html
 
#23 ·
Again, much to learn! I thought we were on a good start, using DPCA and AKC referral lists, and then trying to weed out by doing searches for any negative threads or comments regarding any of those, as well as initial contacts (no health checks. no history of showing, no lineage provided). I initially hesitated about putting out a list, not knowing the type of responses I would invite and whether those breeders might also be on the forum, but I think it may be a useful way to see if there are any consistent negative/positive responses as a result. Both J-Win and Friendship are listed on the DPCA referral list, which is the first reference everyone points to when asking about finding a breeder. It is extremely frustrating that breeders are on that list when there are known issues with them, even though they are technically members in good standing and are classified as responsible breeders. Maybe they should remove the word "referral" from that list if all on it are not ones that should be referred (disclaimer notwithstanding)? Perhaps some type of voting or feedback mechanism for rating those breeders might actually be useful. Just thoughts from a newbie trying to navigate through all this information.

We indicated that we were not sure about showing, as we have not done so in the past and I did not want to limit out daughter's choices. But the point regarding the breeder's point of view is very well taken - thank you, Tuxedo Jack. Guess we'll just limit ourselves upfront to simply pet/companion, as that is all we can honestly commit to at this point, and that is certainly our top priority Selecting a recommended breeder is important to us for the health and temperament aspects, not for the showing potential, and we absolutely intend to make this known upfront to the breeder.

I appreciate the points about cropping, Amelia_Murray; useful link. This has been definitely our our minds, especially after many years living in Germany and going back and forth.
 
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#29 ·
Melinda, thank you for your offer - did not realize until you mentioned it, just how close you are. Will definitely be asking for another sanity check as I start getting responses and narrow it down. Too important a decision not to.
 
#31 ·
I do know for a fact that Desta does health testing on her dogs and will provide paperwork as to the fact. She always crops all her puppies unless the buyer specifies that they do not want it cropped and she will comply with that. She has a litter on the ground now, first one in about 14 months I think and they are all spoken for but you can certainly inquire about future litters.
 
#32 ·
Just found a great thread here on DT: Recommended Breeders - tons of great info. Thanks again, Tuxedo_Jack - sent a note to Desta. Also found a few others on that link, and a few replies (all about a year wait). :swing1:

On another note, anyone know of shows in the Northern VA area to attend to get a better feel for things? I found the Potomac Valley DPC of Northern VA, and they had an Obedience and Rally Stewarding on 2 Oct, which would have been great. The Cavalier Doberman Pinscher Club looks totally active, so maybe we can check one of those out. Any recommendations for which type events to attend for newbies?
 
#34 ·
There are shows at Oatlands Plantation off Rt 15 next weekend. I just found the show premium: Oct 29/30 weekend the Middleburg Kennel Club has its shows at Oatlands.

I may go and watch for a little bit depending on the weather. I'm not entered there with anybody. Outdoor obedience in Oct with Dobermans is way too iffy a proposition!

Check out infodog.com to see what time Dobermans are showing if you want to see conformation. Obedience is usually across the gravel driveway from the big conformation area and runs most of the day. You can check out the show calendar for Virginia for the rest of 2011 as well.....Virginia Beach has a cluster of shows in early November, and one of them is a Doberman Specialty. I also recall Howard County, MD has a Thanksgiving cluster.

Good luck with your search for a pup.
 
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