[Ravax]

Heya all,

Quick intro, i'm originally french, but currently living in Shanghai, China for work. I am an avid dog lover as I am sure all of you are given the fact that we are on a Doberman forum...

I have owned and cared for several pets through the course of my life so far ranging from ferrets to iguanas to snakes, but none compare in the slightest bit to a dog, and especially my beautiful Soja, which is a cross between a chocolate lab, and a real wolf.. Her temperament was that of a Labrador, but had the keen intelligence of a wolf, with a protective side, very loyal to every member of the family, extremely careful around children, and instant best friends with our friends, and a fan of pushing me off the bed so she can sleep there hehe... On the other hand, any intruder in the garden (we had a few) quickly doubled back over the fence..

I have had however, a penchant towards Dobermans, and their proud, powerful stature, intelligence, grace and agility. I have known many Dobes and every single one of them was brilliant...

Unfortunately, given my current situation, I cannot / will not get another dog for the moment being (it would be downright stupid and cruel to have him/her cooped up in an apartment in a megalopolis like Shanghai, with no sea to swim in, and no fields to run through). However, I do plan on going back to Europe, and get a house with a large enough garden, and close to the sea, and I am 100% sure I will get two dogs, one of them being a Doberman, and the other being a Tamaskan as my wife adores this breed.

I have read a great many deal about Dobermans, their heritage, bloodlines, etc.. But I have noticed some SUPER mixed feelings from owners, breeders, about ear cropping and tail docking, I'll do some digging on this forum as well to see if there are any related threads.

Anyways, was planning on making a short intro, and ended up splashing a wall of text on here, so hello again to all, and to your dogs too!

Regards,

X

 

[Australdi]

Welcome from Australia!

 

[MeadowCat]

Welcome! It's great that you're here before you get your dog. There's so much great information!

 

[Darkevs]

Hello and Welcome to Doberman Talk!!

Hugz to Soja!

got any pictures of Soja to share with us?

we love pictures here on DT!

 

[PatchworkRobot]

Welcome to DT from Texas, USA. Its so good that you're doing your research before getting a dobie and I hope you learn everything you need.

Also, I think we would LOVE to see pictures of Soja

 

[KCFilley]

Hi there and a big Mid-west welcome from Missouri. Yes, please post photos of Soja and jump right in to all the posts. Great that you are here.

KC/Linda

 

[Ravax]

Thank you all for your warm welcome, and glad to be a part of this community!

I don't have all my photos on this laptop, these are the only ones i found, will upload the goodies tomorrow from the office..

 

[dobienut]

hello from southeast missouri

 

[dax0402]

Hi and welcome to the forum from PA, USA. Best of luck in your research.

 

[Audrey1]

Welcome, Ravax. I sure am glad you aren't thinking of getting a Dobe while living in Shanghai. What a hell hole it would be for a large dog needing exercise. I don't mean to bash China. I am just being realistic since I have lived there and gone there a lot.

I would be quite interested in what your observations are of the canine situation in Shanghai. I hear that dogs are all the fad now which can be a very bad thing. But I also heard that many of the dogs are well-behaved. Those must be smaller dogs that are out in public? What happens when you have a large dog that needs to run and play off-leash...is that do-able in a megatropolis like Shanghai?

 

[Reds]

Welcome to DT from Ontario, Canada! Thanks for the great intro!

 

[Ravax]

Welcome, Ravax. I sure am glad you aren't thinking of getting a Dobe while living in Shanghai. What a hell hole it would be for a large dog needing exercise. I don't mean to bash China. I am just being realistic since I have lived there and gone there a lot.

I would be quite interested in what your observations are of the canine situation in Shanghai. I hear that dogs are all the fad now which can be a very bad thing. But I also heard that many of the dogs are well-behaved. Those must be smaller dogs that are out in public? What happens when you have a large dog that needs to run and play off-leash...is that do-able in a megatropolis like Shanghai?

Thanks Audrey. You can bash China all you want hehe... one day i'll divulge all the crazy and frustrating stories describing what it's like to live here..

I have been here for two years, and have noticed that dogs are somewhat of a fad here.. what I understand from it is, it's not for companionship, but to show their social status... Like the cab drivers usually leave one nail to grow super long to show that they come from inland China, and do not do manual labor anymore.. And 99% of the dogs here are Bichon Frise, and Poodles, and generally small dogs... There is the occasional Golden Retreiver, or Labrador..

My lady worked for a little while at a shelter/kennel/hospital for dogs, and there are some pretty sad stories to be heard over there unfortunately...

The concept of a dog as a pet is slowly sinking in to the minds of the Chinese, but then again, for the moment being, their only motive to get one, is to show they are of higher social status than the rest when they walk the dog... pretty sad really..

 

[Ravax]

I promised some more goodies!

That's her playing with our ferret at the time called Malakas (Dont judge me for the name those of you who know its meaning, my sister named him and thought it would be funny...)

I dont know if you guys do this with your dogs, but she loved blowing air, she was licking it in the air, and biting at it all the time...

And her favorite place to be is right behind her, sometimes she would let us swim in her swimming pool.. hehe

 

[Audrey1]

Hi Ravax, thanks for your response! I was afraid it was going to be like that. UGH! Unfortunately, with China being the up and coming economy and all the young people going for status symbols, the dogs will suffer. I wonder what kind of training they use/do?

 

[Paladin]

Welcome to DT!

 

[Ravax]

Hi Ravax, thanks for your response! I was afraid it was going to be like that. UGH! Unfortunately, with China being the up and coming economy and all the young people going for status symbols, the dogs will suffer. I wonder what kind of training they use/do?

I don't believe they use any training / schools (Neither did I to be honest, but the difference is I am passionate of dogs, and raised Soja myself from when she was 1 week old) Most of them purchase their dogs in the few big pet stores that are around.. Most of those dogs just run around and bark all the time, and are not very sociable, I tried approaching a few of the larger breeds in the streets (I am a big dog kinda guy, don't really like the smaller barking ones..) and they acted very indifferent, not playful at all, and the owners (Chinese) were wary of me and gave looks that tell me this action is weird, not as if he was wondering whether I would harm the dog, or vice-versa, but in a way that meant a stranger to approach the dog is intolerable... To be honest this pisses me off a little..

P.S. I'm still new to this forum, and getting used to the kinks, I replied to your PM, but it does not show up in 'sent messages' did you receive?

 

[Audrey1]

I don't believe they use any training / schools (Neither did I to be honest, but the difference is I am passionate of dogs, and raised Soja myself from when she was 1 week old) Most of them purchase their dogs in the few big pet stores that are around.. Most of those dogs just run around and bark all the time, and are not very sociable, I tried approaching a few of the larger breeds in the streets (I am a big dog kinda guy, don't really like the smaller barking ones..) and they acted very indifferent, not playful at all, and the owners (Chinese) were wary of me and gave looks that tell me this action is weird, not as if he was wondering whether I would harm the dog, or vice-versa, but in a way that meant a stranger to approach the dog is intolerable... To be honest this pisses me off a little..

P.S. I'm still new to this forum, and getting used to the kinks, I replied to your PM, but it does not show up in 'sent messages' did you receive?

Yes, I got it. Thanks. And thanks for sharing what is going on there. Very interesting. I'll bet if you approached the large dog and spoke Chinese to the owner, then their reaction would be different. Even if you just said that you like big dogs...something simple like that would make a difference. Let me know if it works....or if you already did that lol.

 

[ZeldaRules]

Welcome from TX. Soja looks like a good dog I hope you enjoy the forum! Dobes rock

 

[Ravax]

Yes, I got it. Thanks. And thanks for sharing what is going on there. Very interesting. I'll bet if you approached the large dog and spoke Chinese to the owner, then their reaction would be different. Even if you just said that you like big dogs...something simple like that would make a difference. Let me know if it works....or if you already did that lol.

Audrey, quick question.. Have you been to the Shanghai Zoo in Hongqiao? They have Collies, and St. Bernards, and Labs in 2mx3m cages, concrete floors, no toys, dirty water, and you can see their ribs... You have a tiny kibble dispenser where you put in a few RMBs like they have in Bird Zoos in the U.S. so you can throw the food at them, and they are all terrified, a janitor came in from the back door to pick up the poop with a shovel, and kicked the dogs to the side so he can just scoop the main poop up, but still leaving some behind.. The Lion pen is filled with instant noodle cups, and cheetos aluminum bags. I resisted the urge to bludgeon to death a man when I saw him throw a 1/2 liter bottle of water (full of water so weighed 1/2 a kilo) on the head of a red bear that was merely curious at the people looking down into his pen. Their famous 'panda' is in a room with no vegetation, cement floor... They were spitting on the zebras..

I went there with my wife, and we managed to stay 1 hour and 1/2, if I had stayed any longer, I would be writing this post from a cell, serving a life sentence...

 

[Audrey1]

Audrey, quick question.. Have you been to the Shanghai Zoo in Hongqiao? They have Collies, and St. Bernards, and Labs in 2mx3m cages, concrete floors, no toys, dirty water, and you can see their ribs... You have a tiny kibble dispenser where you put in a few RMBs like they have in Bird Zoos in the U.S. so you can throw the food at them, and they are all terrified, a janitor came in from the back door to pick up the poop with a shovel, and kicked the dogs to the side so he can just scoop the main poop up, but still leaving some behind.. The Lion pen is filled with instant noodle cups, and cheetos aluminum bags. I resisted the urge to bludgeon to death a man when I saw him throw a 1/2 liter bottle of water (full of water so weighed 1/2 a kilo) on the head of a red bear that was merely curious at the people looking down into his pen. Their famous 'panda' is in a room with no vegetation, cement floor... They were spitting on the zebras..

I went there with my wife, and we managed to stay 1 hour and 1/2, if I had stayed any longer, I would be writing this post from a cell, serving a life sentence...

OMG -I am sick reading this about the zoo. I've not been to the one in Hongqiao. And they have dogs at the zoo?? I cannot believe it - well, actually, I do believe you. China has a LONG LONG way to go in terms of respect for animals.
I went to the Beijing Zoo decades ago. I remember camels or something being totally emaciated and sick looking. And the pandas were on concrete. Don't remember much else but at that time, the people weren't living much better than that either.