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I just went home for a week and a half (note to self: too long!) I went up to visit some long time family horse friends that have dobes... The first dobe of theirs that I met was one of the reasons I fell in love with the breed. He had all of the qualities you'd want from a great dobe: gorgeous, loyal, loving, smart, brave, etc. I loved that darn dog so much (I lived with them for a bit and he was my buddy), and he just died last year.
The vent: their lack of knowledge and the fact that they decided to do a couple of breedings, *sigh... They bred the old man once a couple of years before he died. I have no clue what bitch they used, but she belonged to a friend. I don't think either one had a show record or anything (as much as I loved that dog, I don't think he really needed to be bred). The puppies were typical cute dobe pups, and they kept one of the sons (yes, one of the males to come live with their existing male...)
Fast forward to earlier this year. The oldest dobe has passed away (pretty sure before the male they kept was old enough to start causing issues), and they still have the one son as well as a new female. They decide to breed the two of them. No, not a show record on either one, and after having met them both this last trip, no reason at all to breed either one...
LUCKILY, they realized that having a litter of puppies is a pain in the butt, so they got the female fixed about as soon as the last pup was weaned. They also aren't the type to breed for $$, so there's that in their favor.
Unluckily, they decided to keep one of the males from the litter... Both males will likely stay intact, and they all live together and hang out together. And they had always planned to keep one of the males from the litter. Can't wait until he hits maturity, right? They clearly don't feel same sex aggression is an issue.
Now onto the ear cropping: when I first came up the drive, the pup was sitting out in the yard. I thought, hmm, they must be letting his ears air out before they put him back in posts. Because his ears are CLEARLY not done... NOPE! They proudly told me that they never had to post his ears... AH! All of their crops are kind of ugly, but at least they stand like they should. This pup will have permanent pockets. It's ugly.
Then, when someone brought up ear cropping (and I said, hey, if they aren't show dogs and you don't want to mess with posting, why bother? *hint* *hint*) they brought up all the usual BS about how it's actually more cruel to leave them uncropped because of the ear infections... *Siiiiiigh. I have no qualms with people choosing to crop, but I think subpar crop is SO much uglier than a floppy ear.
Also, all their current dogs are pretty monster sized...
What other box is left to tick? Again, at least they've decided a litter is way too much work, and they aren't the type to breed for $$.
I feel like this happens sometimes with horse people who are very accomplished within their sport. They are familiar with horse breeding and managing animals, so they feel their knowledge extends to dogs. These same people would crucify someone for breeding a low quality mare, but don't understand why bringing their litter of unregistered Jack Russells to a horse show to sell/give away is a big deal... Seems odd, but I see it more than I'd expect.
Aaaanyway, my fellow animal loving friends understood the vent but couldn't quite appreciate the dobe-specific issues (bad ear crops, oversized dogs, same sex aggression issues), so I thought I'd vent on here.
Unfortunately, only one of the owners is really close enough to me for me to have any ability to chat about these issues, and he's not the one who's super invested in the doberman breed. Plus, he really isn't that receptive to hearing about it, since it's not his deal. And I only see them about once a year these days, if I'm lucky, so I'm not much of an influence. I suppose we can just hope they continue to think breeding is too much hassle. Then give advice when the males decide they aren't buds anymore... Ugh.
The vent: their lack of knowledge and the fact that they decided to do a couple of breedings, *sigh... They bred the old man once a couple of years before he died. I have no clue what bitch they used, but she belonged to a friend. I don't think either one had a show record or anything (as much as I loved that dog, I don't think he really needed to be bred). The puppies were typical cute dobe pups, and they kept one of the sons (yes, one of the males to come live with their existing male...)
Fast forward to earlier this year. The oldest dobe has passed away (pretty sure before the male they kept was old enough to start causing issues), and they still have the one son as well as a new female. They decide to breed the two of them. No, not a show record on either one, and after having met them both this last trip, no reason at all to breed either one...
LUCKILY, they realized that having a litter of puppies is a pain in the butt, so they got the female fixed about as soon as the last pup was weaned. They also aren't the type to breed for $$, so there's that in their favor.
Unluckily, they decided to keep one of the males from the litter... Both males will likely stay intact, and they all live together and hang out together. And they had always planned to keep one of the males from the litter. Can't wait until he hits maturity, right? They clearly don't feel same sex aggression is an issue.
Now onto the ear cropping: when I first came up the drive, the pup was sitting out in the yard. I thought, hmm, they must be letting his ears air out before they put him back in posts. Because his ears are CLEARLY not done... NOPE! They proudly told me that they never had to post his ears... AH! All of their crops are kind of ugly, but at least they stand like they should. This pup will have permanent pockets. It's ugly.
Then, when someone brought up ear cropping (and I said, hey, if they aren't show dogs and you don't want to mess with posting, why bother? *hint* *hint*) they brought up all the usual BS about how it's actually more cruel to leave them uncropped because of the ear infections... *Siiiiiigh. I have no qualms with people choosing to crop, but I think subpar crop is SO much uglier than a floppy ear.
Also, all their current dogs are pretty monster sized...
What other box is left to tick? Again, at least they've decided a litter is way too much work, and they aren't the type to breed for $$.
I feel like this happens sometimes with horse people who are very accomplished within their sport. They are familiar with horse breeding and managing animals, so they feel their knowledge extends to dogs. These same people would crucify someone for breeding a low quality mare, but don't understand why bringing their litter of unregistered Jack Russells to a horse show to sell/give away is a big deal... Seems odd, but I see it more than I'd expect.
Aaaanyway, my fellow animal loving friends understood the vent but couldn't quite appreciate the dobe-specific issues (bad ear crops, oversized dogs, same sex aggression issues), so I thought I'd vent on here.
Unfortunately, only one of the owners is really close enough to me for me to have any ability to chat about these issues, and he's not the one who's super invested in the doberman breed. Plus, he really isn't that receptive to hearing about it, since it's not his deal. And I only see them about once a year these days, if I'm lucky, so I'm not much of an influence. I suppose we can just hope they continue to think breeding is too much hassle. Then give advice when the males decide they aren't buds anymore... Ugh.