Doberman Puppies Blog

All our dogs have the ability to break our hearts. Whether you share your life with a DOBERMAN or a Labrador Retriever, the bond you form with your dog can be one of the closest and most powerful you will ever experience.

If you want proof of just how extraordinary the relationsip between man and his best friend can be then you really must read a stunning new book called One Dog At A Time. It has been written by a British Marine and dog lover called Pen Farthing and tells of his time serving in the violent Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

While dodging the bullets and mortars, Sergeant Farthing witnessed the cruel and barbaric Afghan tradition of dog fighting. Rather than standing by as many would have done, he risked his life by breaking up the fighting and freeing the dogs. One of them, a big, battle-scarred mastiff he christened Nowzad after the town he was stationed in, found his way into the Marine compound where he befriended his liberator. As Farthing’’s tour of duty continued, he and Nowzad became inseparable buddies. The tough British soldier and the powerful dog formed an odd couple in the middle of the war zone. They were soon joined by other dogs who were drawn to the sanctuary the Marine compound provided. At one point, one dog pushed her litter of newborn pups through the wall of the compound so that they could be safe from the Taliban bombs and general cruelty of the Afghans towards the dog.

By the end of his time in Afghanistan, Farthing had more than a dozen dogs and puppies living in his makeshift sanctuary. As he prepared to leave, he was faced with the heartbreaking prospect of leaving them all behind.

We won’t spoil the ending of this powerful book, but suffice it to say that two of the dogs he rescued are now living with Pen Farthing in England. He has also set up a fantastic charity to rescue other abused dogs in Afghanistan. His work is truly inspirational and is winning the admiration and support of dog lovers everywhere. Part of the proceeds from the book will go towards his charity.

If you only buy and read one dog book this year, make it One Dog At A Time.

Some funny facts about canine sleeping habits.

One in five dogs snore. That’s what a group of scientists discovered when they did a study on canine sleeping habits.

They also discovered that dogs dream. In a series of tests vets recorded dogs experiencing Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep, which in humans indicate a dreamy state. Interestingly, the vets also discovered that dogs tend to doze in on-off sequences, snoozing for an hour then waking for half an hour. During the waking period dogs are often highly active and do things like pacing around and barking. No one yet has explained whether this is related to their dreams.

Not all dogs are able to control their sleeping habits so well.
Dobermans were bred by a German tax-collector who wanted to produce a dog so fierce that it could protect him on travels through bandit-infested countryside and persuade reluctant debtors to pay up. One line of the breed didn’t quite work out according to plan, however.

This unfortunate strain of Dobermans suffer from narcolepsy- an inherited condition which makes them drop sound asleep whenever they get excited. Even the sight or smell of a favourite snack is enough to send them into a deep slumber.

For more odd and interesting scientific facts about man’s best friend you should read ‘ ‘Play It Again Tom: Curious Truths About Cats And Dogs’ by Augustus Brown
.

Dogs have become such an important part of our society, that the need for them to fit in well with other human beings and not pose a threat or a disturbance is critical to their long term acceptance by our neighbors and others around us. Not all people are dog lovers and to make sure that they’re not inconvenienced by our pets, training is essential.

Also, dog training is an integral part of a working dog’s life for them to be able to assist humans in activities like hunting and police work. Training dogs is a specialized skill since the key difficulty lies in how to communicate efficiently with them.

All training of dogs is a repetition of the basic principle of reward and punishment in various forms and combinations. Communication of these signals is the key to proper training. One very important thing to remember is consistency of signals. The reliability of the training depends on how well a dog is able to be sure of what your signals mean.

It must also be mentioned that different dog breeds take to training differently. Dogs like the iconic German Shepherd are very easily trained due to their high intelligence. Another important factor is the emotional state of the dog. A dog that is frightened, anxious, or insecure doesn’t train well and this reflects the importance of factors like proper socialization of Doberman puppies.

A lot of studies have shown that proper puppy socialization goes a long way towards ensuring a good temperament and receptivity towards training. Lots of handling, petting and generally being around humans in their everyday life goes a long way towards making a dog well behaved and easy to train.

Training Doberman puppies should not begin too early however, as there is evidence to show that before a certain age, the brains of puppies are not significantly developed enough to process complex learning.

Professional dog trainers are best when it comes to training your dog as they will ensure that the proper habits are set for life, including how to behave around strangers. For the safety of your dog, it is your duty as an owner to ensure that he or she is well trained.

A lot of people asked me if i have any experience or could recommend a good dog trainer/training book or video. 

There are several websites competing for the dog training keyword and many sells training material/services. It is so hard to choose which one you should go with. I started to listen to podcasts on iTunes and this is how I came across with Leerburg Training. The FREE podcast proved how professional and knowledgeable they are.  Well, I have spoken to several professionals and read many books. 

There is only one I can recommend and this is the Leerburg Training Materials. Here are just a few of my favorites:

http://leerburg.com/cart/affiliate.php?Model=120-D&affiliate=Euro Puppy

How to tape your Doberman’s ear?

After cropping your Doberman puppy’s ears, it is going to require regular ear tapings for quite some time. Proper taping will ensure the puppy less stress and beautiful ears. It takes patience and persistence for success.

1. Post the ears and leave them up six days, then take down and leave down for a few hours but never overnight. 
2. Re-tape and leave them up again for six days, then remove tape again. 
3. When the ears stand, you can leave them down until they start to drop, then re-tape as before and leave them for another six days. 
4. Search and smell the ears regularly for scent of infection. NEVER post infected ears. Also, remember always to clean the ears from glue after removing the tape.

Ears should not be taped until most of the scabs from the surgery have healed.  If there are just 1 or 2 scabs left, cover those with a little antibiotic powder, cover this with gaze and then tape over them.

There is no set amount of time that it takes before a puppy’s ears will stand; the average time for taping is approximately 4-5 months. Most pups have their ears up by the age of 9 months. That said, it isn’t unusual for some ears not to stand until the pup is a year old or more.  Some puppies have very thick ear leather, which means that their ears will take longer to raise. Also a long show crop that you can see in some of our champions takes it a few months extra to raise but it is well worth it!

Read the rest of this entry »

A little history of the Doberman through the ages as seen through the eyes of the artist: Douglas Rickard.

I find that many people are not clued up about the actual size availability of a Doberman.

Some people look for “King? Dobermans…

There is no such thing as a ?King? Doberman. Or a ?Superior? or ?Excelsior? Doberman either. These terms refer to nothing more than an oversized Doberman. Dobermans are medium-sized, agile dogs and they must be able to perform the job they were bred to do. Perhaps if one is looking for a 32-inch tall (or larger dog), than one should choose a larger breed.

Some people on the other hand look for Miniature Doberman Pinchers…

Again, there is no such thing as a miniature Doberman. Most people think (and hope?) that the miniature pinscher (Min Pin) - also a native German breed that has been known in that country for over 300 years- is actually a smaller, miniaturized version of the Doberman. Sorry, it really is another breed altogether! . The miniature pinscher is 10-12?” at the shoulder and was originally used as a barnyard ratter. They are in no way similar to a Doberman.

The best canine tracker ever, was recorded in 1925, and the record is still held today. The record-holder was a Doberman called “Sauer”. He was trained by Detective-Sergeant Herbert Kruger from South Africa. Sauer tracked a stock thief 100 miles (161 km) across the vast Great Karroo, in South Africa by scent alone. Awesome!

“White” or “albino” Dobermans are not actually white animals. They are a pale tan or cream colored, and only the areas which would normally be rust-colored are actually white. These Dobermans have blue eyes, not pink or red eyes. Because these dogs are not white and because they have blue eyes, some people claim that they are not actually albino. Hairs from several albino Dobermans were compared by a veterinary expert to hairs from normal black, red, and blue Dobermans. The melanin pigment granules (melanosomes) are severely reduced in both number and in pigment content in an albino Doberman, as compared to normal Dobermans.That is why they are so light in color.The first ever albino Doberman was born in 1976.The mother of all Albino Dobies was registered by the AKC as White, since they believed that Albino is not a color. There have been tests done on these dogs, when two albinos were bred. Their offspring were found to have faults such as poor conformation, poor temperaments (aggression and fear problems, problems with trainability), multiple missing teeth, photosensitivity and sensitivity to sunburn. Although they are not the “best” representatives of their breed, they require and deserve just as much love…and even more care than the “normal” Dobies out there.

( Info: courtesy of: Ione L. Smith, DVM)

The acceptable colors of a Doberman are as follows:

• Black (with rust-colored markings) 
• Blue (actually gray, with rust markings. A dilute black is actually a blue.)
• Red (various shades of red-brown with rust markings)
• Fawn (called “Isabella;” about the color range of ‘camel’s hair’ with rust markings. A dilute red is actually a fawn.)

Occasionally one can see white colored Dobermans. They are albinos. This is rare and not acceptable according to the breed standard.