Our new addition

[Shell]

Say hello to Bruce Our newest addition (purebred Doberman, 50% European bloodlines, 50% American).

Been to visit a few times now, and he officially comes home with us later this week.



My son picked his name, after the shark from Finding Nemo (his favorite movie), and we all thought it was a perfect fit for him.

 

[The Snark]

Okay Shell, I'm putting you on the line now. I'd like to get ongoing reports on this chaps progress as it remains a slobbery happy friendly puppy-ish friend to all, without any trace of hostility, for the entirety of it's life.
(I'm looking for the antithesis of the 'I gots me a doberman and am gonna train it to kill maim and hurt lots of things hyuck hyuck' mentality)

 

[Shell]

Okay Shell, I'm putting you on the line now. I'd like to get ongoing reports on this chaps progress as it remains a slobbery happy friendly puppy-ish friend to all, without any trace of hostility, for the entirety of it's life.
(I'm looking for the antithesis of the 'I gots me a doberman and am gonna train it to kill maim and hurt lots of things hyuck hyuck' mentality)

Absolutely My grandpa used to breed Dobes, and being a tech I've met quite a few. I have yet to meet one who wasn't super friendly/a big baby. This guy will be very well socialized with everyone (kids, people, dogs, other animals etc), and anything less than well trained and obedient isn't tolerated in our dogs. I don't want a dog that wants to kill and maim.

 

[The Snark]

Actually, I had an encounter two WAY overly playful critters, with a huge Dobie and an even larger, broader in the beam, golden retriever, just last night. Were are talking almost 200 lbs of dog and both as good natured as they come. The dobie leaped out of a truck and they started romping insanely like this was the highlight of their lives. The retriever introduced the dobie to it's favorite swamp and they just went nuts. Then they decided they needed to share the joy with about 80 people at a party. A solid half the crowd was coated in slobber and swamp juice from almost the waist down before the dogs were corralled. My pard and I took refuge on the hood of our jeep to watch the action. If ever I needed a video cam it was then.
Dobie's at play are hilarious, but they tend to send small children flying in their wake.

 

[catfishrod69]

Congrats Shell. He looks like an awesome little addition.

 

[Shell]

Dobie's at play are hilarious, but they tend to send small children flying in their wake.

True, but then again the ones we had when I was little were awesome (we had one I used to climb all over as a toddler, he was super gentle). This guy will be raised with our kids (7 and 4), so he will be taught the appropriate way to play with them (and they are also taught the appropriate way to behave around dogs). He will also never be unsupervised with the kids (but that's how I am with any dog regardless of breed). My old lab, while super friendly and sweet was pretty bad for knocking little kids down. He didn't mean to, he just didn't realize he was big.

 

[GregorSamsa]

SO ADORABLE. That little tongue. I can't take it. Congrats!!

 

[Shell]

SO ADORABLE. That little tongue. I can't take it. Congrats!!

Lol thanks. He is super sweet, kind of old soul in a puppy body. Certainly not rowdy, insane puppy like the rest of his litter. He takes care of his sister, who almost died at birth and is very stunted in her growth. I watched him shield her from the other puppies in the litter trying to rough house with her (she can take it now, she is healthy just small, but I guess he figures she still needs defending). It was really neat to watch the way he looks after her. He's very calm mentally, and I'm hoping he will be an awesome fit with us. I think he will, every time I go see him, I get an even stronger vibe from him that he is perfect for us.

He comes home thursday night, can't wait. I went last night and bought whatever I needed for him that I don't already have. He gets his ears done before I pick him up, and then once I get them healed, I can start posting them to get them up. Nobody start flaming me about his ears, please and thanks. I am a certified vet tech, I know the details of the process, as well as the aftercare and the care required in taping them to get them to stand. We gave a lot of thought as to whether we wanted to keep them natural or have them done, and I thoroughly interviewed the vet doing the procedure before we made our decision.

I took a couple new pics yesterday, first a fuzzy one of Bruce, he didn't want to sit still so not really in focus, but still cute. 2nd of his mom, she's a little thin from this litter, they're working on getting the weight back on her, but she's so pretty, and very sweet (she likes to shake my hand, and give me kisses....big scary dobe for sure lol).

 

[Najakeeper]

He comes home thursday night, can't wait. I went last night and bought whatever I needed for him that I don't already have. He gets his ears done before I pick him up, and then once I get them healed, I can start posting them to get them up. Nobody start flaming me about his ears, please and thanks. I am a certified vet tech, I know the details of the process, as well as the aftercare and the care required in taping them to get them to stand. We gave a lot of thought as to whether we wanted to keep them natural or have them done, and I thoroughly interviewed the vet doing the procedure before we made our decision.

What is the reason behind the ear cropping?

 

[Shell]

What is the reason for the ear cropping?

As in for the breed in general? Or why we chose to do it? Personally, I prefer the look of it. The natural eared Dobes look more like black and tan coonhounds to me, and while I love hounds, we are spending a good chunk of money on this guy, so we would like him to look like a dobe. The vet doing it is a dobe only vet, and he is very good, and very concerned with the well being of the dogs, which is why we decided to go ahead. I would have left him natural if I didn't approve of the vet or how they are done etc. I may like how they look, but I don't want a dog with botched ears either. Me being a tech also helped us make the decision, I have the experience to make sure he is cared for properly afterwards.

One minor detail that I also like about cropped/standing ears is they are less prone to ear infections than natural ears ("droopy" ears trap and hold moisture which causes ear infections), this is not my sole reasoning, but definitely a bonus. My last dog suffered awful ear infections, and even though we always treated them properly, he eventually lost his hearing due to them. It was tough to watch him go through one after another in spite of everything we did.

For the breed in general it has something to do with being protection dogs, cropped ears make it hard for an attacker to grab and pull them.

And before anyone gets on me about buying a dog from a breeder...I have rescued many dogs, I love rescuing/adopting dogs, but I have 2 children with autism, and this dog is going to be getting some very specialized training in regards to my kids, so we needed to be very very picky about the dog we chose, and when you have a job like this in mind, sometimes it comes at a cost. The dog we chose had to meet certain criteria so that we can do the specialized training with him. We have high hopes for this little fella, not only will he be a much loved family pet, but also hopefully a valued therapy dog for my kids.

 

[The Snark]

I may be as dumb as a stump, but IMHO, subjecting any animal to general anesthesia for an elective cosmetic surgery is

If dogs and humans could verbally communicate the dialogue would roughly be as follows:

Human: "Know what sweetums? I'm going to have them give you a shot that will knock you on your arse for a half day while they hack up your ears into the cutest little points!"
Dog: "You're telling me this knowing my fangs aren't hefty enough to take out your femoral artery. Tell you what. You try it and let me know how it went. I'll be in the attic under that old tarp."

 

[MarkmD]

Congrats, he is very cute.

 

[Deathmetal]

Hey,

I have a euro dobe bitch whose c+d and just over a year old. Living in the GTA area. We could have a playdate! Shoot me a PM if you want.

 

[Shell]

Thanks everyone The countdown is on, tomorrow night he comes home. He had his vet appt yesterday and everything checked out just fine (I knew it would, I have given him a few thorough check ups and didn't foresee any health issues with him). He was bouncing around, happy and playing within an hour after anesthetic, not at all bothered by it (the nice thing about puppies is they recover insanely fast from provided they are healthy). So now I just wait, going after dinner tomorrow to get him. I will be sure to post some new pics once we get home.

 

[Shell]

He's home, and already made friends with our Ragdoll (she's too inbred to care, the other cat has gone into hiding mode).

 

[nickianderson]

Awww adorable! My baby girl is 11 months and she's my Pomeranians protector! The 2 are my parents and the one with the weird looking Pom is my girl! Such great dogs

 

[Shell]

They're so cute! So far Bruce has been really good, I am sure he will wake up and proceed to wake the whole house up but for now he has put himself to bed lol.

 

[The Snark]

Hope you have a nice spare collection of shoes... I mean chew toys. Cute little monster.

 

[Ivymike1973]

He is so adorable. Congratulations Shell.

 

[Shell]

Hope you have a nice spare collection of shoes... I mean chew toys. Cute little monster.

Haha, he has already figured out which toys are his, and so far so good.

He is so adorable. Congratulations Shell.

Thanks, we love him