View Full Version : Dobie owners on the forum...
i just wanted to know the experiences that you have had with owning your first dobie and what your preferences in terms of sex etc and just your overall thoughts on them :)
I don't mind it being posted on here or you can pm me.
Zeus
AmberwayGSD
11-12-2005, 12:33 PM
I prefer females.I used to Show and Breed them.Dobermans are major velcro dogs.Mine even went to the bathroom with me.They are a amazing breed.Mine were great protectors and amazing with My and Hubbies daughter.
Would you say a female dobie would be better as a first doberman rather than a male or is it all a matter of prefernece?
there are TONS of dobe lovers on the forum. Where are they? Doberluv, Chithedobe, dobe dobe dobe lol
there are TONS of dobe lovers on the forum. Where are they? Doberluv, Chithedobe, dobe dobe dobe lol
There all probably too busy playing with their dobies, rubbing my nose in it because i haven't got one yet :p lol but i will soon... hopefully... when i have some money :) .
Of course you will! Are you looking into breeders or rescuing?
Of course you will! Are you looking into breeders or rescuing?
Unsure, may get a rescue dobe somewhere around 2 years old i'd, also i prefer the rust and brown but i also don't mind the traditional rust and black :)
I love the idea of you rescuing. I'm sure you're perfect doggy is out there. Hmmm... now I have to go look at dobe rescues. :D
Sirius
11-12-2005, 05:32 PM
I had a dobe that died about a year and a bit ago. His name was Blue and he was so special. :) Actually, this forum is named after a dobe named Chazhound. LOL, Hence the name Chazhound's dog forum!!
Yeah i noticed the picture of the dobie in the logo, so do you think a female is better too have as a 1st dobie or as i said earlier is it a matter of prefernece do you think?
Sirius
11-12-2005, 05:44 PM
Oh, matter of prefrence. Blue was an old stud that the breeder didn't want anymore. He was our first dobie. Males can be more dominant but that's it. Just train young jedi well. :)
I just would have thought that a female would be a easier choice since thier smaller and less dominent etc.
For a first dog a femal is usally recomended. they are the best dogs ever,for the right people:) Probally not the best first dog if thats the case,unless its an older evaluated rescue.You have to be carefull with breeders too. I just talked to someone today whos son has one she said five inches taler and longre than byron and its just problem after problem and he has woblers. Definately a breed to read up on beofre buying.
Whitedobelover
11-12-2005, 08:07 PM
I have two dobermans and i also think female dobermans are better to have the first time. my male is crazy.. and he seems more difficult to potty train... she was easy and still remains that way... but that is my own prefrence.
Chithedobe
11-12-2005, 09:18 PM
I was out actually walking my Dobe in the pouring rain :-) She loved it. Me? Not so much! :-)
Chihiro is my first experience with a Dobe and what an experience she is turning out to be! She in incredibly smart, too smart sometimes :-) She has a telescopic neck (she can reach anything and everything she is not supposed to have). She is probably the most affectionate dog I've ever seen much less owned and has got tons of personality.
Our first dog was Storm, an American Pit Bull Terrier. With lots of early socialization and training, Storm turned out to be the best dog in the world. Fair or not, every dog we will ever have will in some way be compared to Storm. When we decided on a Dobe (and we did not do nearly as much research as we should have) I had it in my head that if I followed the same pattern with the pup as I did with Storm, everything would quickly fall into place. I'm finding there is a HUGE difference between Pits and Dobes (duh!). I don't think that Storm was a typical Pit though, she was quite content even in her younger years with a couple walks a week. Although she loved our family, she was content to be alone. Many times we would be in the living room watching TV and Storm would be upstairs in the bedroom snoozing. Chi is so different from that. She MUST have at least 2 good walks a day. The idea of her being in a room that I'm not in is just insane in her mind. She -like other have mentioned and I'm sure you have read - is a velcro dog. And when I say velcro, I don't mean she has to be in the same room or near me, she wants to be physically touching someone almost all the time.
She is happiest when she not only has physical excercise but mental as well. She's doing wonderfully with clicker training, mostly because it gives her the opportunity to "think". She's so much fun and has taught me an awful lot about myself in just a few months. But, she's a lot of work. Of course, she's 6 months old and I think all puppies are probably a lot of work at this age.
I personally prefer females to males, not sure why, I just do. I think a female Dobe would be easier for a first timer only because they are very protective by nature and I think a male may be more difficult to socialize. I could be VERY wrong on that though. I'm sure many owners of males could say the same thing about females.
There are tons of wonderful Dobes in rescues. I'm sure when you are ready, you will have little trouble finding your new best Doberfriend :-)
Thanks for all the great advice everyone, especially Chithedobe i enjoyed reading your post :D . If i do decide to get a dobe it's going to be a female from a rescue centre, but when i do would around 2 years old be a good age, because that's the sort of age i would like :) .
Here's a few dobe members to look for
DoberAdmin
DoberKim
Doberluv
RedHotDobe
AgilityDobeMom
Chithedobe
Lexus
11-16-2005, 12:26 PM
Ohhh, I feel so left out.....
Just kidding! My dobe's a girl, and she's been great to work with. Very easy to train, very velco! But definetely a lot to be said for exercise! She can be pretty content laying around, but her trouble making skills will eventually get the best of her ;-) . Socialization is of course important to any dog, but vital to a doberman. Everything you can do, everything you can get your hands on to expose your future dog too. Good luck!
yuckaduck
11-16-2005, 12:49 PM
Is there not an Elle or Ellie or someone like that here that is really knowledgable about dobes? I am sure I read some of her posts and she knows alot, also chitdobe, doberkim, joce and lexus are the ones who have been so great in educating me. I have learned so much from these people, to the point where I have about faced on some of my opinions, just with new knowledge.
Angelique
11-16-2005, 01:32 PM
I studied with a former canine officer over 25 years ago, and he let me puppy raise one of his champion females. Cassie was a wonderful dog! I have such fond memories of her.
Usually, males are preferred for police work, and have more drive. I think a lot has to do with the lineage, too. There are some pretty high drive lines out there. Cassie was from a very high drive, almost workaholic line.
She went all the way to the top of her class with her guard dog abilities, and lived to be about 17!
DobeDad
11-18-2005, 09:26 PM
Following a little late on this....
Got my first Dobe (and first dog) almost exactly a year ago. We chose a female based on advice from the breeder, books, folks on internet sites like this, etc. We've been extremely happy with her so far (for the most part...occasionally want to kick her out the door! ;) ) but wouldn't trade her for anything in the world.
We didn't really have any dog training experience before we got her so everything has been learned on the fly...let me tell you though, Abby learned how to avoid doing what we wanted faster than we could realize we were doing anything wrong! Very fast learners. Sometimes I think if we were to have adopted an older dog, a lot of the early training issues could have been avoided, but in reality i guess you never stop training.
Its great that you're doing so much research before you ever get one.
Thanks for the replies everyone, well im going to have to read throught them now more carefully and try and learn as much as i can about them :) as you've all provided great advice.
Sirius
11-19-2005, 11:19 AM
Now I want another dobie !!! ;) Blueeeeeeeeeee !!!! ugh but with this friggen cast on my leg I can't do anything !!!
Now I want another dobie !!! ;) Blueeeeeeeeeee !!!! ugh but with this friggen cast on my leg I can't do anything !!!
I want a dobie too :) , what happened to your leg? :confused:
chazhound
11-19-2005, 01:59 PM
A Dobe is a great dog. Chazhound was the best!
Chazhound
Doberluv
11-19-2005, 04:09 PM
I'm late here too...didn't notice this thread before.
Where are all the Dobe owners?
There all probably too busy playing with their dobies, rubbing my nose in it because i haven't got one yet lol but i will soon... hopefully... when i have some money
LOL! That's cute. Yes, I'm very busy with my Doberboy.
That's the one thing you'll be with a Doberman....busy. Because they're so busy. You have to keep up. LOL.
Most people recommend a female for a first time Dobe owner. Most people do not recommend a Doberman for a first time dog owner.
Females will tend to be a little less drivey. However, dominance is not a word I'd choose to describe a dog. It's more what comes out of....or a bi-product of a relationship with a dog.
I've heard people say that the females are very affectionate, but on their own terms...that like female people, can tend to be a little moody at times. These people I talked to....breeders etc and things I read stated that the males tended to be "good 'ole boy slobs, in your face affectionate..." all the time. LOL. Steady. They say that the females can be a little stubborn at times to train, but have better staying power...a little more focus. The boys tend to be very distractable, but very willing. I don't know first hand a difference since I've only just had my male.
He is truly the most affectionate dog I think I've ever seen, so ready to play or work or just snuggle. I love this dog dearly. We have a really tight bond and understanding of eachother. There is no problem with "dominance." He's absolutely lovely and respectful, highly intelligent, interested in learning and intuitive. He really knows my moods. It's like all their senses are hightened...everything that we see in dogs is just so much more intense with this breed. Lyric is a real goof ball dork. That's what I call him...a dork. He bounds around, pawing at the air, knocking into things and just has a marvelous sense of humor. He is so sweet natured, has never shown one iota of being perturbed about anything anyone does, even if one of my Chihuahuas gets irritated with his antics and hangs off his lip, he looks like, "Duh....what are we playing?" He's oblivious to what a bad mood is.
Yes, the drawback is that you can't go to the bathroom alone unless you're very fast and can close the door quickly...because they won't just come in the bathroom with you. They want to help you through the entire process, step by step and have no qualms.
When I'm walking back down my hall way, Lyric gets seriously in the way. He'll be in front and turn all the way around (barely fits) to make sure I'm coming, where by I have to wait till he gets himself turned back around again and we continue our trek down my not so long hall way. LOL. It's all a big deal...everything.
So, yes....do your research because they're not easy puppies to raise. And you better like hiking and walking a lot and learn about training with lots of positive methods. Too much repitition bores these dogs out of their gords. And copious amounts of socialization is imperative.
Good luck. Let us know what you find out.
Thanks for the advice Doberluv, much appreiciated your dobie sounds like the type of dog i'd love to have :)
Doberluv
11-21-2005, 07:09 PM
Oh, he's turning out wonderfully, but when he was a younger pup, I seriously, at times was half tempted to pack his suitcase and send him back. LOL. They can be trying as puppies. But, I found that lots of positive training methods worked sooooo much better than trying to out-will him, or have power struggles. When I started implimenting the clicker training philosophy or generally using operant conditioning methods, his behavior made an about face turn and we were on the road. Yes, you have to be firm, assertive and all that, but using lots of motivation/reward training, distracting from unwanted behavior or preventing it in the first place really made things run a lot smoother in my household.
Have fun in your search and keep up the good work on researching. There's so much to learn. Let us know how things are going. I'm interested in anyone getting a Doberman, how their time goes with them and everything about it.
Did you check out stuff about what constitutes a reputable breeder, how to find one, what questions to ask etc? Hope things go well for you.
Godzuki
11-25-2005, 02:34 PM
hehe well i like reading all this dober stuff im pretty new i just joined today, but we have 2 females(3 year old sasha red and rust, and 13 week old black and rust named remi) right now and did have a male(bullet) but he has past away.
our old dobe sasha we got after looking for months and bought her from a breeder here in michigan.
remi we just rescued last weekend on sat from a shelter, she is still way under weight and almost scary how under weight she was when we got her but she seems to be putting on some pounds already.
we also have a english springer spainel named molly, but she is a little to mature to play hehe, from what i have seen so far she is more than willing to play with a male dog of any breed, but she seems to have a problem with females, she just wont play much unless shes in the mood.
remi and sasha are getting along superbly and they seem to be perfect pal's.
the only difference i have seen from bullet to our other 2 females is he mellowed out sooner he was still a very affectionate dog. well its time to get my winter gear on and take them all out side to play.
i also have a buddy with 2 red female dobes ill have to send him a link to this place.
wildwings811
11-29-2005, 10:35 AM
Agilitydobemom was my formername now it is Wildwings811
Anyways Dobermans are a great breed and I love mine to pieces he is an awsome dog but he is also great representative of poor breeding he is a rescue and has had many health problems
Hypothyroidism
IBS
Allergies
Bilateral Cryptorchid
and so on
Even with his poor start being only 25 pounds at one year old and being scared to death of humans (he lived under my bed for two months) he has been a great dog
This summer he earned his CGC and is well on his way to earning his CD in only one year and he just loves agility
If you are considering a rescue I would recommend it I feel they are the best because they show their appreciation :) but if it is your first Dobe make sure you do lots of research and if you buy a pup buy from a reputable breeder and female is alot easier to handle than a male:)