If they could write down the areas what has been and still have had a impact on their life and well-being what would they share with us. Or even better if they could VOTE for a amount of Breed Stewards who would make a turning point. It maybe open our eyes and heart even more to do what is best for the individual, the breed, it’s history, it’s purpose and last but not least the population as a whole. One thing is for sure they are given us through their loyalness still the believe we are true to the breed but their signals must tell us otherwhise. We are not fully aware of the impact many of us individuals have on the breeds future preservation.
The essence of a memoir is that is written by the person itself but writing does not belongs to the Dobermann’s equipment. Yes, I’m aware that the Dobermann is a Canine and not a human. This said the breed is been called by Otto Göller, breeder and a very influential man in regard of the becoming of the breed, the Dog with the Human Mind 😉 Reading and understanding their language (emotions) makes it possible to write down some words as a sort memoir of the unique individual. We also can experience within our Dobermann a overall trait what is so fixed in that it is called to be typical Dobermann. The ones who have a passion for a certain breed describes always their exclusive traits. These traits are maybe not so unique/exclusive as they seem……..they came from other breeds, they brought in through selection and are also a part of the make up of the canine species. The young breed Dobermann is as all the other purebreds affected by our human culture, evolution, trends, environmental changes and thoughts about purposes.
During Victorian time breeds also created into a business and breeding for appearance was born !
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07039-z
It’s all part of their development during their years of becoming the breed and with this the memoirs each of us can experience.
Never forget that the Dobermann is also just a Dog with Doggy traits and needs ! It’s no working machine or a show item. First of all they are loyal companions with a unique personal character ( during maturity) and suited with emotional intelligence aswell a protective nature.
So Let them be a Dog !
It’s my wish that it becomes just normal that within the population each Dobermann can explore in it’s early life and during all ages. Too much pressure also from the breeder and the environment or later through their owner/handler doesn’t work beneficial for well-being of the individual and it can be experience as very stressful. It’s well known that the Dobermann is a sensitive breed, is in their nature. This needs also understanding about their biological system and the regulation of stress. Stress can become unhealthy and even it is possible to create chronic stress. In this case stress can have free rein and it’s not rare that it will become a trigger for developing diseases or mental problems. This said I’m aware that a proper bred authentic Dobermann is able to deal with some elements of stress, pressure etc. but if you don’t read your Dobermann well and go over the top it doesn’t suit his/her well-being at the long term. There are boundaries and although you think my Dobermann is so active and full with energy you as a owner/handler must give them rest to recover and relax.
I’m a believer that stress can be a trigger for developing some forms of DCM !
DCM is one of the fixed memoirs within the breed and the stories are heartbreaking. It’s so closly linked if you study about the breeds health. Dcm (no free lines ), cancer, their small genepool and so on are elements what makes them in a SCARY POSITION !
Through the different DCM Facebook Groups you can learn and read about personal memoirs and all kinds of DCM related issues.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/288462947847717/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1383131998467324/
Little Explores
Like to thank breeder Ignez Ferreira for our email conversation from march 2019 and sharing some great footage, photos and interesting articles with me. I just introduce one video with this blog and it shows so well about a part in de developing of pups, let them explore the world. Appreciate also her insight in relation to stress and the health problems within the Dobermann Breed. Your personal thoughts are private but as I mentioned in my email reply it would be so valuable if you also shared it public with the Dobermann Community. Although you are not a genetic your vision is worth to spread out and can be a reason for healthy debates. It’s more or less similar as my own thoughts and I devoted a blog to it. https://dobermann981601186.wordpress.com/2019/01/28/the-effect-of-stress-on-genes/
Glad you were able to read my blog and share your thought about it.
Two Memoirs and one book memoir I like to share because every individual Dobermann Matters. They have a impact also at the owners and all who they met during life.
Memoir of Hans.
Some months ago I came across a blogpost from 2015. It was for me worth to copy and share it into this blog. It’s exactly what I ment with a memoir of a individual Dobermann. This been shared through memories and for me as a admire of the breed to cherish and to pass on. It’s the nature of Hans what is so to appreciate and to preserve within the Dobermann breed.
My friend shared with me that his beloved 12 year old pup suddenly passed away. This has been on my mind…
As a result, I am mindful of when I was 4 years old & living with my family in Michigan with my Doberman, Hans. I have vivid remarkable memories of Hans. He was a true Doberman Pinscher, as the breed is known for being, “Always Faithful”. He was a big boy – I remember the age I was standing eye to eye with him & then I grew to be a little taller. My father was a brilliant dog trainer & the original animal lover. And my big brother & I loved playing with Hans in our back yard in the winter snow & the summer grass. Quite often, as I dashed out our back door, my dad would hand me a small paper bag full of trash to toss out in the big metal can in our yard. Each time, Hans would hide behind the trash can & as I approached, suddenly Hans would leap out & he’d jump & hop around me with glee! I laughed till my sides hurt! I fell for this again & again as he continued to lovingly play his own brand of hide ‘n’ seek behind the big trash can. I never got my dad to admit if he taught Hans how to hide & tease me in this way. But what I do know is that when our family suddenly moved into a small apartment the summer of 1962, before I started kindergarten in California, sadly we did not bring Hans with us. I am unable to remember where my beloved play mate’s new home would be that day – but I do know Hans took a piece of my heart with him. I wonder if it is possible to fill that special void of the loss of a fine dog.
Perhaps it is due to that lost love that we must freely give to every dog we see in our new life with out our faithful friend at our feet. I do know, that with out the great companionship of Hans, the unexpected fun & laughter, the feeling of being protected – I would never have experienced that great level of unconditional love & compassion – as my heart grew to realize I’d never see Hans again, I experienced a painful sense of loss at much too young of an age. Hans was one of my greatest teachers. Perhaps my first teacher. My memories of Hans are my strongest childhood memories of Michigan when I was only 3 & 4 years old.
My entire life since the summer I turned 5, when ever I see a Doberman, my joy filled heart gravitates towards him & I hear myself softly say,”Haaans! I remember you. Thank you for teaching me about unconditional love. I will love you forever, right back!” For I too, am “Always Faithful”.
End quote.
https://sobersinglemom.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/for-the-love-of-dogs/
Memoir of Gato.
Gato’s Unique Story
Gato’s story illustrates how you can have a genetically great dog, lots of knowledge, good intentions, but still mess everything up in the most horrible way. Due to my work schedule, I paid a young woman with lots of experience with working puppies to let my puppies out during the day, when I was unable to do so. Having this person care for the puppies began approximately when they were six weeks of age until Gato was approximately 16 weeks of age.
At about 8 weeks, I had noticed that he had become very evasive of and even aggressive toward people who dropped by my house. I couldn’t explain it. I had never seen such dislike of people in my puppies prior to Gato. The more I tried to socialize him, the more upset he would become.
At the outset, I had asked my puppy sitter to not let any children around the puppies unless I was present, because I did not want the puppies to have a bad experience with children. This young lady’s step children were known to be quite hyperactive and intrusive. She assured me her step children would be left with her grandmother when she came to take care of my puppies.
As it happened, I injured my foot and I needed to stay home. I was on crutches. I forgot to tell this young lady that I did not need her to drop by to care for Gato and Ayla (whom I still had because Greg and Debbie Bach were out of the country). I was in my bedroom and I heard a commotion at my back door. By the time I got on my crutches and to my back door, downstairs from my bedroom, the puppies had been let out and three horrible children were surrounding Gato, all of them grabbing at him, screaming, laughing, and basically torturing him. Then, when he was snatched up by them, the grandmother began slapping and smacking him, as he growled and snapped at her. He had been placed in a completely defensive position, that is, what he believed to be fighting for his life. When I rescued him, I asked them what exactly was going on. They explained to me that they noticed early on that Gato did not like children and they were “fixing him” for me. Well , he was “fixed alright.” He hated people especially children.
I tried and tried to socialize Gato, but to no avail. He HATED people who were not me, or my friend Terry Slingluff, whom he had known well from birth.
When Gato was 18 months old, I was trying to help my friend Tom MacLean place a male puppy he had. I asked at the mondio ring club where I trained Gato whether any of them would be interested in Tom’s puppy. My friend at the club, Nicole, told me her older brother very much wanted a Doberman, but he was a WV State Trooper, and he needed an adult protection dog. She knew Gato well and believed Gato would be the perfect dog for her brother. I feared that Gato would be too aggressive to live with anyone but me. However, I was willing to give it a try, because Gato was very serious about biting and he was more of a protection dog than a sport dog. We decided to try. As you can see in the photographs, Gato did very well with Bobby and his wife, Annie. Going to live with Bobby and Annie, who was studying to be a medical doctor and accomplished this goal with the assistance of Gato, was the best thing that ever happened to Gato. He learned that people other than me can be trustworthy. Bobby and Annie loved Gato, but they wanted to have children and they could not socialize him enough with children that they felt comfortable with him being around children. After two years, he returned to me.
Gato was extraordinarily excited to come “home.” He ran around my property like a puppy. The only problem was that I now had Zorro, the puppy from Tom, who was two years old. Having the two of them was just too much given my work schedule. Eventually, Barb and Nick Valerio of Barnic Dobermans became Gato’s forever home. They plan to do AKC Obedience and Agility with him, which he appears to be loving at this time.
Gato’s story illustrates that even when the environmental circumstances don’t work out optimally, an excellent temperament is resilient. Gato is undeniable proof that resilience is possible, when an underlying excellent temperament is present.
Furthermore, rational handling on my part when he was young likely contributed to Gato’s recovery. Because he really trusted me, due to my not using the oppressive “alpha roll” approach, he was able to extend the trusting attachment that he had to me, toward his new families on two separate occasions. For a brief discussion of the “alpha role” approach being a HUGE MISTAKE with a Bahnhof Doberman.
https://www.bahnhofdobermans.com/g-litter–2nd-g-litter-.html
Why I’m sharing the story of Gato, it’s shows us also how important breeding for sound temperament is. Sadly many times we can experience the opposite because of poor breeding selection. A Dobermann with a unsound and unstable temperament from nature (birth) will never be fixed through nurture. It’s only through managing you can make life more pleasant, for both Dobermann and man.
Memoir of Martin.
A memoir written by Thomas Healey, I Have Heard You Calling In The Night.
Look Inside.
It seems now like a different me, the years I spent with Martin, a Dobermann dog, and before he came, another me; and it’s a new me now, once again, writing this. I would have been dead long ago had I continued to live the way I had before he came. I think someone would have murdered me, given how a drank and the dives that I drink in and that I was an aggressive, angry man. I had no money and no friends… I didn’t care, I cou;dn’t have……….end.
Further reccomendations in the matter of emotions, intelligence and more……….
http://www.christoph-jung.com/publikationen.htm
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