Tough Dog Breeds: Doberman Pinschers

Once again I am going to state that I am not a professional and it is not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings. I love all dogs and I am not trying to say that any of them are bad. However, I know from my own life and from other people's experiences in the same realm that this particular breed is a real handful - and people who acquire one really need to know what they are getting themselves into.

It is also worth noting that I absolutely love Dobermans, I think they are one of the most regal breeds in existance and they are extremely loyal and well, tough and scary-looking. However, they are a real handful if you don't have the right amount of time and conditions for them

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I was first introduced to Dobermans outside of films by my high school friend who ordered a male purebreed (at great expense) from a world-renowned breeder. His name was "Trevor" (the dog's name) and he was pure muscle with a bark that would scare the pants off of any would-be burglar.

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However, if you were in Trevor's "inner circle" (IE, his owner knew and trusted you) you had absolutely nothing to fear as he was just as much of an attention-seeking pussycat as the average Golden Retriever. His owner Mark could get him all riled up by saying "Trevor.... where is the cat!" and Trevor would run around going mental with that deep, fear-inducing bark and growl of his.

I loved Dobermans from that point forward. However, there were some downsides that I think was brought on by the less-than-perfect living conditions.

Dobermans are HUGE animals and it should come as no surprise that they need a tremendous amount of exercise. My friend was not an exercise dude and even if he was, the leash laws in the United States would make it nearly impossible for Trevor to get the amount of exercise that he needed. This resulted in a problem than many large dogs end up having.... boredom.

Nearly every Doberman owner that I have known, or do not know and simply see their testimonials online) their dog would chew up everything. Obviously, this is problematic for the owner. They also do not stay terribly interested in their own backyards for some reason. The people I know that have wonderful Dobes, one of the couple doesn't work and spends a lot of time in the yard playing with their dog. "Tinker" (the other dog) is very well-behaved and every time i see him he is normally asleep, exhausted from the long playtime in the yard.

Trevor on the other hand, was extremely loyal, and would never disobey a command, but when left alone, he would chew up anything he could get his hands on.... Mark would get him all manor of chew toys but sill had to lock him up whenever he went to work and this is where tragedy struck. Trevor began chewing on his own front paw and eventually developed an incurable infection on said paw because of his persistence. The leg eventually had to be amputated and about a year later, Trevor did the same thing to his other front paw. At this point Mark had to leave trevor with one of those cone-of-shame devices on at all times.

This was not because Trevor was a bad boi, or because Mark mistreated him, Mark simply didn't have enough time to give Trevor the amount of exercise that the dog needed for mental health. I have heard of dogs chewing up your furniture or shredding some pillows etc, but this was the first time I had ever heard of a dog mutilating itself as a method of passing the time.

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Obviously, this is an extreme example but I think that a lot of people end up getting a certain type of dog because they like the "look" of it and don't really take into consideration what is likely the MOST important aspect of any dog: Do YOU have what it takes to actually raise this animal? Marks was a very good person, still is. Trevor is long gone but I will never forget how bad I felt for that dog, and how bad Mark did as well and I'm not trying to say anything bad about Mark here... he didn't know. Hindsight being 20/20 and all that.

If you don't have a ton of land or are not retired or a stay at home person of some sort, then this is not the right dog for you. Therefore, as much as I love this breed (definitely want one if i ever have a massive expanse of land) I will likely never get one because it wouldn't be fair to the dog. I'll just stick with Shih-Tzu's for now.

once again, I am not trying to hurt anyone's feelings with these opines, it is just how i feel from my own life-experience. The other dog I said might not be the best for most people was a Beagle and that article is here