Best European Doberman puppy for protection, Guard, schutzhund or sport Please visit our sister site at http://www.familydobes.com

Truth is I love to talk to people, I don’t mind if they are door t door Salesman, or Jehova’s Witnesses, if someone i willing to come up and knock on my door, I better get some interesting conversation out of it. One of my favorites was when a string of small burglaries occured in our neighborhood, then conveniently the next day (before the police or media even reported anything) there were door to door Alarm Salesman canvassing the neighborhood. Now I have done door to door sales in my life, and actually I quite enjoyed it. That being said I will listen to anyone for a few minutes out of courtesy. So I listened to him tell me about the recent burglaries and how I would have been protected if I had their system. I asked if he was sure his system was better than mine was. He started naming all the other alarm companies and how his product was superior, I just told my son to let the dogs out and as 8 Dobermans came running toward the front door he turned and ran jumping my front fence and I am quite sure he wet himself on the way. I couldn’t stop laughing for 10 minutes. I still laugh when I tell the story. It wasn’t two days later another guy pulled up and knocked and as I opened the door the first words out of his mouth were that he was the supervisor and he wasn’t afraid of dogs. I smiled and winked at my son who let the dogs go, and he nearly tripped on himself getting off the front porch and over the front fence. Again solid laughter and a story to remember. I have many good memories of people at the door. Nevertheless I see a lot of no solicitor signs all around the neighborhood, and I came up with one of my own that I printed and laminated. The thing is I think the sign is fun, but I worry that I won’t have any more good stories to tell if I really hang it up, but I am sure plenty of people passing by are going to have great laughs.

Behold the sign:

Well it isn’t every day we find a new product to blog about, and I am careful about recommending anyone to our Dobe family since we want people who care about them as much as we do. I believe we found just such a company. I heard second hand about the great custom Collars and leashes they are offering, and checked them out. I am impressed with the quality, artistic creativity, and personal nature of their company. If you are looking for great custom work for your amazing Doberman, drop them a line and let them know Family Dobes sent you. http://www.bigbadcollars.com/

We are also very blessed to have a new litter out of the hottest male in Europe right now. If you haven’t heard of him yet, learn his name, he is the kind of dog legends are made of.  Obi Wan-Kenobi de Grande Vinko is his name, and he has been bred to very few females so far. We are thrilled that one of our Cora daughter’s Gipsy was such a girl. Watch this litter with great interest…

Also available to the right home is Prada. She has excellent obedience, is house trained, starting protection and gets along great with all of my pack as well as our Sar and Schutzhund club dogs. She is drop dead gorgeous, and would be a real asset to anyone’s home. She is fine with my children.

Although it has rained here for three days it is that time of year when summer is heating up no matter where you live, and time to share all our summer warnings again for those who have not been with us long.

                Naturally it has been hot for some time now across the states and all of you know it is a bad idea to leave dogs in hot cars. What we want to focus on are some alternatives so you can still take your dog with you. I still go to several training groups each week, shows etc. So my dogs need to come along. On short visits, I leave the Truck running with the AC on and take a spare key with me so I can lock the doors. I don’t want anyone letting my dogs out or stealing a running car! Although it would take quite the fool to decide to steal a truck full of Dobermans! I also hunt for Shady spots to park, even if it means walking a long distance. Some places you go your Dog would be welcome if you ask permission ahead of time or if it is a pet friendly location. Many people will welcome your dog to their business if it is well mannered. The leading economists show businesses are recognizing pets as family more and more and welcoming them to draw customer loyalty. I think it is great so long as we only take dogs with good manners and don’t ruin it for everyone else. For trips where the stop will be longer, I prefer to take my toy hauler, the back is the dog kennel, and it has a generator, fans, and AC. Obviously we keep tabs on the temperature, never trust electrical or mechanical equipment to function correctly There are many hot car alarms and other products designed for running vehicles to warn you by pager if the temps get too hot or cold. There are also some really nice dog trailers available now for those with multiple dogs or the need for such a thing.  Anyway, always take plenty of water, if the dog will be left in the vehicle, no matter how much you trust them, make sure the vehicle is safe for them and from them J Zenny ate my cruise control last time I left him without the rear barrier up, and I trust him as much as any dog I have met in my life. It also helps to wipe them down with wet towels in the hot summer it helps cool them off and don’t they look great with that glossy wet coat! There are also cool Vests that work well for Dobes So use some common sense, include your pets when you can, leave them with someone you trust when you can’t.

Also this time of year many people go camping and want to take the dogs. I think that is great so long as you don’t have a dog that likes to bark at everything and gets on other campers nerves, be polite and keep them on lead or in an exercise pen, or at your side all the time so you don’t intimidate others. Know there are risks and be prepared, such as snake bites, ticks, other wild animals that carry disease and may think your dog is dinner… RV camping is very dog friendly, tent camping can be, and so can backpacking if you are well prepared. I like having the dogs along for company, and they can warn me of dangers I am unaware of.

This year we are going to try the dogs at the lake on a boat as well. If you have a pool or water nearby and plan on your dog swimming, know up front that Dobes are a very front heavy, lean muscle dog. They do not float. They can be great swimmers but we find it is necessary to teach them to swim. Give them swim lessons in your favorite swimming hole until they have learned to use their back legs. Know their limits. They can not swim for miles or all day. Make sure your dogs know how to exit a pool if they fall in. On boats even if you have taught your dog to swim, I recommend a Life vest for the dog. They can fall out at speeds and be injured, or it may be a long while until you get to them. We will try to get some pictures of how our trips go

                Everyone who knows our family or who has come to the kennel to meet us and the dogs, knows that although my wife loves the security the dogs add to our lives, she is not much of a dog person.  She gave up on my new ideas after I talked her into getting a mustang horse back when we were dating. WE trained it together and started riding when I tried to talk her into going into a full run. We were at a track that just happened to be bordered by a small zoo. I know I know, bad idea. Her horse saw critters and moved about 12 feet sideways at a full run, and she stayed right where she was. She kind of quit trusting me about trying new things then. Those who know her well know she also is not a risk taker. That being said, anytime we have new visitors to the kennel we generally talk them into putting on the bite suit and playing with the dogs.  In my opinion it is great fun for everyone involved!

                Be that as it may, in all my years of being married to Her (14 which again no one will believe) I have never got her talked into putting on the bite suit or participating with the dogs in anyway. Since I am the kind of guy that reads the last page of a book first, I will tell you the story ends with we are having My wife’s head checked… The events that lead up to that are the fact that last week at SAR training she decided to handle a Karma to go find My Son who was hiding. She even put my youngest in the backpack and headed out into the sagebrush at dusk fighting mosquitoes and all kinds of her fears. I still can’t understand it, but it sure bought a lot of mileage with me…. A few days later at Schutzhund club, you guessed it, out of the blue she put on the bitesuit and took some bites from Zenny. In the pictures you will see she is wearing flip flops underneath, and her hair is done up with a nice flower all testaments that this was totally off the wall and out of character. I didn’t hesitate to grab my camera though, I wasn’t going to miss the chance for proof!! She was a trooper. Despite a take down that knocked her head on the ground, she did get back up and stand there for a guard and a re-attack. Again, nothing about this makes any kind of sense at all, but it really happened. It also bought even more mileage. Funny thing is as glad as you would think I should be at all of this, I am caught totally off guard by the whole thing. She didn’t make any demands or requests, there were no deals, it all leaves me wondering Why????? What does she really want? What big thing is she about to ask me for? All in all I am just scratching my head… What’s a guy to do? We just can’t figure out women. See the pictures here.

Also here at the kennel we are loving the new place and the wonderful view we have from the training field. We have a great Search group and a great DVG club going.

We have been blessed with many great puppies right now, and some real great started dogs. Summer is rolling in and we hope you all are enjoying your Dobes as much as we are