On 1-Sep-2008, Nonnymus > wrote:

> Brick wrote:
> > On 1-Sep-2008, Nonnymus > wrote:
> >
> >> Brick wrote:
> >>
> >>> If you was in the same room with my late Doberman when he cut a fart,
> >>> you wouldn't be able to see any clock. He turned the air to a thick green
> >>> haze that made your eyes hurt.
> >> Good dog. Whatta' you feed him?
> >>
> >> Nonny
> >
> > He got "dog breeder" dry food from the local feed mill. We bought it directly
> > from the mill. I don't remember what the name of it was. I suspect it was a
> > bogus name anyway. The dogs thrived on it. He lived just ten years, but my
> > vet told me that was about par for the course for a large Doberman.
> >
>
> When we bought a place in NC, it was out in the boondocks. I went out
> with my daughter to walk the land and while there, spotted a Doberman at
> the place next door. Not trusting the Doberman, when we returned with
> my transit to shoot the corners of the house, I put a little PPK in my
> pocket as a 'just in case.' With me on the transit and my daughter as
> stick, we had 2-3 corners staked when the Doberman spotted us and came
> at a gallop. The daughter sidled up to me and the Doberman came
> straight on for us. I pulled the PPK out of my pocket and held it at my
> side while the huge dog came up to size us up.
>
> My daughter and I held our hands out, palm down for him to sniff. He
> sniffed us both, and got so excited to see people that he literally
> dribbled on the ground as he wanted to be petted and played with. He
> was one of the nicest, most gentle dogs I ever encountered and when our
> house was built, he was over visiting us and the kids every single day.
>
> When I met my neighbor, it turned out he and his wife were great folk,
> and they were happy the Dobie would have someone to play with during the
> days, when they were working. Later on, our Chow developed about the
> same relationship with the neighbors, and she and the Dobie were the
> very best of friends.
>
> Dobies can be mean, but I really think that if they're raised by nice
> people, that a Dobie is a great dog and perfect for a family on a lot of
> land.
>
> Nonny

My experience with Dobermans is limited to the one we had from puppyhood
to death from old age. Ours was brought up in a pretty secluded (for a dog)
environment and he was extremely protective. In his early years he seldom
had an opportunity to play with other dogs and that's not good. He also had
pretty limited exposure to strangers. That' not good either. He was a
stereotypical type 'A' male. He lived and played to win at all times. He loved
to play, but invariable played just a little harder then the opposition.

He never exhibited any tendency to meanness, but when provoked he would
instantly retaliate with overpowering force. He was way faster and stronger
then any dog(s) he ever encountered. If you visuallize the typical dog fight
where there's considerable growling and thrashing going on, you would be
amazed at how short a fight with our Dobie "ALWAY" was. He would grab,
shake and throw away a single dog. He would slash and spin agains multiple
dogs, creating quite a bit of damage before the inexperienced foes would
recognize a losing battle and depart the scene. I have to clarify here that he
never encountered another dog in his weight class. He usually had a good
40 lbs on them. He never chased after a departing adversary. (They never
came back either)

He sized up new human acquaintences instantly and either adopted or
rejected on an individual basis. Those he adopted were subject to being
kissed to death or crushed by his sitting in their lap or both. He adopted
our paperboy, a girl of 13 and displayed his affection by staying in
touching distance of her whenever she was present. I don't doubt that
he would attempt to kill anyone who laid a finger on her, even me. He
also adopted my (then) small grandchildred to the extent that he would
not allow their parents to spank them. That was pretty funny the first
time it happend. My son Tim exclaimed, "Pop, he was gonna take my
arm off".

I never had another dog that I would describe as "powerful" or "fast".
Frankly, he scared the daylights out me sometimes. I was always
afraid that he might hurt someone before I could intervene. We tried
training school, but alas we as owners failed the course.

ob; my text posts are showing up, but suddenly my picture posts are
not. This is my first time to experience this phenomona. Don't be
surprised if you see some duplicate picture posts.

--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)