Yomiko Doberman (Small)

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Labs are wonderful teddy bears that you can practically do anything to and they will just sit and tolerate anything you dish out. I have had many a Lab in the past. Great dogs!!! On Tuesday night the doberman pinscher guard dog, after six years' blameless service, went berserk: within minutes Mabel, a 1909 German-made Steiff teddy bear once owned by Elvis Presley, more recently the pride and joy of an English aristocrat, lay mortally wounded. Dobermans have terms of petting, snuggling and affection. It must be when they want it, not when you want it. Like people, they have personal space issues. Some are two feet personal space and others are 3 ft or more. This usually applies to non family members.

Yes, I have, and do, own a Doberman like this. Dobes in general crave a lot of touching and loving. It can even seem like they are big old softies. Many people allow them on the furniture and to sleep in bed with them. At the same time, one quality that is pretty darn consistent in Dobermans is extreme alertness and great watchfulness. Most will put on a formidable show when someone approaches the house/home. Now, are all Dobermans actually prone to, and capable of, actually doing something to physically protect the home? No, not all. The breed in general has been toned way down to make it livable and viable for widespread ownership by the typical laymen. I do realize that Ragnar is a pure bred Doberman and I understand that a Doberman is not a dog, it is a Doberman. One of a kind breed. My first boy was a snuggler with just me and would not allow anyone to hug him, nor would he allow anyone to hug me. He was protection trained.

Today's paper

I have read many a post about a well disciplined/mannered Doberman all of a sudden turning and biting their owners. Many of the owners defend the Doberman and state, "I must have startled him", or "he was having a bad day". Staff were still working last night to restore the display, which is expected to reopen this morning. So, my question here is-- can a Doberman be a teddy bear and a protective member of the family at the same time?? Does anybody have a Doberman like this? Even so, people should always be careful around dogs and not force things on dogs that they naturally do not tend to tolerate well.

As to this, when you wrote: "So, my question here is-- can a Doberman be a teddy bear and a protective member of the family at the same time?? Does anybody have a Doberman like this?" Is the Doberman less accepting of hugging? I don't really think so. I also don't think that at a certain age they become markedly less tolerant of it. Of course, a dog can become less tolerant of some things when it starts to get older; but that's about it to my knowledge. I don't think there is nearly as much that is specific to Dobermans here as there is specific to dogs compared to humans (or stuffed animals). Most dogs do not really like to be hugged. It's not natural for a canine – even our domestic dogs.

Edition:

In the thread about the Pitbulls that seemed to be eating their owner, many did agree that given the right circumstances all dogs could turn on their owner. I also agree. Barring the need to survive, I don't think Kaiser would ever turn on us. As others have said, we don't force anything physical; It's usually on Rubies terms. If she gets warm or uncomfortable or needs space in the evening, we have a giant beanbag turned doggo bed that she likes to go to. And that's fine. If we go downstairs in the morning and she wants to stay upstairs and sleep because it's warmer, fine by me.

Or as the saying goes--A Doberman is a Doberman and not a teddy bear dog. They must always be treated with the respect of possibly turning on its master if put in the wrong situation?? Couch, bed and house privileges are on my terms. Bogie is stubborn and pushes the envelope. You tell him off the couch and he will just sit and stare at you, as if to say, make me. I will get his short lead and remove him. Yelling OFF is a waste of breath and emotion if he doesn’t respond on the first command. That results in him losing couch privileges for a week. Bacall responds to commands immediately and is such a joy. A Doberman with a good temperament should not be a danger to its family. If a family member – or ideally anyone who has been introduced to your Dobe – hugs or snuggles them in a way that makes them very uncomfortable, your Dobe should not bite them. Hrm, interesting topic. Rubie is the BEST snuggler but she needs to be exercised to get to that point. She's not extreme in that we need to do miles of walking on top of hours of training on top of whatever else, but she does need something.Up to 100 bears were involved in the massacre," Daniel Medley, general manager of Wookey Hole Caves, said last night. "It was a dreadful scene." I chose a Doberman for this reason. Always was intrigued and admired the Doberman and am ecstatic that I finally have one. Please correct me if I am wrong, I only know what I have read and that is where I am getting the above information.