In Apolda Germany, in the 1800's
a man named Louis Doberman needed a
courageous, guard dog with strong
mouth, good nose and one who would be
protective. Herr Doberman
had various jobs, which required protection. It
has never been proven just what
he did, but some have said he was a tax
collector, while others maintained
he was a night watchman. For whatever
reason he succeeded in fixing the
guarding character in the dog he created,
but was not really interested in
the conformation aspects of that
dog. While crossing many
breeds to obtain what he wanted, he did not keep
records of these crosses, so we
have to rely on others who knew him to
supply us with some of his efforts.
According to his son, Herr Doberman
owned a black bitch called Bissart
who had tan markings and a gray
undercoat. One interesting
thing about Bissart was her naturally short
tail and a short coat. He
tried to produce a naturally short tail by
selective breeding but was unsuccessful.
We do know that some of the
breeds that were used were a gray
Pinscher, a black and tan butchers dog,
and a local sheep dog type.
After his death in 1894, the Germans named the
breed Doberman-pinscher in his
honor, but a half-century later they dropped
the pinscher because it was a German
word for Terrier and was no longer
appropriate. The Germans
goal was to develop a dog capable of the ultimate
in protection and companionship.
They selected the bravest, toughest and
most loyal. These headstrong
dogs were known as "Doberman's dogs" or
"Thuringia Pinschers," and were
sharp, aggressive with other dogs, of medium size, with a body that is
compactly built, muscular, and distrustful of strangers.
It is believed the first Doberman
came to the United States in 1908, but it
wasn't until the end of WWII when
GI's brought back Dobermans from Germany
that the breed attracted fanciers.
In 1921 the Doberman Pinscher Club of
America was founded. Many
imports arrived to gain popularity with breeders
in this country. Many times
when these imports were shown, the Judges
could barely touch them if ever.
One German import won Best In Show at
Westminster, the judge never putting
a hand on him.
Over the decades, the Doberman breeders
refined this tougher temperament to
a more suitable disposition allowing
this breed to co-habitat with the laws
of our land. Today, the Doberman
is a trustworthy family companion. His
protective nature is still sought,
but selective breeding, making him one
of the most favored family dogs
controls it. Although this dog is a
working breed, his former use in
Police, and Military work is not as it
used to be. He has no protective
undercoat to allow him to be used for
these purposes to withstand the
great variation in temperatures. This lack
of undercoat has been bred out
of him since he has become more accustomed
to living in the homes with our
controlled temperatures. The Doberman is
not a kennel dog and does poorly
as such. We have some health problems
such as Cardio Myopathy, which
is our worst, causing many of our dogs to
die at early ages. A 10-yr.
Old Doberman is an old dog. The DPCA and the
Doberman Pinscher Foundation is
funding several universities in finding a
cure and a DNA marker to help the
breeders wipe out this dreadful problem.
Today's Doberman Pinscher commands
a high status in the Show ring, winning
many Groups and Best In Shows.
We've come a long way baby, in a very
short time.