Matt Vandart
Hot Topics Subscriber
Well first of all Mr doberman didn't write 'The standard' or any other standard
Secondly: docking and cropping is not as you well know a genetic trait but was done for functional reasons, so that they could not be got hold of or they didn't get caught up in carts (for cart pulling dogs) it was not and still isn't exclusive to dobermans.
Thirdly: The general purpose of the dog is very similar to GSD/Mal/Mastiff etc, dogs which LOOK nothing like the doberman or each other in the case of the Mastiff v's herders (although many european dobermans are starting to get to mastiff sizes) yet all FUNCTION perfectly well in this purpose, ergo the defining factor is looks, the standard is all about look.
There are beucerons, pitbulls, american bulldogs, kelpies, Malinois, Schnauzers, Russian terriers, English bull terriers even poodles that perform the original function of the doberman, they look nothing like dobermans............see a pattern emerging?
I know that people are gonna come up with the 'Form follows function' clap trap bandied about by people that have no idea what they are talking about, but this is not always the case, certainly not down to minor points like 'wet necks' and uneven markings etc or in fact a cropped or docked tail.
I would bring to your attention this very good article on the very subject of man made standards being off the mark for function:
The functional Saluki
and also (admittedly about GSD but still relevant):
Sirius Dog
Extract:
"Sketches and radiograph pictures in my book on the breed represent the typical German Shepherd with a good shoulder. Dogs with better reach and a floating gait have close to the same angles and layback. I suspect much more credit for such gait lies in the muscles and ligaments than has been imagined, measured, or hinted at in the past. And of course, desire and drive make a big difference, too. In actuality, the ideal shoulder with an angle approaching that much-vaunted “90-degree” number (from point of elbow to point of shoulder to highest point on scapula) has about a 30 to 35-degree shoulder blade layback, not 45 degrees. Factors such as the relative lengths of scapula and humerus, the angle at which the humerus inclines, plus the dog’s attitude, play parts in both the standing appearance and in the reach in motion. While they didn’t have all the answers, Humphrey and Warner had most of them, and they determined that a scapula-humerus angle of 102° was ideal for the working German Shepherd Dog."
If these standards are flawed in terms of real life function...............
and just to hammer the point home, the modern doberman looks and is built NOTHING like the early dobermans, or most likely the dogs Mr Doberman bred, you only have to look at the size difference to see that the modern dog is not what Mr doberman had in mind and as for temperament.......
The standard is and always has been about the 'look' of the dog, follows trends and has been changed virtually arbitrarily over the years to suit the politics involved in the breed of the time. I have gone over the finer points of this before, search it if you like.
The doberman standard is flawed, subjective and open to interpretation, it is and will be, like all the other standards, the hammer that hits the nails into the coffin of the breed. Once the stud books closed the genetic material available was set and there cannot be any more, the breed is unfortunately doomed unless the standard is relaxed and the stud books reopened for new genetic material to be introduced.
This and the health problems that come with it come from the obsession of the 'look' of the breed. Many other breeds have the required physical attributes of the doberman standard but introducing the genetics through a complete outcross would almost certainly alter the look of the breed and so the idea is poo pooed and mostly ignored.
To see what I mean about 'a natural standard developed' look at greyhounds and other sight hounds, breeds that have not changed much, if at all in milenia, that's a thousand years plus. They have not changed because they are true examples of 'form following function' the dogs that didn't catch the bunnies didn't last long.
Unfortunately many dobermans that can't even pass WAE are bred, Dobermans that should have been laughed at in the ZTP pass with excellent ratings!!??! Dobermans the size of a small hippo are winning rossettes........all passing on their genetics.
The doberman standard in it's current form is a good read and that is about it as far as function goes.
Can a doberman with a few less teeth do the job? YES
Can a doberman with very light tan markings do the job? YES
Can a doberman with a tail and natural ears do the job? YES
Can a doberman which is brindle do the Job? YES
Can a Doberman with the incorrect temperament do the job? NO yet the temperament part of the standard is a passing courtesy.
Anyway enough of this guff, dobermans are better off with their tails and their ears.
Secondly: docking and cropping is not as you well know a genetic trait but was done for functional reasons, so that they could not be got hold of or they didn't get caught up in carts (for cart pulling dogs) it was not and still isn't exclusive to dobermans.
Thirdly: The general purpose of the dog is very similar to GSD/Mal/Mastiff etc, dogs which LOOK nothing like the doberman or each other in the case of the Mastiff v's herders (although many european dobermans are starting to get to mastiff sizes) yet all FUNCTION perfectly well in this purpose, ergo the defining factor is looks, the standard is all about look.
There are beucerons, pitbulls, american bulldogs, kelpies, Malinois, Schnauzers, Russian terriers, English bull terriers even poodles that perform the original function of the doberman, they look nothing like dobermans............see a pattern emerging?
I know that people are gonna come up with the 'Form follows function' clap trap bandied about by people that have no idea what they are talking about, but this is not always the case, certainly not down to minor points like 'wet necks' and uneven markings etc or in fact a cropped or docked tail.
I would bring to your attention this very good article on the very subject of man made standards being off the mark for function:
The functional Saluki
and also (admittedly about GSD but still relevant):
Sirius Dog
Extract:
"Sketches and radiograph pictures in my book on the breed represent the typical German Shepherd with a good shoulder. Dogs with better reach and a floating gait have close to the same angles and layback. I suspect much more credit for such gait lies in the muscles and ligaments than has been imagined, measured, or hinted at in the past. And of course, desire and drive make a big difference, too. In actuality, the ideal shoulder with an angle approaching that much-vaunted “90-degree” number (from point of elbow to point of shoulder to highest point on scapula) has about a 30 to 35-degree shoulder blade layback, not 45 degrees. Factors such as the relative lengths of scapula and humerus, the angle at which the humerus inclines, plus the dog’s attitude, play parts in both the standing appearance and in the reach in motion. While they didn’t have all the answers, Humphrey and Warner had most of them, and they determined that a scapula-humerus angle of 102° was ideal for the working German Shepherd Dog."
If these standards are flawed in terms of real life function...............
and just to hammer the point home, the modern doberman looks and is built NOTHING like the early dobermans, or most likely the dogs Mr Doberman bred, you only have to look at the size difference to see that the modern dog is not what Mr doberman had in mind and as for temperament.......
The standard is and always has been about the 'look' of the dog, follows trends and has been changed virtually arbitrarily over the years to suit the politics involved in the breed of the time. I have gone over the finer points of this before, search it if you like.
The doberman standard is flawed, subjective and open to interpretation, it is and will be, like all the other standards, the hammer that hits the nails into the coffin of the breed. Once the stud books closed the genetic material available was set and there cannot be any more, the breed is unfortunately doomed unless the standard is relaxed and the stud books reopened for new genetic material to be introduced.
This and the health problems that come with it come from the obsession of the 'look' of the breed. Many other breeds have the required physical attributes of the doberman standard but introducing the genetics through a complete outcross would almost certainly alter the look of the breed and so the idea is poo pooed and mostly ignored.
To see what I mean about 'a natural standard developed' look at greyhounds and other sight hounds, breeds that have not changed much, if at all in milenia, that's a thousand years plus. They have not changed because they are true examples of 'form following function' the dogs that didn't catch the bunnies didn't last long.
Unfortunately many dobermans that can't even pass WAE are bred, Dobermans that should have been laughed at in the ZTP pass with excellent ratings!!??! Dobermans the size of a small hippo are winning rossettes........all passing on their genetics.
The doberman standard in it's current form is a good read and that is about it as far as function goes.
Can a doberman with a few less teeth do the job? YES
Can a doberman with very light tan markings do the job? YES
Can a doberman with a tail and natural ears do the job? YES
Can a doberman which is brindle do the Job? YES
Can a Doberman with the incorrect temperament do the job? NO yet the temperament part of the standard is a passing courtesy.
Anyway enough of this guff, dobermans are better off with their tails and their ears.
Really? I don't believe that for a second. 
