Which one...?

[Dober-Maniac]

Hello guys! I'm glad I found your great community here,that shares a common passion for so many people around the world! I'm new to this forum and trying to keep up with this amazing job of yours, with all that great information.

So firstly let me introduce..

I'm an owner of an almost 5 years old female brown European dob that is a part of our family all these years from her 7th week. I have the blessing of being a father of three sons. As for these I think that are enough for starting at for our case here.

Since we've been so satisfied with our girl on being a great family dog,who loves and protects our kids and us and in addition the fact that we live separated from civilization right into the starting of a forest we were thinking of getting a second dob,specifically a male.But all dob owners know that a male dob is kind of harder (or less luckily) to be soo close to children as much as our girl ( believe me she's a diamond). Anyways we decided that the better option is to hold a son than buy just a random puppy that we'll get from the breeder. And so we did and now we have 7 beautiful dob babies that we have chose the best two males that seem to be almost the same by sight but have some differences that can't let us decide witch. Note that were almost on 4th week and we're about starting attitude tests once we hit that milestone.

So the first is a twin one,(from separate sack,same placenta), who is a calm giant character. He don't want more than sleep and eat. Mostly eat...a lot! More than all others. He's by far the heaviest one and calm on contact with us and the kids.

The other is by far the most driven one. Also big but mostly mentally developed. He's the first one that went out of nest to discover, mostly with ears and tail up,sensitive on sounds and move, he even barks at new people getting infront of the nest. He's surely the bravest of all. The highest drives and I guess work capabilities.

We're going to have basic obedience asap whichever will be the one and maybe we go further depending on our abilities. But our main concern is our kids and the best dog that can suit us.
We know that we have one or two weeks to decide, maybe more,but we thought that getting an opinion of more experienced owners could help us.


I'm sorry if my English are bad..It's been a while since I used them

 

[Gelcoater]

From California

I have little experience in picking puppies so I'll leave that to the folks here with experience.

Your English was ok for getting your thoughts across.
About 10,000 times better than my Greek would be.

We sure like pictures around here. Especially puppy pictures.

 

[Janiethedob]

I agree... however I'd choose the one I connect with probably.

Yes post pictures!

 

[Dober-Maniac]

 the green is the big sleepy guy,the other is the champion guy

I didn't mention that I'm aware of the benefits each one will have as getting older( based on the attitude samples) though I can't decide which cons will be unwanted.
For example: I know that the calm giant will be easier to train and raise causing me way less trouble than a full driven puppy, but I'm afraid of that food drive of his coming along with my super energetic kids!

On the other hand the second puppy will be definitely a better guard and watchdog for us, since we need that, and generally nail every exercise, training or work we'll having on but I'm afraid of the hard times I'll be having on puberty. My girl, that I can say that is more of a passive and calm dob, drove me literally CRAZY for over half a year. Never had issues with my kids though... Ever!

 

[Janiethedob]

I personally like the looks of the green boy, and would probably choose him.


But either one will protect you and the kids with their life.

 

[Doberman Gang]

I would choose the one that you said left to explore first and barks at strangers. But that being said, 4weeks old is really too early to tell very much, they develope and change quite a bit in the first 10-12 weeks.

 

[Dober-Maniac]

I would choose the one that you said left to explore first and barks at strangers. But that being said, 4weeks old is really too early to tell very much, they develope and change quite a bit in the first 10-12 weeks.

Yeah but hypothetically he's the most dominant one,right? What about having three male kidos overtake him in the pack?
Won't he be disturbed?

 

[Doberman Gang]

Yeah but hypothetically he's the most dominant one,right? What about having three male kidos overtake him in the pack?
Won't he be disturbed?

The kids will all need to take on a roll and each spend some time training with which ever dog you choose. Training will give your puppy an understanding of what it’s jobis and where it is in your pack.

 

[Dober-Maniac]

The kids will all need to take on a roll and each spend some time training with which ever dog you choose. Training will give your puppy an understanding of what it’s jobis and where it is in your pack.

Agree, but what about under 2 years old?

 

[JanS]

Welcome from Minnesota, USA!

Do you plan to do any working or showing with him? If not, you might not want the higher drive one because almost all Doberman's are protective of their family and home whether they're high drive or not.

As for your kids, you need to teach them to respect the pup and the pup to respect them. I agree that having the kids do a little training will be helpful too and as your 2 year old grows you can show him how to do basic things as well.

 

[Dober-Maniac]

Edit: I run a low stress,minor gravitational test every week from the first one, evaluating bodies, heads and temperaments.
I record the results ranking and so far green has 3 first places ( first every week).
Only Volhards test left, which will take place after the steadiest age milestone.

But still I'm not the expert to trust only my opinion.

 

[Dober-Maniac]

Welcome from Minnesota, USA!

Do you plan to do any working or showing with him? If not, you might not want the higher drive one because almost all Doberman's are protective of their family and home whether they're high drive or not.

As for your kids, you need to teach them to respect the pup and the pup to respect them. I agree that having the kids do a little training will be helpful too and as your 2 year old grows you can show him how to do basic things as well.

No plans for shows really...
I agree..That's what I was thinking too.
Thanks so much guys for being interested!
It means a lot!

 

[Doberman Gang]

Agree, but what about under 2 years old?

Will have to wait until that one is older but the other the 2 year old would never be out alone with the dog. You just teach boundaries to the dog when you have the young one out.

 

[Doberman Gang]

Edit: I run a low stress,minor gravitational test every week from the first one, evaluating bodies, heads and temperaments.
I record the results ranking and so far green has 3 first places ( first every week).
Only Volhards test left, which will take place after the steadiest age milestone.

But still I'm not the expert to trust only my opinion.

Was this a litter you planned? It doesn’t sound like either parent was a high Working by line doberman so I would still pick the high drive and most confident puppy to work with. They learn much fast and bounce back quickly after a correction and will continue to work. Lower drives will many times shut down if you correct them or develope fear issues so you have to be much more careful in you training techniques.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I only have the experience of one Dobe, but my personal preference for picking our pup was to NOT get the first born dog. Newer research shows that birth order theory doesn't apply as well to humans but I'm sure it makes a difference in a litter of puppies. The first born probably is stronger and has faster and better access to feeding and as a result becomes more assertive with the other pups. With the white ribbon boy, I'd be worried about his sharpness.

I think it's great that you're doing the Volhard test. That will help you a lot.

I actually would have expected a female dog (raised to be a pet versus a working dog) to be more protective, but like I said, I'm on my first dog, so I don't know.

Another thought I had...that's a lot of males in one household! I agree with the others that establishing pack order will be critical.

Can't wait to see your final selection!

 

[Dober-Maniac]

I only have the experience of one Dobe, but my personal preference for picking our pup was to NOT get the first born dog. Newer research shows that birth order theory doesn't apply as well to humans but I'm sure it makes a difference in a litter of puppies. The first born probably is stronger and has faster and better access to feeding and as a result becomes more assertive with the other pups.

Hey! Thanks for replying!
That's exactly the reason the first one was eliminated! I totally agree...

I actually would have expected a female dog (raised to be a pet versus a working dog) to be more protective, but like I said, I'm on my first dog, so I don't know.

A female dog is actually better for us but I think imo it'll stay that way as long she's the only betta.a second female dob I think would be a lot more difficult than keeping a male as second dob.

I lean to the calm giant for the reasons that spotted above... We still have some weeks but I hope I'll stick with it...

I'll let you know asap.

 

[JanS]

A female dog is actually better for us but I think imo it'll stay that way as long she's the only betta.a second female dob I think would be a lot more difficult than keeping a male as second dob.

That's actually better anyway because you do have to worry about same sex aggression with this breed and I wouldn't want to take the chance of having to keep them separated all the time.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Welcome!

It's so good to hear of all the consideration and evaluation you are putting into this!

I can tell you a couple things from my personal experience.

My first Doberman was the largest, calmest of the litter. He, while still a Doberman and as such high-energy, was overall a pretty mellow Dobe.

Since then, I've had working-line Dobermans which means they are from parentage with proven working ability (at least in the form of working titles). These have been higher-drive Dobermans and sharper ones. Despite this, they were still good family dogs – loyal and loving. Now, one of them happened to have a problem mentally and proved unstable, going after my wife multiple times and going after others unpredictably but that was an unfortunate anomaly.

So, a higher drive Dobe should be safe around your family if you are vigilant and on top of the training, including having the children work with them and be established as above the dog in pack order using the many little ways you can use to accomplish that. They must get sufficient exercise and mental stimulation to stay manageable. I like to say high-drive Dobermans are "not as good at being pets."

You describe your living situation as one that requires some serious security. I would probably choose the higher-drive puppy – IF you have the time and desire to manage it and put in the time and work and IF every member of your family will be in agreement and follow through consistently.

The very first post I made to this forum was a little while after my previous Doberman died. It is entitled something like Can a Schutzhund Doberman Be Reliable With Family? You might want to search for those keywords on this forum and find that thread.

 

[Dober-Maniac]

Welcome!

It's so good to hear of all the consideration and evaluation you are putting into this!

I can tell you a couple things from my personal experience.

My first Doberman was the largest, calmest of the litter. He, while still a Doberman and as such high-energy, was overall a pretty mellow Dobe.

Hey there!

Thank you very much for your helpful information!I appreciate it.
All your replies helps a lot to our final decision.

I guess I'll go for the calmer on since our kids are little and my work is really demanding at this point of my life.
Since I started to hold each one for a few minutes a time, 2-3 times a day I noticed him to be relaxed,calm and tender,when the other is more excited, biting and trying to leave till he's tired and fall asleep.
Anyways all the family will participate in the training.

The very first post I made to this forum was a little while after my previous Doberman died. It is entitled something like Can a Schutzhund Doberman Be Reliable With Family? You might want to search for those keywords on this forum and find that thread.

Unfortunately I had no results for that search. Don't know if I did anything wrong. It would be interesting.

 

[Dober-Maniac]

Today we put away the ribbon and got a Collar!!

Green it is!!!!


I'm happy with our decision and I must thank you all guys!

I'm gonna post a pic asap I go home. He's really so cute with his chain collar. A little gentleman