A good breed will already have it done for you
the crop that is
Doberman as a service dog??
- Thread starter Korrianne19
- Start date
the crop that is
Also will add that Ares being black and rust and Athena red and rust makes big difference. People want usually want nothing to with him but will want to come say hello to Athena.
I've had a similar mix of reactions. I mean, no, nobody has deigned to say anything about how I should not own such a dog. That would be pretty crazy.
I have had people make comments – some veiled in a friendly tone, and some a bit more direct – about my Doberman being cropped. These comments are far more common when the ears are in posts. Once the ears are out of posts, it seems people's attention is not as drawn to the ears themselves and they see the overall animal.
I have had plenty of people cross to the other side of the street. I have had plenty of people come up and want to meet him.
It sounds like you have really taken a liking to the breed, but you don't want the protective, defensive qualities of the breed.
On cropping: I totally agree with you in that I love the look of a cropped Doberman; but if you want fewer people to be intimidated by your Dobe and you don't want the chance of misguided people taking issue with your dog then maybe you don't want to crop. You will need to make the commitment to crop aftercare (which is totally doable and really a simple process) or find someone qualified who will do the aftercare for you until the ears are ready to stand. This timeframe is from 6 months to sometimes a few months longer than that.
On cropping: I totally agree with you in that I love the look of a cropped Doberman; but if you want fewer people to be intimidated by your Dobe and you don't want the chance of misguided people taking issue with your dog then maybe you don't want to crop. You will need to make the commitment to crop aftercare (which is totally doable and really a simple process) or find someone qualified who will do the aftercare for you until the ears are ready to stand. This timeframe is from 6 months to sometimes a few months longer than that.
Personally, and it doesnt mean it always holds true, but in my experience, it seems as though females tend to bond more with males and vice versa. Mischa is def more of a "daddy's girl" although she is not super velcro with either of us. The males I have seen, are VELCRO, and are typically this way with the female owner, unless they only have choice of Male owner.
Ares is phenomenal. I have a new phone and most of my old pics are on my computer, maybe @AresMyDobie has it handy, but ares had never been around kids before. My 9 year old instantly fell in love with ares, and although ares was easily literally double his size (hes my youngest lol and on the small side... even now at almost 11, he doesnt even weigh 70lbs yet!) Shaun could walk ares with ease. Ares stayed right beside, was so gentle, I was just in awe! We also took ares out to dinner with us! At a steak house!! He didnt budge from under the table. And, I might add, he wasnt even 2 years old yet at this point! Phenomenal dog, and phenomenal training. He has affectionately been called "wonder dobe" by a few people here!
I think a doberman is an excellent choice for what you're looking for, and it sounds like you do have some training experience. Amanda I believe may be helpful to you, as she trained ares herself, and also for anxiety/panic. Good luck to you! And btw welcome! I think I forgot to welcome you in my first comment, I'm sorry!
Yep! Ares, Wonderdobe!
Korrianne19
New Member
Thank you so much everyone for all of your replies and all of the advice! I’ll be doing more research and looking around on the forum to find out more but this was definitely a super informative start!
I asked the questions I did for a reason. I'm not convinced we have the "rules" of service dog use down just yet. Add to that the trendy, easy to get emotional support dog label and it gets complicated. I say label because in my experience the ESD is generally just a dog the owner just wants to take everywhere them them and use that label to do so. I could go on and on but not sure it would do any good. Between privacy laws and the fact that we have become a society that doesn't want to offend, this is where we are. Stuck with people that want to abuse the system and ruin it for people that have a need.
I think the best way for me to explain what I am talking about is to just tell my experience.
Rumor is 2 years old. She is being trained as my service dog because I have SPMS (Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis) and have reached a point I need some help with everyday life so I can live more independently. To put it simply, she helps me get up and down, keeps walking a straight line. She also picks things up that I drop and will assist me in a wheelchair when I get there. She is still learning new things that help me.
Is the doberman a good choice? For me absolutely! She's strong and smart as well has good drive to work. Now the question is, Is the doberman a good choice as far as the general public is concerned? Maybe not so much. There lots of people that are afraid of the doberman. That can make it challenging especially when you are in tight quarters. People panic with a dobie close to them.
There is some anxiety that comes with a service dog. In the big picture it's relatively new and honestly people are rude. They don't understand a dog you can't pet and that doesn't do cute tricks. Seems to be beyond some peoples comprehension that a dog doesn't have to jump all over people, bark and generally misbehave to to be happy.
Believe it or not, there are people that will be down right rude to you. Some indirectly, they'll make comments in a restaurant like "I wonder if they charge extra for dog hair?" Tough skin is a must.
In fairness there are people that are respectful and take the time to explain to their kids that no, you can't pet that dog, she's working and needs to give her full attention to her handler. I've had a few that have stopped by to say nice things and even offer congratulations that I was able to get out and about because of a dog.
I have to be honest and say I have not developed the tough skin yet and still find it hard to go out in public to deal with what I have to. Will that come in time? No idea, for now I'll just keep perfecting Rumor's skills and enjoy her help at home for the most part.
Thank you for that information, Genny. Very insightful. You are so right – people have their notions of what dogs should be and how they should appear and act. It's maddening to say the least!
Man, hard to believe people would be rude about a service dog being in an establishment. My guess is maybe they feel it is a fake, or they are put in a bad mood by not liking the sight of your "dangerous" dog.
Man, hard to believe people would be rude about a service dog being in an establishment. My guess is maybe they feel it is a fake, or they are put in a bad mood by not liking the sight of your "dangerous" dog.
I was actually having “bad” day yesterday and took Ares to target with me to get a few things for thanksgiving. I got complimented on him “it’s nice to see a real service dog for once. Very well behaved.” I said thank you.
Doberman Gang
Hot Topics Subscriber
I always try to stay out of these conversations because of the problem with all of the fake service dogs out there. Thank you Genny for pointing out the difference.
For people that truly need a service dog, it is important to remember these dogs are trained and are doing a job. They are not a pet and people need to respect the person and their dog and not try to pet or interact with the dog. These dogs will be trained to ignore other people and dogs. Aggressive behavior would not be tolerate and dogs with those issues would not pass a service dog program. Dobermans are not natural aggressive, aggressiveness is a learned behavior and for the doberman breed is mostly from poor train, lack of training or unstable and fearful temperament. Finding a good breeder is important but training and building confidence is important in this breed due to the fact that many have skidding and fear issues. So training thru these phases as they grow up is important.
Regalis
Notable member
The amount of fake service dogs is obscene. And I'm not talking about people like Ares who actually have well behaved ESD's. They are kind of the exception. But the idiots who are taking their poorly trained/not trained at all dogs into public spaces and calling them service dogs when they are actually ESDs and don't have the same rights is a big problem. And it's only hurting those who legitimately need a true service dog.
Korrianne19
New Member
I totally get what you mean about people being rude and not understanding especially with the dog I’m still raising because she wants to meet anyone who wants to meet her (if I let her).
Dealing with the public is one of the worst parts about raising a service dog because they basically always interfere as the worst possible times
I’ve kind of learned to just shut out idiots around us when we’re in “training mode” trying to work on a specific thing, but it can be very difficult for the dog to do that when they are still young and obviously people still get to me. I do see what you are saying about crowds and people being weird about being near a dobie so that is definitely something I will keep in mind while still searching for the right breed to choose. Thank you so much for your input I really appreciate it so much
Korrianne19
New Member
This exact thing is why I don’t go to certain places around me for training anymore. The places would be perfect have awesome distractions and different smells, people, surfaces, foods, etc. but the amount of tiny yipping dogs at the end of a retractable leash is absurd. The dog I’m raising was chased by a tiny mix barked and growled at and then as I finally got to where it couldn’t reach her it started nipping at peoples feet as they passed by. The owner looked at my lab laughed hysterically and walked away. If a dog any bigger did that same thing it would be thought to be vicious but because it weighed probably 7 pounds it’s apparently funny. I don’t understand how people don’t see that what they’re doing is wrong.
I know of one breeder that breeds at least a few service dogs. She also runs a place to train the dogs and I can't think of the name.The organization is for guide dogs but she may be a good resource for a breeder. If I can think of the name that is.
@Korrianne19 I remembered! I have spoken to her in a very long time so not sure if she is breeding still or not. I still think she might be a good resource for a potential breeder. gallanthearts
I’ve only ran into one service Dober.
Was at the grocery store.
They were behind us in line.
The gal with the dog was sight impaired.
But there was nothing wrong with her hearing, lol.
She heard my daughter saying to me her dog looked like Daisy.
I told her it’s because they’re the same breed, just different colors.
Hers was somewhat petite framed, full C/D. Pretty girl.
At that point she engaged us
Let her dog take a break for a moment and we saw the wiggling hind end we Doberman people all know so well
C908
Active Member
Skin issues can happen with any of them. We have an almost 14 year old blue male, never had a skin problem. We have a 9 month old black and rust male that has on going skin issues. We have owned all colors except fawn, all of our dobies have been extremely intelligent and wonderful loyal loving dogs.
