I think about this a lot!
I have specifically thought about the whining. I tell ya', the whining is driving me away from the breed.
I also think that the breed was probably not the sensitive thing it is today. I imagine it was tough as nails but biddable.
Thinking about this makes me wonder about how well Herr Dobermann trained his early Dobes. Did he have to keep them on leash? Did he ever sand them after anyone, or did he keep them close by him for only personal protection? Of course if you send your dog after someone, it has to be reliable to come back to you and (here's another big deal with the breed modern day) not simply run off after a squirrel, cat or other dog if it sees one. I understand the breed probably had high prey drive in the earliest days (I don't know?) but boy, if I ever get another Doberman, I am going to do everything I can reasonably do to try to avoid it being obsessed with other animals!! 98% of the time Oji barks in the house it's at an animal!!
Skb
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Good points. I picture him back in the day trying to hold back his doberman from chasing whatever animal and keep hold of his satchel of money. No way that's what he would be going for. I bet the breed has changed a lot more then we think. I wonder what he would think of todays doberman? Interesting point about the training and how much he might have done. Didnt he have multiple jobs? He would be a busy guy
Have you tried an e-collar? Just curious.
Again, if you had an outdoors job 8 - 10 hours a day and your dog was with you the whole time, I think you'd have a different dog. I DO think they are much different from 50 - 75 years ago, yes. But they were designed to be at your side 24/7, going with you and doing stuff with you all day. They did breed them down into much easier dogs for average owners, but evidently they still yearn for that busy lifestyle. I had no idea I created the perfect lifestyle for my last Doberman back in the '90's. I was training horses, and as a puppy she went to the barn with me every day, stayed tied in the barn when I was on a horse & loose the rest of the time. I took her to weekly obedience classes from 6 to 9 months, by the time she was 6 months old I also let her go with me on trail rides. By the time she was 9 - 10 months old she was probably going 5 miles a day. I know, against all the rules now! Then at 11 months old she traveled with me to train horses in California for 6 weeks, then back home, then to AZ for 8 weeks, living in different places, meeting different people, always with horses coming & going, traveling across country in a truck pulling a 4 horse trailer, staying at motels, on & on. There was never a more perfect dog. Never had a "fear" period, never had "doberteens", never whined, never people or dog aggressive, just a perfect dog. She did have a good line of working dogs on her sires side, her dam was pretty generic pet dog. She lived to be 11 and never took a lame step or had a sick day in her life. Died in her sleep (so yes, sudden death/heart related, probably). She hooked me on the breed forever, and I just wonder how much the upbringing our Dobermans get changes how they act.
That sounds great and is such a rich history you and your Doberman had! I didn't meant to gloss over your great point made earlier either. Good stuff.
Yes, I know without a doubt that Oji is made to be with me / my family 24/7. He seems to not be blessed with that quality most domestic dogs receive genetically, which is to get used to the fact that pack members leave and come back.
Yes, if he had a job to do for hours a day he would probably whine less. How much less, I don't know.
We think Oji, not to invoke an old cliché, is made to live on a farm. Leashes, tethers, crates – not for him. Being off-leash, with you all the time, and really, to mostly do what he wants when he wants I think is what this peculiar Dobermann was born with. I say he has too much "wild" in him (Wild, as in not built to serve mankind). Maybe he's channeling his predecessor, my wife's Husky.
