I think it matters not one toss to the breed itself as a functional dog breed. Only thing it will do,which is very sad, is push the non believers out of the breed.
Cropping and docking is purely aesthetic and of no consequence to the breeds ability to work.
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with this. Maybe for the average person, the effect of cropping and docking are negligible, but there
is an effect. Undocked tails in a happy working dock wag,
a lot, and this can lead to something that has a lot of different names -- happy tail, broken tail, wet tail, etc. But regardless of what you call it, it's the same thing; essentially, the dog has sprained its tail from wagging it too much and/or whacking it against something. This is a painful condition for the dog, and once it happens, it's more likely to happen again. If it happens frequently, then it's often recommended that the dog have its tail amputated -- because at this stage, it is an amputation and is much harder on the dog than docking when its three days old.
Puppy raisers for guide dog programs are often told to be on the lookout for this. If the guide prospect is too exuberant a tail wagger, then it will be "career changed" and removed from the guide program, especially if it can't learn to control its wagging while its working. Likewise, a prospect who gets multiple episodes of happy tail will be dropped. Remember that these dogs are primarily Labradors and golden retrievers, who are supposed to have tails. I once trained an Italian Spinone, which is another commonly docked breed. This individual was not docked, and he frequently got happy tail. When it happened, he would cry every time he tried to wag his tail. It was heartbreaking to watch because there was nothing we could do for him -- no way to splint his tail or anything.
Docking can also change temperament. Obviously, we're not talking about something that is as deep as genetics, but studies have been done on docked dogs versus undocked dogs. They showed that the docked dogs responded to things more cautiously, whereas the undocked dogs would simply rush in. The effect was, generally speaking, that the docked dogs had better situation and threat discernment because they took the time to take in a situation before going in.
Speaking personally, I will never have a dog that is not docked. It's not for any vain, aesthetic reason; it's because those tails
hurt me. When I had Drake, my lab, he left welts and bruises up and down my legs from his tail. Some might say that it's because he had a big, thick tail, but I've been around dogs with whip tails and they make me
bleed. I have my dogs to mitigate my disability, and a tailed dog will add to my troubles.
Along the same lines, I need a dog with erect ears. Dogs with floppy ears are harder to read. Part of my dog's job is to provide threat and reality discernment. I have a neurological disorder that makes it so I hear things incorrectly. The wind might sound like a siren, so when a siren actually comes, I ignore it. My dog's body language tells me if there is something that needs to be paid attention to -- a siren, someone screaming, someone calling my name, a car coming,
anything that could be a danger to me. On top of that, because of my disorder, I have trouble reading people. I can't remember face, either, so if someone comes up to me and acts like the know me, I have to trust that they do because I can't tell. I have to trust my dog to tell me if the person means me harm or not. Erect ears make this so, so much easier. I can see the slightest twitch, which direction they're pointing, if the dog is relaxed or not -- the ears tell me so much. Right now, I have a dog with floppy ears, and I am having such a hard time because of it. I feel like I can't trust her, not because she's not doing her job, but because I can't read her. And to be clear, it's not because I can't actually read her expression or anything like that, but because when I'm out with my erect-eared dog, it takes me a split second to look and see my dog's ears because they are very clear but the floppy ears take more time to process for me (especially when I'm having trouble) because they blend in with the rest of the dog.
I know that originally the doberman's ears were cropped to keep people from grabbing onto them in a fight, but it seems to me that anyone working a dobe for protection would equally benefit from being able to read the dog's cropped ears quickly and reliably. Again, this is not to say a floppy ear dog's ear can't be read, but directionality, speed, etc., are more difficult -- things that could make a significant difference while making split second decisions on the job.
With all this said, I certainly don't disagree that the visual effect of a cropped and docked dobe is anything to sneer at. There are people who make the decision to get one solely for the looks, and while I can't say I agree with that, I also can't say that it had no effect whatsoever on my decision to get one. Working a service dog, people reach out and grab my dog frequently. Where I used to be, it was on a daily basis, multiple times a day. No amount of giant "do not pet" patches would work, so I stopped putting them on. Being polite is not only exhausting but also isn't effective, and cutting people off before they interfere makes you a bitch, etc., and still isn't effective. But when you've got a doberman at your side... Believe me when I say people think twice about just sticking their hand out to pet your dog. They are more likely to keep a respectful distance from me and don't argue when I say "don't pet". When your dog is literally responsible for your life, this is a
huge thing.
I've had someone who was anti-cropping tell me that I would have the same experience with a natural doberman, but I can tell you from experience that I would not. I took a natural dobe out for training, and I got as many, if not more, pettings than I did with my lab. People thought she was a hound. When I told them she was a dobe, a lot of them would recoil like they were touching a hot poker, and they told me if they had known she was a dobe, they wouldn't have petted her without asking first. Of course, this dog was not my service dog so it didn't matter quite as much, but the experience still stands. A natural dobe will get petted the way a cropped and docked one would not, and this would be potentially detrimental to my health and wellbeing.
As much as I hate to say it and as much as I am completely in love with the doberman as a whole, if cropping and docking became illegal here in the US, I don't think I would have another one. Some of you might think I'm a horrible person for it, but my dogs (and cats) work -- all of them, even the neurologically impaired Chihuahua. If the dog cannot work for me in a way that is safe, then it doesn't belong in my house. And that breaks my heart, really and truly. I love dobermans so much. They are my heart. But as much as I love their temperament and all things about them that are not their physical appearance, their physical appearance is part of them, part of the total doberman package, and that is why I'll do whatever it takes to keep this from happening here.
This is a great misunderstanding our our breed. They have some similarities to several different breeds because they are the only breed that was formed from the genetic diversity of the hearing group, terrier group, sight hound etc. read the posting here on the predatory sequence and you will have a much better understanding as to why they are NOT a German Shepherd in a Doberman suit. They think different, the approach thing differently and they are wired differently.
Thank you! I have worked GSDs, Malinois, AmBulls, terriers, sighthounds, BRTs, and several others. There are many other breeds out there that I truly enjoy, but there is nothing that compares to a doberman. It's not the fact that they can do other things; it's the
way they do it.
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 disagree that a mastiff's function is the same as a GSD. For that matter, the other dogs you listed are quite different. Poodles were for hunting, AmBulls were all-around farm dogs, kelpies were herders and shepherd's helpers... Yes, a lot of them do protection work now, but that's hardly what they were originally designed for. The reason we have different breeds if because they were for different things, and many of them are much older than what emerged during the Victorian era. Maybe that's when the standards were formed, but that's hardly when the breeds themselves were created, at least for a lot of them.
Regardless of that, however, each breed of dog is fundamentally different, even the ones that have been bred to do the same job. Golden retrievers are very different from Labrador retrievers. Heck, most Labrador enthusiasts would argue that there is a drastic temperament difference between the three colors. GSDs and dobermans can both do protection work, absolutely, but there's no way in hell I would recommend a GSD for the very vast majority of people for service work, whereas I would recommend a doberman for many, dependent on needs. Temperament and personality are so, so much more than just the ability to do the job.
) or maybe as 'right' as getting up and going out to make a living each day. It's just what is and should be done to maintain a breed. I'm not sure how maintaining a standard ruins the health. I'm speaking purely from a pet persons point of view but one that has known and recognized many breeds by their look or standard. I think over the years there may have been some changing like the stance in the German Shepherd (that lowing of the back end, which I've always hated) but I don't think I've even known such a radical change done to a breed like this before. 
But I am Woman, hear me Roar! 
