New Here..Need Help?! :)

[kjarv24]

Hi Everyone -
My family needs help trying to figure out first of all, If this wonderful breed is fr us. Hoping I can get some help from actual Doberman Owners. :)

What are some of the Cons with having this breed?

I'm a full time stay at home mom, My husband works most of the day, and we have a 17month old son. We realize that with having a larger breed dog there will be Knock Downs, Possible scratches...Among other things, which are accidents & the dog is not to blame.
We plan to Take our Pup to Obedience classes, I hope to pursue & Do some sort of Obedience with our dog. :)

I am wanting to know how Dobermans are with Children?
I understand most of it will depend on how well we as a family Socialize our pup..to children, other animals, people..etc.. & How well our pups breeder gives him at a good start with socialization... But, Overall as a breed are they known to do well with children, How do your Dobermans Do with your/other Kids?
We are ok with our Dog Being Reserved with Strangers, but Just don't want a breed where attack mode sets in...I hope that makes sense.
I know plenty of Dobes do GREAT in Family Settings from what I've been reading, I just want to talk to people who actually own them. :)
I'm aware of their Most Common Health Problems, I've been studying Great Danes for 8years & they are about the same.."Hip Displacia, Thyroid, Vwb's, Bloat...etc.."
We do plan to get a Great Dane in the next 2-3years, possibly sooner...Which brings me to my next Question?...
How has your Dobermans taken with New Dogs? Other New Pets?

Anything else you can let me know about the breed??

Thanks :)

[Rich S]

Welcome to the site!

A Doberman is a great choice for a family dog. The public perception is slowly changing as well. Many of the negative things you hear about the dobe, almost always, can be related to poor training. The Doberman is one of the most intelligent large breed dogs and is easily trained. As a result of this, they are often trained an attack and police dogs.

Taking your pup to obedience classes is a great idea for the whole family. If you are a consistent dog owner I GUARANTEE you that you will have a great pet in the Doberman.

As far as Dobermans with kids, from my experience, they are gentle giants. Just as any puppy they be hyper and this is where your consistent training will pay off.

As far as Dobermans with other dogs, this depends on the dobe. Over all they are pretty good with other dogs. When you decided to introduce a new dog in to your home, take time with the introduction (dobes can be a little jealous).

Let us know if you have any more questions.

[Slaboflab]

Welcome to the site!

A Doberman is a great choice for a family dog. The public perception is slowly changing as well. Many of the negative things you hear about the dobe, almost always, can be related to poor training. The Doberman is one of the most intelligent large breed dogs and is easily trained. As a result of this, they are often trained an attack and police dogs.

Taking your pup to obedience classes is a great idea for the whole family. If you are a consistent dog owner I GUARANTEE you that you will have a great pet in the Doberman.

As far as Dobermans with kids, from my experience, they are gentle giants. Just as any puppy they be hyper and this is where your consistent training will pay off.

As far as Dobermans with other dogs, this depends on the dobe. Over all they are pretty good with other dogs. When you decided to introduce a new dog in to your home, take time with the introduction (dobes can be a little jealous).

Let us know if you have any more questions.

diddo to all Rich S said.

[jelly8bean]

Agree with Rich. And you sound like you have been doing the right homework!

I have found my dobies to be very very excellent with my nieces and nephews from very young (age 2) to well over 18. Knockdowns and possibly a bit of herding may happen. When my 5 yr old niece was here for 2 months I did have to watch out for a bit because when she ran around sometimes Sara would run with her and try to play with her mouth. No injuries occurred on either side and my niece thinks Sara is the bestest dog in the world (niece is now 9 yrs old).

My experience with dobies is that they are extremely playful almost all their lives and when they get with another dog this will come out on top. When my brother's family came here after Katrina in 2005, they brought their rottie, Roxie, and she is still with me today. My Sara (red dobie) took a few days to warm up, but then it was on. Sometimes it sounded like Clash of the titans with all the whirling dobie.. planted rottie play. When I added Indigo last year - well Sara has a new, much more fun, playmate. The dobies have done dog parks and playtimes in petsmart and are generally great with other dogs.

[fritz'mom]

Hello, Sorry for the late response.

You have already received alot of great info and I agree with all that was said. I wanted to respond because I am also a stay at home mom and have three kids. My youngest just turned 2 at the end of January. And, I also have other dogs. If you will check out the pictures thread, I posted a pic of my Male dobie with my three kids not long ago. He is really great with them. My 2yo can climb on top of him and take his bone from him at any time and Fritz will just look at him with those big sweet eyes. He never offers to behave aggresively at all. He is only 11 months old now and still is in the puppy stage a bit, I did have some issues with him when he was a bit younger being disobedient in the house, (counter surfing, garbage digging, etc..) However I have found that if you give him time to understand what you want from him he will really try to please you. Well, we did get a garbage can with a lid, but this is a small price to pay to avoid the mess or accidental injestion of things he shouldn't be eating.

That reminds me, you will have to watch what your puppy has access to as far as small items he could swallow. My Fritz is pretty bad to try and eat things that he finds and I have read that this can be common with Dobes. This has gotten better with age though. Now that he understands "drop it" he is pretty good to spit things out if I catch him.

As far as the other dogs. He is great with all my large breed dogs. We have an Akita that he loves dearly and has always been good when introduced to new large dogs. He is wonderful with them. The only problem I have had is with my English Bulldog, he is not aggresive but he will be overly playful to the point that it makes her mad. She will start being aggresive to get him to leave her alone. But even then he just continues playing, he has never reacted aggresively. I try to keep them separated because it is usually a problem, running into furniture, knocking down chairs, and whatever else is in the way. But I think the problem is that she is so much smaller than him, and her mouth isn't really big enough to do any damage, he doesn't realize she is mad. Or maybe he just doesn't care since he knows she can't make him stop... I don't know. I don't think this will be a problem with a large dog however. And I have seen dobes that are great with small dogs and don't have this issue.

Anyway, in short I love my Dobe and have had lots of other breeds over the years. I have to say the bond I have with him is as strong as I have ever had with a dog. He is really great, and I don't think you can go wrong with one as a family pet.

[fatwilly]

My son, who is 31 now and has Dobies of his own, had them around from the time he was born and it was wonderful. They looked after him, protected him and played with him too.They are the best family dogs. Love them, touch them and make them a part of everyday family life and they will be a joy.

[violator]

agree totally with all the above, get one...u will NOT regret it BUT only if your willing to be really firm and consistent as a doberman will take over in a second if it thinks it can...and there stubborn too, so stay on top and you will be fine.