ALL ABOUT LIVING WITH DOBERMAN PINSCHERS
– [Narrator] Dogumentary
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(dog barks)
(light jazz music)
– My name is Marilyn Braverman,
and I own a Doberman.
My first Doberman Pinscher,
which its been a really
interesting experience to have
a dog that powerful, that
strong, and that beautiful.
(light jazz music)
What makes Doberman’s
such a great pet is that
mostly I think it would be that they
are so intelligent and sensitive.
They are very loyal to their owners.
And what’s happened with
me and my dog is I’ve
just developed an incredible bond with him
because I’ve done so many
different activities with him.
As a child, I always loved dogs.
I’ve had different breeds,
I’ve had Greyhounds,
an Airedale, and then I got
a Frenchie, and I actually
got a show Frenchie, and
that’s when I started
going to dog shows and
I was able to finish
him as a champion on my own
without getting a handler.
That was exciting.
We moved out of Santa Monica,
from a condominium into this
house, I thought this is my
big chance to get a big dog.
But he is such a sweet dog
and he has a sensitivity to
who to be gentle around
and who to maybe feel
protective toward me.
So that part of it is
really neat, he is very much
the protector of the house.
He’s very alert, I did a lot
of work with him as a puppy.
To make him social, because
what I notice with him at first
is they’re so sensitive, that
I thought he might’ve been
a little bit skiddish.
So therefore, because I am
pretty much a dog person,
I realize, I can see what’s going on,
I had to really take him
out and meet and greet
all kinds of people in
different situations.
That helped a lot so as he
grew he got more confident.
Also with Stevie, because I
showed him in Conformation,
and I did some lower coursing,
and took him out and had fun with him,
and hiked with him, almost
on a daily basis at first.
I call that his decompression
hikes, because the dog,
if you don’t, this breed,
they are very active.
And if you just sort of get
up in the morning leave the
house and go to work
and come home at night,
the dog is not going to be the same dog
that I have at home here.
They just need a lot of mental…
stimulation because they are so smart.
He was absolutely no
problem house breaking,
he never made one mess in
the house and I got the dog
at ten weeks old.
The worst thing was, he
came with his ears cropped.
Now people buy Doberman, don’t necessarily
have to crop their ears.
You know, that’s pretty
much, yeah, it gives them
a certain look, yeah, if
you’re going to show your dog
in America, you have to crop their ears.
So, I had no idea with
a ten week old puppy,
what you had to go through for months,
with the cropped ears.
Wrapping them every week,
when I did it’ they would fall out,
so I had to go to somebody
else to have them wrapped,
and pay her $20 once a
week to wrap the ears,
so that they would stay.
It just bothered me,
you have to unwrap them,
let them air out for one day,
and then go back and rewrap them,
and the dog didn’t you know.
I have to tell you though, something,
you know, he’s this little puppy,
like four months old,
whatever, and he walks around
with the bandages on
his ears and everything.
And I would take him
out to socialize him and
have people see him and
talk to him and stuff
so he’d be normal and
instead people would like
give me the worst looks.
Like you are so terrible of an owner,
what did you do to the dog.
Once a little girl came and said,
“What happened to his ears?!”
It’s, people have a bad reaction,
they really, it was not fun.
So, that part of it was
the most negative thing
about getting a Doberman puppy, for me.
I have two dogs, and they are both males.
Both un-neutered.
One is the Doberman, Stevie.
And one is Oliver, my French Bulldog.
And there’s nothing that’s
ever happened that’s
made me feel that this
isn’t the perfect situation.
I love having two dogs anyway.
They really care for each other.
They miss each other, they
keep each other company.
And the fact that one is
the opposite of the other
it really doesn’t really matter.
The only thing, when
I first got the puppy,
cause the Frenchie is younger,
I was very careful to explain to Stevie,
I would use the word gentle, gentle.
And I think that he picked up on that.
And there was maybe twice in 5 years where
they’re playing together,
or they wrestling,
or they’re pulling on toys or something,
that I’ve heard a squeak
from the other one,
meaning he maybe stepped on him,
or, and I rushed into the room and Stevie
his head down, he’s saying I’m sorry,
so that’s just the kind of dog he is.
So they get along perfectly.
(light jazz music)
I was at a park, I saw them doing agility,
doing teaching agility, and I was curious.
And I met Kara, who is a trainer there,
and she said, “If you
want a dog that’s really
bonded to you, you’ve got to do agility,”
it’s the most fun sport, thing
you’ll ever do with your dog.
And she was kinda right,
but she taught us that
there is no, no in agility.
And there is no punishment,
only praise, only treats,
only happy, and that’s how
you train dogs to do agility.
So it’s been a lot of fun
and now I’m very competitive.
I’m so into agility now
that I got some jumps online
and some weave pulls,
and so I can practice at home also.
And then I watch videos online,
and I watch tutorials.
So I’m full board on agility right now.
I’m a small person and he’s
a lot for me sometimes.
He’s a lot of dog.
When I first got him, I was
really going to get a female.
Because they are a lot
smaller, but it so happened
that I got the boy because
the contract for the
female was just too strict.
And you know, I didn’t
want someone telling me
that I had to breed the dog
twice, and I had to let the
dog whelped at their house,
and all those things.
So I got the boy, and I
never not loved having
the boy dog, in fact, I
think they’re more loving.
I think for the type of
person that should get this
dog or should not, is like
age, and sex is not the issue.
It would be more about
your activity level,
if your an active person,
have a lot of energy,
I think it’s good.
My dogs are indoor dogs,
meaning we have a nice big yard
and they can spend time
outside as much as they want,
but they really live
indoors for the most part,
they are in every night,
they’re with us at night,
for watching television, or hanging out.
So if I leave the house, I
will leave Stevie outside,
for a couple hours, you
know, in good weather.
He’s a black dog so
heat isn’t good for him.
But I wouldn’t, I’m a
little concerned about
leaving him too long, and I
don’t know really why I am.
Whether somebody comes
over, or opens the gate,
I don’t know, I’m just very
protective over the Doberman.
So I don’t leave him outside for
more then three hours at a time.
I live in an area there’s
coyotes, and actually,
there has even been a mountain lion seen.
Which really scares me.
So when I got the French
Bulldog, I already had Stevie,
so I did feel comfortable
getting the Frenchie
because Stevie is his protector.
So a coyote probably is not going to carry
Oliver away if Stevie is there.
In fact, what Stevie
will do in the mornings,
or sometimes, he senses something
down there in the canyon.
He’ll run the perimeter
back and forth barking,
letting them know, he’s here and
they shouldn’t come over the fence.
Because they will carry a
little dog away or a cat,
you know, that’s what they eat.
Stevie’s great in the
house, he doesn’t ever get
in to the kitchen and jump on a counter,
or counter surf or anything like that.
He does get on the couch,
I just turn the other way,
I let him lay on the couch.
He’s clean, Doberman’s are
clean dogs, they’re very
short haired, he never
smells bad, he loves having
a bath anyway, but you know,
they are just easy, easy dogs that way.
House rules might be,
he can’t sleep with me,
because he is all elbows and forget it.
I would never, I just
don’t sleep with my dogs.
They have crates, I don’t lock the doors,
but they go to their crates to sleep.
Why have a Doberman and then
have him locked in a crate?
What if somebody was trying to break into
your house, you’ve gotta
have him running around.
You’ve gotta have him on drill there.
So one of the house rules, is when you are
having a meal, the dog is
not able to sit there and
stare and drool, I just tell
them go to your place or go, go on.
And he gets it real easily.
Stevie’s so smart that
he has laser sharp ears,
that maybe when you’re finished,
right, and last bite,
he walks into the room
and looks at you like,
“Did you leave me some?”
The rules when people come over, company,
is that the dog can come out
into the room and meet them.
And he shouldn’t bother them.
But there’s been times
that certain people,
he barks at them, very loudly
and that’s not ever cool,
because they get very scared.
So if that happens, I’ll
send him out of the room,
but usually I like it if he meets them,
and then settles down.
Is there but not bothering us.
I do tell people just don’t
say anything, or if you do
just say, “Hi Stevie.”
Because when people over
react and try to reach out,
that is never, that’s always
a little nerve wrecking.
Doberman’s are really good watch dogs.
So I feel so confident
that no ones going to
come to the house, without him
barking and letting me know.
Basically I don’t think
anyone is coming here anyway.
Let’s say if there was
a robber or somebody
wanted to break into your
house, they might scout the
neighborhood, they’re not
going to break into this house.
Because that would be so foolish,
there’s many other houses.
People are afraid of him, not all people.
But some people are
very timid of this dog.
When I first got him I
was very careful about
having him meet strangers because I wasn’t
sure about the breed.
Now I know the dog so well,
I’m much more relaxed around that.
It’s not like having a
French Bulldog that everyone
wants to say hello too,
and it’s perfectly safe.
I wanted to say one experience,
once we went to a dog show in Los Vegas
and we stayed in a big hotel there,
and we had to walk to get to the show,
we had to walk from our room,
through the casino,
through crowds of people,
in Vegas, and with a dog.
Stevie was walked like
a soldier next to me,
and I observed that he
looked at every face
that he was passing to check it out.
That’s the kind of
protector he is, he is like,
so aware of everything around him.
Anybody really wants to have a Doberman,
if they just are aware of,
that they need a certain
amount of care, and
attention, training, and they
need to be in your house with you.
I would never just leave the
Doberman as a backyard dog.
I recommend it.
And if you have a certain
amount of energy and you have,
like I said, the females
are smaller, they’re just
as wonderful as the male.
You should get one, because
they’re just loving,
and they’re good with
family, the children that
live in the family.
So I have no qualms about saying they
are a wonderful breed to get.
