ok guys, help me out here, i'm trying to look ahead a little. i have 2 dogs, a humane society 9 yr old lab-X bitch, and a 8 yr old male rescue dobe. they're both in good health (well, the lab-X has blown both her knees, so she's on cage-rest--talk about prey-drive), but the day will come that i will get another dog.

i have always had german-bred dogs, various crosses/breeds--i love 'em. they've always been OB trained, a part of the family, etc., etc. i've never "competed", though i've always thought it could be an interesting part of my life; just been too busy earning a living and raising kids to take the time.

now, looking ahead, the kids are almost gone, i live in the middle of nowhere, have (almost) empty nest syndrome and would love to start/train a pup for ppd/ring sport in the next 3 yrs or so (my limit on house dogs is 2).

the problem right now is that i'm gone from the house 12+ hrs/day; hopefully(!!!!) that'll ease off by the time i'm truly in the market for a dog.

any insights would be much appreciated--if you need more info, i'll let you know. i know this is wide open, but starting here, with the time i have, i think it'll be good for me and the "next" dog. oh-i've always had a soft spot for GSD, tho dobies are a close 2nd...

finding a good Doberman may take you that long to find if you start looking now. Nothing personal as I own two now. My new dog, a working line GSD, is 100 times better a dog at anything than either of them. Except a bed warmer as he is not allowed on. Good luck with your trainung and have fun no matter what you choose to do

I wouldn't mind a dobie as a 2nd dog, it'd be 4 or 5 years away before I got a 2nd dog, I have my hands full with Cujo - but does anyone have any tips on finding a good dobie? GSD's have the different bloodlines and reputable breeders to pick from - but how would you select a dobie? As far as I'm aware there's no distinction between show/working/american/german etc etc etc. My parents had dobie's 22+ years ago, 2 of em that basically lived outside and guarded the house, they were awesome dogs, someone from my dads work was into protection training so came to our house one night with a bite sleeve, the dogs had no formal training, they bit the sleeve, I don't know how well, n he climbed up a tree not realizing they could scale a 6ft fence with no problem. From what I understand, dobie's have changed alot since then and have gone strongly downhill. I LOVE the GSD breed, but I have a soft spot for dobie's - but I am nervous about getting a dog that may not be any good, but heck, I'd be nervous about getting any breed wether GSD or Mal that wasn't any good.

Good luck on finding a working dobe pup and it wont be cheap.

1) Pups are a crap shoot
2) Buy the breeder
3) Do your homework on working lines and certain pecuralties of each line
4) Might be money, time ahead with a green dog or partially trained prospect

well, three of the reasons i've had rescue/shelter dogs for 15 yrs is that 1) they're housebroken 2)they're spayed/neutered and 3)they're time-efficient given my lifestyle at the moment. i simply have not had the time to devote to a REALLY good pup, but that time is/may be coming. at any rate, to get to the point:

i'm not hung up on dobies. i do appreciate not only their generally people-loving personalities, but their low-maintenance coats (i know, but sometimes the shedding gets tiresome, and i'm "time-stressed" as it is). my rescue dobe is an awesome guy--fun, and SO QUICK physically: he can switch ends in .0001 secs, he'll switch directions so fast that sometimes he falls over himself (and then looks embarrassed, no less..). but the physical ability is SO cool. but he was "over-corrected", i think he basically (sp?)has weak nerves. he sucks in OB, but wins in showmanship (my 13 yr old daughter uses him for 4-H). he's good here, knows everything that goes on around here and lets us know when something is "wrong" (and HATES coyotes, and will run them ALL the way off-which is a good thing around here), but he reacts from fear in personal confrontations.
oh hell, i guess i just hate to see the breed go down the tubes when there's so much potential. and i see it in my guy...

i know that a Mal is gonna be too much for me, and i have always loved GSD, so that's how i'll go when the time comes (my dobe HATES the cold/snow we have here), so i guess the next ? is: how does one find a REPUTABLE breeder? i don't need or want a really high-drive dog, but the best dog i ever had was a bitch, GSDXRott, who was hard (as i understand the terminology on here), and we got along just fine. i don't put up with nonsense; i expect the dog to treat me fairly, and i treat the dog fairly. but i am the alpha.

enough rambling--input? help me narrow this down a bit. thanks! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

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how does one find a REPUTABLE breeder?

I've been trying to find that out for years, nobody can tell me.

thanks a BUNCH, mike <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> anyone else? i just can't afford one of ed's dogs, and wouldn't want one anyway--the "drive" deal scares me. i DO want a home to come home to at night... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Ann:
Your dog is going to have a certain level of prey drive to make a PPD dog. Mabye you would be better off with a dog that does an agressive bark and hold. I guess you could always keep scanning the shelters or rescues or find one that has been spayed/neutered for one reason or another. I think your going to have to inncur some cost. Mabye join a club, meet some folks and get a discounted pup that way <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Sorry cant be to much help. I got lucky on getting my Mal pup when I did and my life situation right now is conducive to training one. Good luck

Ann, if you plan on getting a dog with no drive(this post) and use it as a ppd/ringsport(original post) you're not going to be successful. Save up for three years and buy a good dog, if i ever get another dog(mine are all young), it'll be a leerburg dog for sure, i've met 2 leerburg dogs and they were both really nice dogs, jmo, AL

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thanks a BUNCH, mike <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> anyone else? i just can't afford one of ed's dogs, and wouldn't want one anyway--the "drive" deal scares me. i DO want a home to come home to at night... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Ann, Ed's dogs drive would be typical of what you want in a PP dog. You'll need them throughout the training to produce a quality PP dog. If they concern you, perhaps a PP dog won't fit your needs. . .

Another aspect to consider is who will train the dog. I travel monthly from Chicago to Akron OH for a Tom Rose School trainer myself. I considered this very heavily when choosing my PP dog.

I would use Ed as a model breeder. Does the prospect measure up in terms of kennel, knowledge, integrity and proven litters? Following the advice on Ed's pages and BBS I ruled out almost all the Malinois breeders except one. Ot Vitosha. I would have preferred to buy from the new Malinois program affiliated with Leerburg because I knew the quality going in and am much closer to Leerburg. Unfortunately, they bred after I bought.

Just some thoughts to consider.