Daniel, I hope you will take the time to research the Doberman breed very carefully (or any other breed you are thinking about getting), then ask yourself if your situation is going to promote the raising of a happy, well-adjusted puppy, with a family who loves him.

Your wife is not on board with this, has said flat-out she won't do anything with the dog and it better not destroy anything. And who can blame her? She has an illness which makes her tired all the time, and she's trying to take care of a toddler, which is "more than she can handle most days," in your words. What you're planning will add a lot of stress to her life, IMO.

You're gone for eleven hours a day. When you are home, I assume you spend a little time with your wife and daughter, as well as doing household type chores and maintenance that we all have to do. This isn't going to leave a lot of time to spend with a puppy. You cannot put an intelligent, strong, working breed puppy alone in a backyard for the whole day and expect him to grow up happy and well-adjusted.

Finally, I am very familiar with the common health problems of Dobermans, having owned that breed for the last 24 years. Do yourself a favor and Google "Doberman Health Issues" and read the wealth of information out there.

 Quote: Daniel Redick

Perhaps I need to rethink the breed. Thanks for all of your input. However I am not interested in a non working breed. Everyone who has responded is telling me I need to pick another breed but no one has said whether or not my plan would work. Whatever breed I choose I will need to know if that will work. Also can anyone suggest some breeds they think are more appropriate?

As a father of a 3 year old, brother of a someone with MS (can present severe chronic fatigue symptoms), and owner of a high energy dog, I think this is a very difficult situation to bring the high energy dog/puppy you want in to.

 Quote: Ana Kozlowsky

 Quote: Daniel Redick

... no one has said whether or not my plan would work.

It won't work

WTF? You know Dan from somewhere?

Don't know where this is coming from being we're only 5 post deep with Dan.

No.

Even the 1st post was enough:

 Quote: Daniel Redick

Hello everyone I just joined and I'm happy to be a part of this great forum and I apologize in advance if this post is too long. I have my heart set on a dobe pup but before I get him I am trying to make sure I have everything worked out. I have to work and I am gone from about 7am to 6pm. I have family at home during the day BUT my wife is not a dog lover, she doesn't hate them she just does not care much for them. She also has her hands full due to an illness that she has that leaves her chronically fatigued so keeping up with our 2.5 yr old daughter is more than she can handle most days! So she is fine with the pup as long as she have to do anything w/ or for it and as long as it doesn't destroy her furniture.

I would like the dog to be an inside/out side dog. I already have a kennel for him and a nice sized fenced in back yard. However I know that pups cannot hold themselves for the whole time I am at work so I was thinking I could keep him in the backyard until about 6 mo old when he can hold himself and then I could move him inside at night and potty and crate train him from there and then during the day he would have the back yard to run around in until I got home in the evening to walk/play/train and then bring him inside and crate him. I forgot to mention I also have anywhere from an hour to 2 hrs to spend with him before leaving for work. I live in LA,CA so the weather should not be a problem at all. Again sorry for the long post. I look forward to your advice Thanks in advance!

Daniel, a purebred puppy does not always take the guess work out of it. Even puppies from the same litter have very different adult temperments that all the training (many, many hours a day) may not be able to shape. There are very good puppies out there and there are very good breeders who have great older dogs who have been returned due to no fault of their own and would do very well with children. However, if I were one of those breeders, I would not feel comfortable selling you a small puppy that requires hours of attention a day when your wife is "not a dog person" and there are other factors that will make working with a puppy extremely difficult. I'm not saying it to be mean, just honest. There are many instances where the energy of dislike from the non-dog person has caused the dog to act aggressive towards them and from what you have posted, I don't think your plan would work. You might need to decide to give another breed a chance. There are many smaller, lower energy dogs that would be protective of your family IF you wife is willing and ABLE to be involved. It isn't fair to the dog or your wife otherwise.

OK so am I the only person with a job and family? There has got to be some dog that will work with my situation? I am open for suggestions?

I would be extremely hesitant to place a working line pup with anyone with a small child unless they are very savvy.

Add your wife's health problems and she already has her hands full twice over. A puppy outside all day would be bored to destruction and will have a harder time bonding with his new pack.

 Quote: amy vandeweerd

Daniel, a purebred puppy does not always take the guess work out of it. Even puppies from the same litter have very different adult temperments that all the training (many, many hours a day) may not be able to shape. There are very good puppies out there and there are very good breeders who have great older dogs who have been returned due to no fault of their own and would do very well with children. However, if I were one of those breeders, I would not feel comfortable selling you a small puppy that requires hours of attention a day when your wife is "not a dog person" and there are other factors that will make working with a puppy extremely difficult. I'm not saying it to be mean, just honest. There are many instances where the energy of dislike from the non-dog person has caused the dog to act aggressive towards them and from what you have posted, I don't think your plan would work. You might need to decide to give another breed a chance. There are many smaller, lower energy dogs that would be protective of your family IF you wife is willing and ABLE to be involved. It isn't fair to the dog or your wife otherwise.

I believe I said some of the guess work. I would consider a dog about 6mo to a year.

Daniel, I had dogs (mutts) most of my life. I got my first real dobe 2 years ago. I got really under dog on the energy level.

I work at home and can be out with my dogs many times per day. I got my older more laid back as 8 week old puppy. He is now going on 2 yo, I can just trust him alone in the yard not to ding plants or chew on trees or jump on a car. So even my laid back pup was still a kid.

I got my second one from a recue at 8 month old. He was totaly untrain and got in the groove very well. His plus was that he was house train. He got dump because the ex owner was working shift and leaving him crate all day. He was barking for attention and destructive and out of control. He is now going on 18 months and he is a lot more work then the other one at the same age. There is no way he can be trusted alone inside or outside or he will entertain himself.

I can't miss on his daily excersise or we all suffer. The older one is kind of happy sometimes to skip some fast pace activity.

99% of people who meet my dog perfer my older dog.

I would have never been able to deal with my high energy dog when I was working full time. For me it would have been a nightmare, my boy friend never had a dog before my first dobe. He is just starting to enjoy the dog and take care or my older one as his dog. I never though he would and never ask him to get involve they are my dogs, not so much now.

I often call my younger dog my second job