Quote: Bob Scott

This is entirely meant to be constructive and not a shot but he looks heavy and more then a bit soft for a 6 month old pup. It shows in his gait also. A Dobe in particular.
Keep a pup a bit on the lean side. His adult size will be what it will be. I think you'll be amazed at how smooth that dog can move with a bit of weight loss.

LOL Yes he is a bit chubby, he's been on large breed puppy food until recently, now on adult food with 23% protein. Here's a pic I took today and you can see just how big boned he is and what a huge chest he has and he hasn't finished growing yet!!! He's solid and will never be a lightweight but I do take your point.

http://marko1962.smugmug.com/Pets/Ozzy/i-5LFm559/0/XL/Ozzy27weeks5days-24-copy-XL.jpg

I'd like to thank you all for your words of wisdom, they are being implemented and are very welcome and greatly appreciated

Edited by Connie Sutherland (01/19/2012 10:36 AM)
Edit reason: un-embed oversize picture

I've never seen a Dobe with floppy ears and a long tail. It really changes his look. He reminds me of a hound.

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

I've never seen a Dobe with floppy ears and a long tail. It really changes his look. He reminds me of a hound.

Go take a look at modern Dobes across Europe and you will see them aplenty... it's common now, c&d is banned in many countries here and you'd better get used to it... no doubt it will be coming your way soon...

Hound? he looks like a Dobermann with a tail and ears, now where's the shakes head gif....

 Quote: Mark Rowe

he looks like a Dobermann with a tail and ears

Pisa has her tail, I've been asked if she came from a byb who was too cheep to dock, as far from it as is possible

she is bred to FCI standard,

I do not understand why a dog should be mutilated to suit lazy owners,

docking tails is so fat lazy owners do not have to worry about proper exercise and training to avoid tail chasing,

cropping ears is wrong too, clean them, give a sniff every few days,

some of the breed clubs who want to still be allowed to keep cropping ears will use the defence that a working dog needs to hear, if an ear keeps then from hearing aparently it is a poorly constructed breed imho

Mark, good on you for buying a dog the way it was born, enjoy that tail wapping against your leg, and enjoy the softness of those ears

I live in the UK Mark, and he looks like every Dobe I see here, I think people are so used to seeing Dobes over a certain age with docked tails that when they see one with what they were born with it looks odd! I think your boy is beautiful, a perfect example

We went to a 'Help for Heroes' fund raiser in Norfolk last year, and there were dobes that had been imported with docked tails and cropped ears and to my eye, the ears especially looked awful, and given the ban has been inplace here for a few years, the dogs got a lot of second looks!

I like seeing dogs au natural, but that said, my female Boerboel has a tail like a ships rope, and when that tail whacks my leg on a daily basis, there have been times when I wish she had been docked lol! especially in cold weather when the old legs get belted, hurts like hell!

Your boy looks like a dog that comes into work from time to time, called Apollo, he was the sweetest wee pup and grew into a giant in no time, he is a lovely boy

Some breeds develop "cold tail" routinely and docking the tail prevents this.

 Quote: Dave Owen

I do not understand why a dog should be mutilated to suit lazy owners,

docking tails is so fat lazy owners do not have to worry about proper exercise and training to avoid tail chasing,

cropping ears is wrong too, clean them, give a sniff every few days,

some of the breed clubs who want to still be allowed to keep cropping ears will use the defence that a working dog needs to hear, if an ear keeps then from hearing aparently it is a poorly constructed breed imho

Seriously?!?!?!

This is why you think that people want to dock or crop? Because they are LAZY and don't want their dog to chase the tail?!?!?!

I can honestly say that I have NEVER heard anyone in the Rott world utter such a ridiculous reason for fighting for the right to dock. You will hear things like structure (Rotts have been docked for so long that their bone structure has adapted to NOT having the tail and its weight could cause structural issues for a few generations with serious attention to the correct conformation), movement (again, the weight of the tail could change the gait), to non-uniformity (since the tail was cut, there was no consideration for what the tail looked like, only its set).

Of these, really only the last has been an issue. Tailed Rotts can have anything from a lab like tail to a husky type tail and everything in between. It has/will take(n) time and careful breeding practices to repair this, and many/most are actually OK.

HOWEVER, the biggest issue is that of tradition. Most docked breeds have been that way for a very long time. It is one of the distinguishing, identifying features of the breeds. It changes the look and feel of what the breed is (see the comment above about the Dobe looking like a hound) and those who have dedicated their lives to the breed don't want them to be changed. Being told by a government entity what they can and cannot do to their breed is offensive to many and intrusive to many more.

The argument has been made that it is cruel to cosmetically alter an animal for our human benefit. Many agree. On the other side, it is said that the tails are done at an age that the pups feel little to no discomfort and certainly no more (and with the same consent and "need") and than a baby boy being circumcise. And for ears being cropped, very similar to piercing a child's ears or putting a pup or adult dog through a spay or neuter (arguably more intrusive...)

I see both side of it. But to say that we dock because we are lazy... Crazy and offensive.

Everything Jessica just said, I agree and concur... none of my rotts had a tail and I am FAR from lazy...LoL

I agree with Jessica and Collin.

I choose not to crop Dexter's ears to give him a softer look as I live on a semi public farm. Harley came the way he is.

I had no say in the tail of Dexter. Many think That Dex is a mix breed

I ment no offence,


Pisa and I are working through something right now which has me a little more emotional than usual, I will chose my words more carefully in future postings