Family Tree

While I don't know anybody who has known the dogs in Elka's pedigree, I still find her pedigree very interesting. Granted, I met her sire (deceased as of December, apparently. Rest in peace, Gabriel; you seemed like an awesome guy) and dam, but I don't know them. I knew that Elka's dam loved babies, and her sire would "Smile" on command. Precious little information, when you get fixated on things in the way that I do.

However, I'm lucky in that there are some very good online resources for Dobermans, including Dobermann-Review.com and Dobequest.org. There, provided the information was uploaded, I can find birth dates, titles, health testing, and dates of death. Elka is spayed, and I never intended on breeding her, but it's interesting to see what's "in her woodpile".

For instance, this is Hertog Alpha v. Le Dobry.

(picture from his page on Dobermann-Review)

He was a conformation Champion and also had the Schutzhund III title (that's the final one, so's you know), among others. This guy was a very influential sire in his time. As one of my best Doberman Talk buddies said recently, "He doesn't reproduce, he replicates." I know what you're thinking "Well, Jen, Elka's a Doberman and looks like Dobermans." That's true, but the Dobermans in her family tree, especially the ones on her sire's side? She looks a lot like them.

It's funny, to be a "breed person", and come to the realization one day that you can tell that Doberman pictures are not pictures of your Doberman. Heck, there's somebody on Doberman Talk with two red girls from Old Drum Dobermans, and I can tell those girls apart. They aren't even mine!

Elka's Great-great Granddam on her father's side is Dea Dolores v. Franckenhorst.

(picture from her Dobequest page)

Like Hertog Alpha v. Le Dobry, Dea Dolores v. Franckenhorst (aren't the European names fun? It's one reason I'm happy that Elka is Elka V, which while it really means 5 according to the AKC's accounting of Doberman Elka's, it's a bit like she's got one of those Czech or German or Yugoslavian names as well) has both conformation and performance titles. She only had SchI, but was up to IPO 2 (I'm a little unclear on how the sports differ, but both are protection, anyway). If interested, you can read more about Hertog and Dea Dolores in the Dobermann Review article on Graaf Quinirus van Neerlands Stam (he's Elka's great grandsire).

(picture from above linked article on Dobermann Review)

These dogs seem rather like Doberman royalty when reading about them online, which make me happy about my girl! It's also worth noting that Hertog lived from 1979 'til 1992, passing away of old age. Graaf Quinirus lived from 1987 until 1998, with his cause of death also listed as old age. This kind of longevity, 11-12 years, while not enough time (it's never enough time) is reassuring. Many dogs have lots of "sudden deaths" in their heritage, which points towards cardio. I don't see a whole lot of that when I research Elka. I worry, obviously. 

This seems like a lot of information, and it's only three dogs in her five generation pedigree. Granted, once her family "comes to America", the titles (both conformation and working) stop, which is a shame.