What I think of the Audi "Doberhuahua" Superbowl Commercial

I'm sure you've seen the Audi "Doberhuahua" commercial by now. I saw it before the Superbowl. I didn't even see the Superbowl (go team!). It's caused discussion in the dog and Doberman world, as one might assume. Interesting discussion, interesting thoughts. There are of course many ways to look at it.

(it's also not summer yet)

"It's All in How You Raise Them"

I'm sure you've heard many a breed advocate utter this phrase: It's all in how you raise them. Meaning, vicious dogs are made, not born.

As an obvious Doberman advocate, you might be a little confused when you read my answer: That isn't necessarily true.

December in the park

On our most recent walk, Elka and I pretty much had the park to ourselves.

We kind of nodded and smiled "hello" at a couple of passers by, and saw one guy who looked like he was doing a snail's pace circuit of the park while doing some kind of martial arts kata (we gave him a wide berth). I can't say that I minded, really.

Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week

September 17-23  is Petfinder's Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet-Week! A strange thing to celebrate? Maybe not.

Here, of course, is where I'm going to plug Storm again, who isn't on Petfinder, but is apparently less adoptable. He's been at the Broome County Humane Society since July 5 of this year. He's 8 years old. He's an albino, which might be off-putting for Doberman people. Maybe not. He's a shy boy. But, according to comments on my last post about the "Conklin NY Dobermans", Storm is the last one left in the shelter. I don't see Dusty listed on the site anymore, either! To call the Broome County Humane Society (in Binghamton NY) about Storm, 607-724-3709 is the contact phone number listed on their web page. His animal ID is listed on his page as 16640033 

Will My Doberman Protect Me?

On the Doberman Talk forum, we get a lot of newer members, and have a lot of discussion, about whether one's Doberman will protect them. Also questions about when the "defensive drive" kicks in. Dobermans are companions but also designed for personal protection; it's not all that odd a question. Just odd that so many new people a week post it!


So, what do I think about Elka? Will she protect me?

Dre, Pit Bull in Danger in Colorado

Remember Lennox?

Well, in Brighton, Colorado on July 31, an interesting thing happened. A run of the mill thing, really. Two dogs got loose, a pit bull and a Doberman. They were kind of freaked, and ran around for awhile, and were chased by people who were trying to catch them. They barked at people, and a lot of those people were scared and called the police. Once the dogs were finally caught, the owners were called. The Doberman went home. The pit bull is in danger of being euthanized for being "dangerous".

Not a single stranger was touched in this frightening barking spree. Nobody was jumped on. Not a paw or tooth was laid on a single person, by either dog.

I learned on Doggies and Stuff that there is a ChipIn to help Dre's family with the legal costs.  Dogster has run the story as well. There is a petition to save Dre, where you can add your voice (the petition page is where the above photo of Dre and Machomotto is from). The goal is 100,000 signatures. Currently, they're at 55, 095. My understanding is that Dre's next hearing has been postponed until August 21; at that point, let's hope that the DA looks at the FACTS rather than emotional opinions. A barking dog is not a biting dog. A biting dog is a biting dog.

"That's the devil's dog."

Some days, Elka and I seem to sow terror wherever we go.

A bunch of people got off a bus stop as we walked past, and they stared at her, whale-eyed, turned sideways, rigid.


I didn't pick a Doberman to scare people, mind you. And I also must emphasize that she was perfectly behaved. At heel, paying attention to me, and calm.

Clearly a menace

"That's a big scary dog"

At the park, a guy was talking on his cell phone on one of the benches. Elka was staring at him, for whatever reason.  Maybe she thought he had food. Maybe she wondered who he was talking to. I'm not really sure; she stares at us when we're on the phone as well, or on a headset with somebody, and if it's somebody she knows, she seems confused that she can't find them.

But, said Cellphone Talker looked up at Elka and grew visibly uncomfortable. I just smiled, and he said "Wow. That's a big scary dog. What kind of dog is that?"

"She's a Doberman."

"Really big."

"Yes, she is."

When I have a conversation like that with a person, I am amused, I'm not going to lie. But really, I have to wonder about that person's prior dog experience. Had they been knocked over by big dogs as a child and avoided dogs since? Had they been attacked? Had they only interacted with ill trained dogs and owners who thought it was funny?  Nothing insulting was said, so it's not like I could really be indignant. I just wonder.

On Our Sunday Walk...

Today on our walk, we saw:

An Airdale Terrier on a Flexi lead.
A Rat Terrier on a Flexi lead.
A Put Bull Terrier (I think) on a Flexi lead.

I don't have pictures, because I don't want to be a weirdo who randomly takes pictures of people on the street, but do they have the corner on the market, or what?

I'm sorry, Lennox

Lennox, the Belfast "pit bull type" dog, is to be put down. He's an American Bull Dog/Labrador Retriever cross. But, he "looks" like a "pit bull", and his measurements are like a pit bull. So, too bad. He's been impounded for two years. His family has fought for him for two years. Frankly, I wondered if he had been euthanized long before now, but the bureaucracy kept rolling. They didn't even let the family say goodbye. That may have been a blessing; a dog kept in a shelter environment for two years may not be the dog that he was when he went in.

The Lennox case perplexed me. I tried, very hard, to find another side. I wanted to find editorials about how Lennox had been a terror to the neighborhood, a menace, running about off leash taking shots at people. Granted, it's hard to find the story at all. One account says that the animal warden showed up to the family's house, unannounced, measured Lennox's muzzle and body with a measuring tape, and said he was a pit bull and must be euthanized.  I mentioned in the final Heidi the Doberman post that Lennox had knocked down a dog warden, but I'm hard pressed to find articles that say that now. It's hard for me to find a dog guilty based on knocking somebody down, of course; he could have jumped up in play, to smell her face, any number of things. I'd like to say "blame the deed, not the breed", but there was no bite here.

Without witnessing an event, it's hard to say what happened, and even then, it isn't always cut and dry. A Huffington Post article does relate that two separate animal behaviorists examined Lennox and thought that he was just fine, behaviorally speaking. Not an aggressive threat.

There have been petitions and boycotts and letters written. People have petitioned that Belfast be skipped along the torch passing route for the summer olympics. The torch was scheduled to pass through on June 6; I don't doubt that it did. Lennox is only a dog, right? I'm sure any number of people outside of Northern Ireland would have been poised to adopt him, whisk him away to a theoretically safer location, where just having a big square head wasn't a death sentence. I wonder if people rethink Labrador ownership?

Lennox had been legally owned and legally registered in Belfast until then; they had even done a DNA test to prove that he was an American Bull Dog (not a banned breed) and a Labrador Retriever (another not banned breed). Since his removal, he was evidently kept in what amounts to a concrete box with sawdust on the floor, seen in photographs that his keepers released. One might assume, since he was a BigScaryMeanDog, that he had no human contact, no play, no toys. For a human, solitary confinement of that sort, for that length of time, might be considered questionable. But Lennox is only a dog, right? One whose fate was pretty much sealed from the moment he left his owner's custody.

For a dog that never bit anybody to be euthanized makes no sense. For a dog who is not suffering from a terminal disease, an irreparable injury, uncontrollable aggression, or neurological condition to be euthanized is sinful. It's a failure of humanity. It makes me sad and sick and I wonder...well, I wonder too much. And it seems that nobody gets answers.

Free Advice Thursday: May 31 2012

My last Free Advice Thursday was back in October. Truth be told, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a regular thing. It still might not be.

Today, though, I actually heard advice requested on a topic that, in person, I wasn't really comfortable giving. Not at work anyway. Or maybe not at all. Advice that I give, here or in person, may not be taken as legal advice. If you actually have this kind of problem, you should contact a lawyer, discuss with police, at the very least call your vet or even your breeder!

The Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what you do with the information and discussion that you take away from here. I'm merely airing concerns.

So, what is is that has me bothered?