"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.

OCD in Dobermans may help shed light on OCD in people

So, last year I did mouth swabs for Elka and sent them in. I haven't heard a blessed thing back from the study, and bu there was another study that's being reported on this week, on hoarding genetics. I know I was excited to read the linked article, because I was all "Oh hey, Dobermans!" Then, of course, it was about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which is a considerably less positive thing to associate with "my" breed. But there's discussion of how Doberman OCD can give insight into human OCD, and that's pretty rad.

Doberman Health: vonWillebrand's Disease

On Sunday night/Monday morning I had the unfortunate experience of having quicked Elka's nail while trimming it. Other than Wednesday, it's rather become this week's theme, unfortunately. That's my life, no shortage of inspiration, I guess!

Part of the reason I've been talking about what seems like such a minor thing all week is the fact that her nail bled for so long. It was unsettling, to say in the least. I didn't think that it was life threatening, as I knew that Elka was a carrier for vonWillebrand's disease, but neither affected nor clinically affected. And then I realized that it was time to talk about vWD.