Show off your dog's waistline!

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing about health and obesity. Mostly because I could stand to lose a few myself, but hush now. I'm working on it.

Elka's weight, to date, has not been a problem for us to maintain, and well. The fact that she's oversized (i.e., taller than she should be) is added incentive, as I don't want undue stress on her joints. Those need to last her a good long while, you know!

Pet obesity can be a problem, though, especially because dogs and cats are ultimately at our mercy for food. We can feed them adequately, or too much, or not enough. Adequate is the goal, obviously. A dog (or cat) in a home setting isn't necessarily hardwired to stop eating when "full". What does "full" mean to a dog, anyway?

So:

Name: Elka
Sex: Female
Breed: Doberman
Age: 3

Dictionary Doberman

Because I'm a nerd, I sometimes look at the dictionary for fun.

Because I'm a tremendous nerd, I sometimes look up Doberman in the dictionary.

This time around, I was so struck by the picture that I didn't even read the definition. I'm sure it said something like "breed that originated in Germany, developed by Karl Friedrich Louis Doberman."

The picture, though. No wonder Elka was accused of being a greyhound mix. The Doberman in the picture is rather...stout. It's hard to tell in the picture (sorry), but her tuckup is not all that pronounced. Her tail is a bit too short for my tastes, and she doesn't seem square.

I frequently wonder, in dictionaries and encyclopedias and dog breed books and dog training books, who are these dogs? That I've seen, there is rarely credit given. Wouldn't it be fantastic for dogs with Championships, working dog titles, or both, to be the Dobermans used in books of that sort? 

Monday Mischief: Doberman imposter?

At the park yesterday, a lady looked as us walking past and said "Greyhound mix?"

I paused, and said "Purebred Doberman."

She frowned and walked closer. "Are you sure?"

I said "Five generations sure."

"Oh. Well, I used to have a Doberman. He just wasn't that skinny. Well, I don't mean skinny."

"No, you mean the tuckup. It's all right."

Then we stood for awhile, and we had Elka sit so that she and her very tiny daughter could give her treats. I'm still not sure if she believed me, but there you  have it.