Thoughts on Doberman's

[Simpleterrier]

The second one a female is more friendly with people wants petted and to.sit next to you doesn't mind coming in. Listens great even with kids screaming at her doesn't like other dogs doesn't like gets mad and will check out anything new in the yard or pasture. She's a little more jumpy/ spooky more energy. U know she's something new and stops short or pulls her self back.

Samething good with chickens and goats and will help move calves some.

 

[Simpleterrier]

Oh yeah if I was looking for a more inside dog that is bigger and we'll behaved I'd go with a doberman. It is on my dog list but I think it will be the I'm old and need a dog dog

 

[Beekissed]

Airedales are none too common in these parts. I've never seen one in real life. Sound like great dogs, though. If I lived in hog country I'd definitely need one or two...hear they are great on hogs.

I think we are going to stick with what we've known and try to get a Lab or another Anatolian to fill the gap here. I'd like it to be a Lab...they are my most favorite breed in all the world. Easy to train, good on critters, big hearts and love everyone, very food motivated which makes training a snap, easy care coats and versatile.

 

[Simpleterrier]

@Beekissed where in wv are u there are a few breeders in wv I'm in northern ohio and we have a few breeders here but they are pricey here. We went to Indiana for the female pup. The guy ran them with walkers on coyotes. I tried to jew him down and he pulled a knife and said he'd fix me first.

 

[Beekissed]

@Beekissed where in wv are u there are a few breeders in wv I'm in northern ohio and we have a few breeders here but they are pricey here. We went to Indiana for the female pup. The guy ran them with walkers on coyotes. I tried to jew him down and he pulled a knife and said he'd fix me first.

That's another factor. I know it's nothing for folks nowadays to drop thousands of dollars on a pup but I don't, nor will I. In my mind there's no dog out there worth that much, I don't care if he poops solid gold turds. The most I'd pay for a pup of any breed is $400 and even that takes my breath away.

Before anyone says, "You get what you pay for", that dog won't hunt with me. The best dogs in all the world that I've had and wouldn't have sold for a cool million dollars came to me free dogs. Every last good dog I've ever had were free....the ones I've paid money for? Not so much. I know a fella that sells his mixed breed LGDs for $4k and he can't get a hand on some of them unless he puts them in a hold ing pen with his sheep. I wouldn't pay $4K for his dogs and it certainly proves you don't actually "get what you pay for", you actually get varied results no matter how much you pay.

 

[Simpleterrier]

Yep I agree the dog prices this year went way high I bet next summer there will be alot of dogs getting dropped off at shelters and out of town

 

[Baymule]

The most I've paid for a dog is $200 and that was for Carson, our now big black Labrador and Great Dane cross farm dog. He is great for the sheep, scared of the ewes that butt him and great with the chickens. He is our second Lab/Great Dane cross, they are good dogs. Before we veered off on Lab/Great Dane crosses, we had a Labrador, Danny for 13 years. He was free from the breeder because he was brindle and she wanted him out of there before prospective buyers saw him.

Also paid $200 for Sentry, who cost us another $900 for hip surgery, thanks to an unscrupulous breeder. He has made a fabulous guard dog, but we sure had a hard road to get him there.

Paris was free because she was a screwed up mess of a chicken killer and Trip was $150 as a puppy.

I will stick to Anatolians for LGDs going forward. I will also be very picky as to where they come from and how they are bred. Sentry is a fabulous dog, but is unsound through no fault of his own. We are glad we have him and wouldn't have it any other way, but don't want to go through that again.

Sorry for the high jack! Back to Dobermans!

 

[Beekissed]

The most I've paid for a dog is $200 and that was for Carson, our now big black Labrador and Great Dane cross farm dog. He is great for the sheep, scared of the ewes that butt him and great with the chickens. He is our second Lab/Great Dane cross, they are good dogs. Before we veered off on Lab/Great Dane crosses, we had a Labrador, Danny for 13 years. He was free from the breeder because he was brindle and she wanted him out of there before prospective buyers saw him.

Also paid $200 for Sentry, who cost us another $900 for hip surgery, thanks to an unscrupulous breeder. He has made a fabulous guard dog, but we sure had a hard road to get him there.

Paris was free because she was a screwed up mess of a chicken killer and Trip was $150 as a puppy.

I will stick to Anatolians for LGDs going forward. I will also be very picky as to where they come from and how they are bred. Sentry is a fabulous dog, but is unsound through no fault of his own. We are glad we have him and wouldn't have it any other way, but don't want to go through that again.

Sorry for the high jack! Back to Dobermans!

That's how I feel too....Anatolians or Akbash from now on, though we've had to pay more than you in these parts. $400 is the top I think we've paid and I wouldn't go higher than that. It's not that I don't value our dogs, as I do, but a dog is just a dog after all....you can't eat it if it turns out to be a bad one or if it gets so severely injured that you have to put it down, so you just lose that money.

 

[Simpleterrier]

Baymule u had a brindle lab what did it look like? A friend of mine has a brindle legged labhe says I say the mom got bred by two males

 

[misfitmorgan]

All good info and feedback! I've found the herding pup I have now simply cannot be broke off chickens...and that's saying a lot. I've broken many pups and full grown dogs off chickens but have tried everything in my arsenal on this one to no avail. He's just too obsessed with their movements and I refuse to lock up my birds over one obsessed dog. He's been living his life on a zip line all winter due to that and that's no way for a dog to exist...even on the zip line he caught two different birds and was trying to pluck them. Good thing he's not good at killing things or they would have been dead.

He will soon be sold to a place where he can work cattle, if all goes well and if it's God's will for him. After that I'll be looking for a dog to protect the chicken flock here in the middle and be an all purpose farm dog....but it sure would be nice to have a dog I could train to mildly move the sheep when needed.

Right now I just don't know what to do, honestly. Might have to go back to a Lab if I can find one...they don't really watch the sky for hawks and such but they make excellent chicken dogs and all around farm dogs.

I've never had a problem with our dobie's going after any of our animals. I will say Issac our male dobie likes to run past the poultry to make them jump, he finds it fun however in 6yrs he has never hurt any of them and there is nothing separating them. I also use our dobie to herd our sheep and goats. It's not true herding but he helps quite a bit, I just tell him to go get the sheep/goats and bring them here....literally. He will go run semi-circles behind them to make them head towards me and then stay near me. When I'm done I just tell him ok, thats his release command to many things, and he returns to my side allowing the herd to disperse. Again I didnt really train him to do any of that, I just was outside with him one day and was trying to get the goats back in their fence and he decided to help, I encouraged it....that was it.

I attest the fabric chewing is a thing with our current dobie, we have to make sure no fabric is left laying around, he sleeps in his kennel to protect our bedding and is banned from the bed period. The dobie before him didnt chew anything ever and the dobie poodle mix liked paper things to chew on but as paper isnt often laying around it wasnt a issue really. The dobie before our current one did have separation anxiety, we bought him a thunder coat and man those things really do work for some reason. Those are really the only issues we have had, and precautions or training seemed to fix them. I will also say yes, dobie's can teach themselves to open sliding glass doors.

Socializing dobie's like any dog is hugely important, from a very young age. We socialize our dogs from 8 weeks old taking them everywhere we can and introducing them to dogs, cats, poultry, goats, sheep, kids, adults, etc.

As far as cost the most we have paid for a dobie is $250 and thats because he is/was a blue and tan. That's issac. We might get a red female at some point and breed a litter but I'm still undecided if I really want to breed dogs again. I used to breed brussels griffons with my ex-husband.