Technically it was April 14th, but we were too busy eating burgers to post something up on the blog. Griffin’s seven years old, and has been with me for almost four of those years.
Doberman rescue pulled him out of a city SPCA, where he probably would have been put down. The statistics for some breeds just aren’t in his favor, and he was one of the hundreds of nice, well-behaved dogs who wind up in shelters all the time. People going to adopt animals have choices. Lots of them. Look up the statistics on the animals turned into shelters, it’s bloody depressing. Older dogs, dogs of certain breeds, and black dogs have it stacked against them. Griffin was three years old when he was dumped, a Doberman, and a big dog. Lucky for Griff, a rescue pulled him out of the shelter, put him in a foster home, and got him all the vet care he needed.
I have no idea why he got turned in. I suspect he might have been a victim of foreclosure, he was dumped in 2008, and most rentals won’t accept Dobermans. His former owner walked in, handed over the leash, and walked out. April 14th might’ve been his shelter turn in day, not his real birthday, but who cares. Vet says he’s around 7, so he can be 7. Since the founder of the Doberman breed was a tax collector, I like the irony of that date too.
Gone Hiking
When I brought him home, he checked out where his bed, food, and water were before deciding to settle right in as if he owned the place. Other than a brief episode of trying to hike his leg on the futon, which was easily cured, he’s been a great dog. Good with people, good with kids, loves other dogs. We joke that he’s the canine equivalent of living with a really chill human sometimes. As long as he’s in the same room and a part of whatever happens to be going on, he’s a very zen dog. He’s got a spinal disorder, probably Wobblers, so I count every year that I’m fortunate enough to share with him as a blessing.
Happy birthday, Griff.
Woof.
Expose it to lots of different peploe while it is still a pup. I took my baby girl with me every where while she was still small enough to pick up. Now anyone can approach her in the street and she is fine. She is also not afraid of thunder, fireworks or any other loud noise. She has gotten a bit wary of peploe coming to our house tho, but its only men who are taller than me that she barks at, she seems to think that anyone else i can handle myself if they turn out to be a threat. My other dobe i got as an older rescue dog that hadnt been socialised at all, but with patience and slow socialisation she is now the sweetest, happiest dog around strangers. Dobermans are very intelligent dogs and they train very easily, so socialising you new pet should be easy, just keep it constant and introduce her to as many peploe as possible both in the home and out of the home and you will have a great big sook who loves everyone. Just keep doing it as often as you can, dobes really are social dogs, and can be fearless so it should be easy.References : owner of 2 dobermans 1 liver and tan girl i have had from a pup and 1 blue and tan girl i got as a rescue.
Bravo! I love pittypats. I have had seearvl and a wonderful mix that wouldn’t hurt a fly. In fact,he was our dog (and we always have eight to ten dogs in our family) that everyone wanted totake home when they came to visit. A sweet,, gentle dog who was set to be euthanized butthanks to a kind vet, instead came to live with us. I have volunteered in shelters for twenty yearsand have seen very few really bad pibbles. If raised with love, I find them to be very sensitiveand loyal to their humans. I took Gracie, my current pbt through basic obedience training andshe was the hit of the class of 30. (and the best behaved) Anyone with a dog has a responsibility to make their dog a good canine representative. When the dog is a pbt, the responsibility is much greater. We never hear about the positive just the negative andmost shelters do not make pbts available for adoption but euthanize instead. Anything we can do to help this breed be restored to the position of beloved family dog as it was during Victorian times must be done. People forget that Petey the Little Rascal’s dog was a pit bull as was Buster Brown’s dog. So again, I say Bravo!
I couldn’t agree more with the need for training and socialization for all dogs. Even though both my Dobermans were adopted as adults, not puppies, the first thing I did was sign up for novice obedience courses. A group class will help quite a bit in getting your dog to focus on you around distractions. It will also help the dog learn to trust you, and create a bond. Dogs can learn new things, no matter how old they are. That old adage, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, is terribly inaccurate when it comes to dogs. I’m also a pit bull fan, even though I can’t have one now because I rent. Finding a rental with a Doberman is hard, with a pit bull, it would be nearly impossible. I’m planning on sponsoring one through a rescue, since I can’t bring one home.