Rosewood Doberman Pinschers

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Before deciding to purchase any Doberman pinscher, you should make sure that you desire to be owned by a nosy, pushy and demanding dog that will not be content to be a backyard animal, but will always want to be a part of the family and its activities. They can be extremely exasperating puppies, willful teenagers and overly intelligent adults. They can be too much of a handful for some people and real “pussycats” for others. They are quick to learn and slow to master. They can be very aggressive to friends and real friendly to thieves. They are sometimes too short-lived, but can remain puppies for 12 years. They are, in short, dogs that think they are human and they deserve to be treated and trained as such.

A Rosewood Doberman can be all of the things mentioned above, but it is also a constant companion that would rather be working with you than loafing without you. Their world revolves around you and you had better reciprocate. They will take as much as you let them get away with. They are content to abide by the rules as long as you are consistent with their enforcement. Obedience training, tracking and showing are acceptable forms of attention to them as long as it is regular and often. Do not ignore them or trifle with their affection. They will get even.

A Rosewood Whippet is very much like our Dobermans. They also are little shadows and like nothing better than sitting in the chair with you and sleeping under the covers in bed. They enjoy lure coursing and racing. They will do obedience, but they prefer not. They are not guard dogs, but will usually alert you to strangers. They may look like fragile china dolls in the house, but they are in fact highly attuned, extremely athletic predators. If you doubt this, come watch them on the field.

We have a very simple philosophy here: if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. We keep and breed the best puppy in a litter to the best stud dog for that puppy, no matter where he lives or how much it costs. We breed to the Standard and our mental ideal of these wonderful breeds. Nothing less.

Unlike pet Dobermans, or those bred only for Obedience or only for Conformation, we breed for Dobermans that can do anything that you want them to do. Our dogs are kept as housedogs, not in kennels, and are treated as pets. We train our dogs and show them at Obedience Trials to earn titles and prove their abilities. We train and show our dogs at Conformation Shows as a showcase to other breeders as to the quality we have produced and to receive a hopefully unbiased opinion from the judge. Our Whippets are bred to be multi-purpose dogs: beautiful to look at, awe-inspiring to watch run, and obedient housedogs. By doing all this work, we are able to evaluate our dogs’ strengths and weaknesses, and thereby make educated decisions about breeding and making improvements. This is what a Breeder does to produce better quality dogs.

To further help us evaluate our dogs; we do many medical checks to make sure the puppies will live a long and healthy life. We X-ray all of our breeding stock and breed only those that receive certification from OFA that their hips are free of hip dysplasia. We check for the presence of the Von Willebrand’s Disease (VWD) gene that can produce severe bleeding disorders when in double dose. We check all of our dogs’ hearts with modern ultrasound equipment to make sure they are free of cardio-myopathy. We check for hypo-thyroidism and are presently striving to remove this nuisance trait from our line. We check all of our Whippets’ eyes with an opthamologist and have the results recorded with CERF. We breed only to stud dogs whose owners are also so enlightened about genetic health problems. Pet breeders don’t do these checks, usually out of ignorance. Some show breeders also take the position of “I don’t have that problem in my line,” but if you don’t test, how can you prove that it isn’t there? I would suspect their motives for not doing these tests.

The Doberman Pinscher Club of America has initiated a temperament-testing program to determine correct Doberman temperament in those dogs tested. This fairly rigorous mental test puts increasing amounts of stress on the dog by presenting different situations to it and watching its reactions. This includes the Neutral Stranger, the Friendly Stranger, Hidden Clattering, Gunshots, the Umbrella, Footings, and the Threatening Stranger. A dog that exhibits acceptable reactions passes and receives their Working Aptitude Certificate (WAC). If a Champion with any Obedience Title passes, they receive a Register of Merit (ROM). We test all of our dogs and usually breed to dogs that possess a WAC or ROM. We strive to produce dogs with real Doberman temperament, not Poodle or Golden Retriever temperaments. Why settle for anything less than the best?

Our puppies start out life with all of these positives going for them, and then we make them better by the way we raise them. They are raised in the house, not the garage or some shed. They get the best food, health care, and handling. Socialization is paramount to us. They are raised as if we are keeping them all for ourselves; which is the only reason we breed, to keep at least one pup. We do not breed for the pet market. We Puppy Aptitude Test them at 7 weeks, have our Veterinarian crop ears on the Dobes at 8 weeks (or not, if you prefer), and then select which home is the best match for each puppy. We encourage you to tell us what you want in a puppy and what your family and home situation is, so that we can pick the right one for you.

On top of this, each puppy goes home with a complete written guarantee, which clearly spells out our policy on returns and replacements. We challenge any Pet Shop to be as generous or understanding as us. We have invested a lot of time, work and money to put this puppy on earth, and we want him protected. As far as we are concerned, he will always be ours; you are his adoptive parents.

If you are comparison-shopping prices, remember that quality costs money to produce. A healthy well-bred dog is almost always cheaper to own than a dog of ignorant backyard breeding. Spread over the lifetime of a dog, the difference in price is negligible.

If you are looking for a cheap guard dog, go away! Dobermans were made to be Personal Protection dogs, not junkyard dogs. If you are looking for a bitch to turn into a money factory, scram! Breeding dogs right costs money, not makes money. We feel lucky if we break even on a litter. If you are looking for a life-long companion to show, train, or be your child’s playmate and protector, we would love to sit down and talk about it. We are proud of our dogs and would be glad to let you meet them in person. BUT remember, we are doing this as a hobby not as a business. You may have to wait for a puppy. We think it’s worth the wait, and so do people who already own a Rosewood Doberman Pinscher or Whippet.

Click here to go to our Whippet Page.