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Comments: DRY SHAMPOO FOR IN-BETWEEN BATHING YOUR DOG

My name is Iryna and I have a question about Listerine. There is no such mouthwash on the market here, but there are a lot of others? Could you tell the principal differences of Listerine from other mouthwash, or could you list the content of Listerine, so I could find the similar in Ukraine? What are the "working" elemennts in Listerine?

Thank you in advance!

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon!

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

A: from Judy Bohnert, Equinox Dobermans, Canada

Non-Medicinal Content:

• Alcohol
• Benzoic Acid
• Caramel
• Methyl Salicytate
• Poloxamer
• Sodium Benzoate
• Water

Good luck to you in your search.

BREEDING

Comments: Our female had a false pregnancy.  She had all the signs of labor and even bagged up.  I stayed up with her during the labor and called the vet in the morning because she hadn't given birth to any pups.  The vet did an x-ray and he said she had a false pregnancy.  We skipped a heat and decided to try one more time.  She had one successful litter with our male when she belonged to her previous owner.  She came into heat, right on schedule, and was bred once every three days.  I calculated her due date from the last breeding which was November 27th.  Because of her past false pregnancy, I want to schedule her for an ultrasound.  I was told after 21 days an ultra sound could be done to see if she is pregnant.  Any suggestions...Also, she just turned five and this will be her last breeding.  The area vets don't seem to have much information regarding why she had a false pregnancy.

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

A: from Marj Brooks, Manorie Dobermans, USA

Hello Katy,

First, let me tell you, false pregnancies are common in all dogs and with Doberman Pinschers as well. Some suffer more than others with false pregnancies. We are not sure as to why they have them either.

There is an article on our pages all about reproduction with the top reproductive veterinarian in the U.S., Dr. Hutchinson. http://www.breedered.com/reproseminarhutch.htm

Within this seminar, you will learn about false pregnancies and also what damage that they do to the reproductive system.

You may want to have your vet check for any infections or other reasons if she does turn up to be not pregnant again.

I hope that everything turns out to be okay.

Comments: Conformation

My pet bred 2 yr bitch had wonderful color and markings as a puppy but her adult coat has flecking (rust mixed with black) all over her thighs and her facial markings are no longer normal but cover more of her face.  She has a nice texture and quality to her coat with no undercoat.  I wanted to register her ILP for obedience but a non-Dobie instructor thought I might have trouble.  I have had Dobies for 30 yrs and have been taking only rescues for the last 20 yrs (hence this one) - she is very active (almost hyperactive) with a Dobie bitch personality and temperament within the normal range; she is reactive (possibly due to lack of socialization before I got her at 5 months).  I feel she is a Dobie, but small (25" with lack of adequate angulation and weighs 60lb - again, she had a very bad health start in life).  Do you think this coat marking problem will prevent her being registered ILP?  I have heard about this marking and that Peggy Adamson once brought a similarly marked bitch to the National Specialty several decades ago for education/display purposes.  Thank you for your time.

A: from Judy Doniere, Toledobes, USA

Dear Vivienne,

I would say she may not be purebred, but if you want to send me a photo of her, I'd be glad to look at it and give you my opinion.  I'm an AKC Judge of Dobermans and have been on numerous committees as to the validity of a purebred.  Please send it to Toledobes@cox.net.

Q: from Bonnie

Date: 19/12/2006

Comments: Pregnant Dobe

Hi! 

My girl just reached her 7 week mark and I would like to know if a few things are common for her.  She is needing to relieve herself 2-3 times per night (both urine & poop) during the night, and she lately has had terrible, stinky gas.  I know you can not comment on food, but just so you know, she is getting 3 equal meals per day of a good quality kibble - appropriate for puppies - as well as active dogs, and has been on the same food for two years. (Canidae all life stages) it is a 24% protein.  She is eating her hard boiled egg at her lunch feeding.  Her supper feeding time is at 6:30-7pm.  Her stools are soft - but not loose.  She is not eating anything besides her kibble and egg right now.  Thank you for your thoughts.
 

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

Q: from Pallab Paul

While we are not supposed to offer advice on feeding, maybe I can show another way to handle this through this information. At the times of the year where the seasons and the temperatures change, one has to adjust the diet. When it begins to turn cold (the dog will notice these changes way before we do) they need to be what I call, "fed up". In other words they need more food to handle the cold weather. Often we do not catch this until we see that our dog is getting thin or losing weight. It takes energy for them and us to keep warm. We can wrap up in clothing better than a dog.

If you are feeding fresh hamburger raw, then increase that as well as everything else and just a little of each. I increase the hamburger more than then the other stuff. It will take a little time for this to what call "catch" and to put on weight. When you notice a difference and when your dog gets to the desired weight, then level it all off to where they maintain this correct weight.

Also you should maybe take fecal sample to the vet and make sure that your Doberman is free of parasites. Maybe even have the vet do a physical and see if everything else is normal. Ask your vet about running a full thyroid panel too.

You can also help this weight gain along by adding a digestive enzyme to the food. You can add suet. I like to feed breast of lamb in the winter too.

In the spring watch for weight gain and try to notice this before it gets out of hand for weight gain and begin to back off of the suit and/or breast of lamb and the other ingredients slowly.

I hope that this is a help for you.

The reasons are several for not adopting two pups from the same litter or even 2 pups about the same age.  One is commonly the Alpha pup and the other the Omega..  As they get older, they may have bad fights as the Omaga pup will try and show his/her dominance over the Alpha pup.  Fighting littermates is not something to be taking lightly as they may injure each other very badly and you may get bit trying to separate them.  Even if they don’t fight, one may be much more timid than the other.  I haven’t even talked about the training issues.  One will get the other into trouble.  They will work as a pack unless separated constantly and trained one on one.  It’s much better to get one pup and wait a year and then get another of the opposite sex.

Hello Laurie,

It is a bonding issue. They tend to bond to each other rather than to you. It is very difficult to raise two puppies together because of this and yes, for this reason a lot of breeders don't like to sell littermates together. If they are not raised to bond to you, often times it causes problems later on in their lives and most people cannot cope with it and one of the puppies ends up looking for a new home. Breeders guard against this of course.

With all of that said, it is not impossible to raise two puppies together and not have this happen but they cannot be left unattended and to their own devices for long hours. You will have to give each dog a lot of inpidual time.

I have done this successfully but I did have to separate one of the siblings from the other dog pretty much completely during the crucial bonding period which is from 8-10 weeks thru the 16th to 18th week. Of course littermates have already had 8 or more weeks together before they come to you. We choose 8 -10 weeks to place the puppies because it is best for them to be in their new homes for this bonding period which is the best age for bonding.

(See article: Super Dogs Are Made Not Born)

At this time the puppies need this inpidual attention and now.

I have recommended people to get one now and another later to have this process be a little better. You still will have to separate the new puppy from the older puppy but not for 24/7 as you would have to do with the littermates.

Just managing one puppy properly through young puppyhood takes a lot of time let alone two.

You are correct, they do enjoy each others company but just like anything else, too much of something is not always good. They need to have you as a leader, not each other to make the best pet and companion in my opinion.

I hope that this explanation helps you and maybe some others will have even more good reasons to share.

Thank you for writing.

Comments: Temperament

I have a 12 month old male Doberman and he's been altered. He has a fantastic temperament but he's very naughty. We tell him to sit or down. He sits for a bit, then he's up and about. He's good off lead. He comes back when I call his name. He never strays far from me. It's just when he's home he's naughty. He stays by my side all the time in the house. He stands next to me all the time. When I leave him he whines.

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

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Q: from Cecilia

Date: 6/11/06

Comments: Raised Food Bowls

I know this is not a vet info site but I was wondering what your take on Raised Food Bowls was?. I have heard conflicting opinions, some even saying that Raised food Bowls increase the dog's chance of getting Bloat. I know My Doberman is at risk because of his build and deep chest. Any ideas?

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

A: from Judy Doniere, Toledobes, USA

I too have heard of the “raised food bowl” issue causing bloat.  I have been breeding Dobermans since 1955 and all my personal dogs have always had raised bowls even the puppies once they’re weaned.  I have a bitch that had a cervical problem so hers is only raised to elbow level where my other ones have been at shoulder level.  So far as of today, I’ve not had one problem with this method of feeding but then tomorrow is another day.  Whatever works for you and your dogs, do it.

A: from Marj Brooks, Manorie Dobermans, USA

Hello Cecelia,

I have not ever fed my own dogs from raised bowls so I may not be qualified to do so. I have thought about but my simple logic says dogs naturally eat from the ground so why change it. I have heard the same conflicting opinions too. I have not had problems with bloat with my way of feeding my dogs their food.

I hope what little that I have said is some sort of help.

Thank you.

Q: from Lana Meier

Date: 5/11/06

Comments: How to find a mate for my male Doberman

I have a male AKC registered Doberman that I would like to breed. How do I go about finding a female to breed with him. I love in Southern California? Any suggestions on where to look?
Username: Lana Meier

A: from Marj Brooks, Darwin Dobermans, USA

Hello Lana,

We have answered this question before in depth. I will try to find it in the archives and refer you to the answers that were given at that time.

First of all usually the owner of the female seeks the mate for their female for a breeding. In our answers we detailed the responsibility and the thought that it takes to make this decision of doing a mating and the raising of the puppies and the responsibility that we have for the lifetime of the resulting puppies.

I will look and try to find our thoughts to your question.

Later: I have looked and I have run out of time and it is several days later now.

All I can say is this will not be an easy feat. I would like to suggest to you that you need to learn about the breeding of dogs and the responsibility that it takes. Breeding dogs is a science and it takes a lot of learning and studying. There are articles on our pages that hopefully will guide you with information to make an informed decision.  One of the articles is http://www.breedered.com/useorneuter.htm

Here is an article that a female owner considers when they are choosing a male for their female http://www.breedered.com/selectastud.htm

You can go to our articles page and scroll to the articles in the breeding section and chose a number of them to read.

All breeding stock should be health tested for all of the inherent diseases that plaque the Doberman so that sound breeding decisions can be made for health. The same goes for temperament and conformation as well. We don't have to breed a show dog, but we must breed for a sound strong animal.

You must consider that you are just as responsible for the resulting puppies as the owner of the female is and you need to help insure that they go to good forever homes and ect. You need to make sure that they are nurtured and raised correctly by the breeder (owner of the female). The dam to be needs to have special care before and during her pregnancy. There just is a lot to this as you can see from what little that we write about it to you.

You can also check this site for more information. http://bakaridobes.westhost.com/publiceducation/

I think that we have given you a few things to consider and I urge you to do this.

Thank you.

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

Q: from Cecilia

Date: 1/11/06

Comments: Temperament - Nipping at Kids

I have a 4 yr old Male Doberman. My question is regarding Nipping at a child. Do you think it occurs because the dog is fearful or lacks discipline at home, therefore does not respect Kids as equals ? The scenario was at Halloween, many kids were coming and going and the dog was fine. Except for no apparent reason- nipped at a kid's jacket. I have heard that this first incident is very serious because he may do it again.

A: from Marj Brooks, Manorie Dobermans, USA

Hello Cecilia,

In the case of your 4 year old Doberman, I am guessing that he may not be used to children. On Halloween, children are excited and your Doberman may have more than the usual excitement with this particular child and took a nip at his jacket. It could have been a playful gesture on his part or it could have been that he was feeling a need to protect himself, his home and his people. It was inappropriate behavior but it was not necessarily his fault.

Again I am only guessing but suspect you don't have children therefore this could be a case of where he lacks discipline and training regarding children in the home. Like you say, he does need to respect kids just as he does adults. If you should have children it is your responsibility to teach him this this. Everybody in the household should be on the same page as far as discipline goes and all give the dog the same commands and etcetera.

I do have to say though, that perhaps you should not have had your Doberman out and amongst the "trick or treating" children. Usually one doesn't have the children come into the house to accept the treats, so that would mean that your Doberman was allowed to be outside with these overly excited, in the dogs mind, strangers (the children). It was inappropriate on your part to allow your Doberman to be put in this position. He made a bad decision because of your giving him way too much freedom and thereby by not properly training him.

I would hope that after that incident that you will in the future not allow him to be at the front door anymore on Halloween night as long as children are coming to your door. I myself, have my dogs contained in another room on Halloween night. You need to use good sense and not put him in a situation that could turn bad.

Actually we are all lucky (all of us Doberman/big dog owners) that he didn't actually bite the child and only got the jacket. You are correct that the next time could be worse, so you need to make sure that there will not be a next time. You need to know also, if you don't know this already, dogs do not think like we humans do.

Here is a link to an article on our pages about biting: http://www.breedered.com/biting.htm

I hope that this helps. I would also like to suggest that you seek a trainer/behavioralist in your area that knows and has had experience with the Doberman. Maybe your breeder can recommend someone. If you want me/us to help find someone to help you, let us know where you live and we can hopefully guide you to a professional behaviorialist.

Another suggestion is for you to watch the fairly new TV show, The Dog Whisperer, on the National Geographic Channel. I believe the show is on Friday nights at 8 pm but you may want to check your local TV guide. You want to see this mainly for the message that Caesar Milan has to share about dogs and their behavior and our responsibility to our pets as their owners. Each week he deals with a specific case involving a behavior problem with a pet. He works with the dog and the owners too.

If you have more questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you for writing us.

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A: from Judy Doniere, Toledobes, USA

It would be like your 3 yr old baby pulling on someone’s jacket.  They’re BABIES.  Halloween is not the time for dogs to be loose when the kids come calling.  They don’t know it’s a holiday and think these are bad people.  You should have put the pup in another room as they are not old enough to know this is just a costume kids have on.

Now, if the puppy is doing this to your own kids on several occasions, yes the pup should be directed to play with something else and not pulling on kids clothing.

Q: from Mary K. Browning
Date: 10/27/06

Comments: vWD

What is the percentage if you breed carrier to carrier?  How many clear, carriers, affected?  Thanks
 

A: from Darlene Young, Darwin Dobermans, USA

Please check the following link Interpreting VWD Test Results from the Vet Gen website.  I believe it will have the answer you are looking for.

Comments: Temperament (Bird Brain?)

My Dobe was at the river and found a dead bird carcass. He proceeded to prance at it, throw it in the air, leaping and catching it. He didn't seem to want to "eat" it. He wouldn't let another dog near it and acted really strange when I approached him. Does this seem to be normal behavior? I am assuming he just wanted to "protect" his newly found treasure.

How old is your Dobe?  How does he act in other situations.  He probably didn't want you taking it from him.