“WARLOCK” Dobermans!!   What  IS  a  “Warlock” anyway???

Well, what I’ve been able to find out about this “Urban Legend”  is that they are the “huge, giant form of the Doberman”.   Apparently, some years back there was a big demand, and there still is, by the way, for oversized Dobermans.   People were wanting the extra big Doberman because they apparently wanted them larger, more like Great Danes.

Unfortunately for these people, the Doberman is a “MEDIUM” sized breed. The Doberman should NOT be oversized because the larger the Doberman becomes and goes beyond the ideal height of 27 1/2 inches at the shoulder for males, and 25 1/2 inches at the shoulder for females—they lose the agility and speed and the ability to turn and maneuver quickly.
These are all traits and qualities that are necessary for a guard dog that needs to be able to maneuver to protect and pursue, if necessary.   The bigger the Doberman, the less maneuverability and quickness.   Also, many of these so called “Warlock” Dobermans were actually offspring of Dobermans bred to Great Danes or Dobermans bred to Rottweilers—and not purebred Dobermans at all.

There was a Doberman male in the 1960’s named Ch. Borong the Warlock.  He was a very famous Doberman and many breeders bred their females to him.   He had many offspring.  Some reputable breeders that had this male in the pedigree of their good Dobermans advertised as having “Warlock” bloodlines.   The “BYB” or BACKYARD  BREEDERS, which are the ones that don’t care about anything except making a quick “dollar” off of a litter of popular breed puppies,  realized that this was a selling point for the good Dobermans that reputable breeders were producing and started using the phrase “Warlock” Dobermans to be synonymous with good Dobermans.   The “term” became something that backyard breeders used to advertise their puppies.   They used “Warlock” to mean better bloodlines, better Dobermans, bigger & better watchdogs—and so the term has been used for the last 20 years to basically mean a huge or giant sized Doberman—a rare and expensive kind of Doberman.

There are breeders today that continue to advertise to the public about having “Warlock” Dobermans.   People think they are RARE, SPECIAL, MORE VALUABLE AND  PAY LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY for these Dobermans.   Please be advised—there is no such thing as a Warlock Doberman—other than what an exploiter or backyard breeder makes up.

The “WARLOCK” is a GIMMICK used to sell puppies.   NO REPUTABLE BREEDER WOULD EVER ADVERTISE THEIR PUPPIES OR ADULTS AS   “WARLOCKS”.     It is a MYTH and GIMMICK  to sell Dobermans to the unsuspecting “PUBLIC”.   BEWARE of any breeder, advertisement or kennel that advertises  “WARLOCK” Dobermans.

submitted by
Theresa Mullen
DPCA Public Education Committee