An Opinion

[Seraphina]

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dobes in germany are used by the police and the armed forces.but they were also used in this way in the states.the american marines in particular had a corps of dobes called the devil dogs unit.(i used to have  a book about them that i brought back from the states with me)they were used in vietnam and in many jungle war zones where heavier coated dogs couldnt be used cos of the heat.but dobes were also family pets in germany and the usa.

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I do not know about the USA but in Europe people have (or at least used to) slightly different attitude to dogs. than we do here. Such a breeds like German Shepherds or Dobes were kept as pets, but it was accepted that they are working dogs and that part of their temperament is to guard and protect, and to keep their aggression under control they had to get proffessional training. People who would keep them would do obedience often to very high level. The obedience classes were mostly run by army dog trainers and these dogs were absolutely reliable, and always under control but you would not enter their owners propperty when nobody was home. If you did they were trained to bail you up, and as long as you did not move they would not hurt you. I am talking back 40-50 years ago, things may be different now as well. As i said it is good that the temperament of these breeds has mellowed somewhat.

 

[kris]

my first dobe bitch bonnie used to do this. :lol: she stand there snarling and hold them with her stare!a guy came to the house one day (he was a friend of hubs)as i was just popping out to the shop,i told him hubs would be back in a min and to wait.I MEANT wait on the door step,he thought i meant wait inside.when i got back from the shop i found him (with slightly soiled undies) (w00t) inside the house with the aforementioned bitch holding him at bay.he was absolutely terrified. i told him later that as long as he kept still she wouldnt touch him.he said well i wasnt going anywhere!a german friend of ours used to love this bitch of mine.he thought her temperament was superb.she brought my daughter up who learned to walk by grabbing her and hauling herself up to hold her collar and toddle alongside her.this bitch would sit under my daughters pram when i put her outside in the sunshine and heaven help any stranger who tried to go near her.i could walk through toxteth in a riot with this bitch and shed not think twice about laying down her life to protect me.she did actually save me from a fate worse than death twice.once with a gang of strange men in the park where she stood in front of me and was on her hind legs snarling at them,when they saw what she was like they ran off and left me alone and once when a nutcase tried to attack me and my daughter when alone on a path my daughter was only a toddler at the time and was screaming with terror.the dog again stood in front of us and she looked like she meant business.i told him if he didnt go away id let go of the lead.he left and bonnie came back to cuddle daughter who was crying.i still miss bonnie. she was a once in a lifetime bitch and all my foundation stock came from her.

 

[Ridgesetter]

MY PET HATE - please don't generalise and classify dogs as being different because of their birth country. :rant:

I've been down this path with Ridgebacks for too many years. UK dogs are heavy and mastiffy; USA RR's are too fine and sighthoundy; South African dogs are too red! Now I'm hearing whippets being classified into categories of faults according to their country - long necks, tall, eye colour, whatever. Please look at the inidividual dog.

I've seen whippets in Sweden, England, Canada, America, NZ and Australia - some stunning dogs - some not to my liking. The USA like Australia is a big country and you often see different styles from one side of the country to the other whereas I believe you see more consistency and uniformity in smaller countries.

I've used English, Irish and American stud dogs - not because where they come from or because of some perceived 'type' synonymous with their birth country, but because I liked them and felt that they suited my bitches. :thumbsup:

I've 11 whippets running in my yard - my oldest is 14 years and my youngest is 10 months - and I'm happy with what I see. Do I care what others think - definitely not. It's been a learning curve and in hindsight there were decisions and choices that could have been better, but that's the challenge of breeding anything.

Cheers

 

[Seraphina]

MY PET HATE - please don't generalise and classify dogs as being different because of their birth country.  :rant:    

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Of-course, you are right there are big differences between individual dogs in each country. However, especially in the past, when importing/exporting was not so easy as it is now, breeds in different countries did develop different characteristics. I have never seen a Great Dane (or Dobe) with long slim neck in Europe (where i lived up till late 60s, and regularly visited shows) or in Australia, where I moved to and started to breed and show Danes. The first time I saw necks like that was when I started to get The Dane Quarterly in 70s. Not all of their dogs were like that, as you said USA is a big country and there are many different types, but many were and still are. And although, due to imports from the US, the longer neck can be seen in other countries, as far as i am concerned USA is where it originated.

As far as Whippets go, Eastern European countries like Lithuania, Latvia and Russia breed dogs within the standard size limits, or at least did quite recently, but as they are busily importing from all over the world it is only matter of time before they will catch up.

It is a scientific fact that any isolated population will develop slightly differently.

That is why dogs were always different in different regions, that is how breeds originated, and that is why most are named after the country or region they came from