-
Origin of the Doberman Breed
Origin of the Doberman Breed- [maxbutton id=”3″]
Let me first start this entry with why the Doberman was created and who was responsible.
Herr Dobermann was born on February 2, 1823. Because of his various jobs he wanted to create the perfect dog to help him in his daily routine as dogcatcher and administrator of the chamber of account at Niederrossla— Apolda, as well as flayer and official of the tax office and a night police officer. He needed a working dog that could be alert, fast acting and protect him while performing his less than glamorous duties.
The Doberman was said to have existed prior to Herr Doberman. He sought out dogs that had just the right combination of markings and temperament for his breeding efforts. He helped to stabilize the breed more closely to what we know of today as our Dobermans. Breeding dogs was a hobby of his and his friends and much is actually know about the types of dogs that were around at this time. The Doberman was officially given his name after his death on June 9, 1894. Prior to this they were occasionally called “Thuringia Pinchers” or “Police-solder dogs”. Another piece of trivia is that the word “Pinscher” meaning Terrier, after the word “Dobermann” has not been used in Germany since 1949, as it is now recognized that the name is not appropriate for this breed.
There is much speculation about the base breeds used to create the Dobermann. The information I am going to base the following statements on is from a letter written by an old breeder Mr. Albert Ammon. He wrote about his Grandfather in the years 1830-1860. Who owned a great butcher dog, she was black with much undercoat and red markings, a little white spot at the chest. Long ears, and curled tail. In 1899 I bought from a Mr.Goller who offered for sale the new breed, a Dobermann Pinscher. I at once noticed the resemblance between this new breed and my grandfather’s butcher dog. When I brought this up to Mr. Gollaer he said ”I am quite convinced that it was principally the German Shepherd Dog, the smooth haired Pointer, the blue Great Dane and German smooth haired Pincher which played a remarkable part in the creation of this breed. Those dogs that I bought in the villages had no undercoat, or very little, but red markings, short, absolutely black hair like hounds, little marked lips, and long toes. Those dogs which came from Apolda were more like German Shepherd Dogs and Pinchers.”
A prominent German Dog specialist, Mr. Richard Strebel, believed that the Doberman does not belong to the pinscher group; That is to say , the Terriers, He supposed that this breed came from Shepherds. That it is probably a cross between the Shepherds and the Pinschers. It was his supposition that there had been crosses of Shepherds of Thuringia and the Black and Tan Terrier of England, and that the Doberman had inherited not only the coat of what we know as the Manchester Terrier but also his disposition, which is keen, alert, quick and fearless.
Important Doberman Trivia Dates:
- First “German Dog Stud Book” 1876
- Doberman Intelectus, in 1908 become the first of the breed to be registered with the AKC in America.
Information to write this blog was mostly gained from a book titled “the New Doberman Pinscher” by Joanna Walker a well known authority on Dobermans. This was compiled by Rochelle Fisher curator of For the Love of Dobermans.
[maxbutton id=”3″]
