doberman Q&A WITH PAMELA DEHETRE, CINDI HUCKFELDT, DOUGLAS JENSEN & COLLEN NICHOLSON
turned out so great but the boy was a mess. I actually read some books after that and realized my mistakes. It wasn’t the dogs, it was how I raised them. I highly recom- mend the book, “New Knowledge of Dog Behavior” by Clarence Pfaffenberger. The concept is certainly not new at this time but you will learn quite a bit from reading it. There is a huge difference in energy levels and prey drive in this breed. Some of them are strictly Davenport Pin- schers, while others are always going full speed ahead. One thing many of them do is spin in circles when they are excited to go out. They don’t spin away from you, but right into your knees so be careful to get out of their way. Another trait that comes up occasionally is sucking on a blanket or on themselves with their flank being the place of choice. Also some will actually lick a raw spot on their front leg as well. This is mostly from boredom because this breed does like to have a job. The more you train, the happier the dog is. They also love to carry stuffed animals around in their mouth and particularly enjoy the game of fetch from the time they are puppies, if you throw something they will go get it and bring it back to you. They also like tug of war but you must not let them win all the time. I suggest you take the item out of their mouth several times during your playtime. They are an extremely smart breed and raised correctly will turn themselves inside out to please you. CH: We are all in this together. It is not who wins yesterday, today or tomorrow. Our ultimate goal is the preservation of the Doberman Pinscher. DJ: Dogs have always been an ego trip for many people. Experts in the Doberman world have survived by not taking that adventure. We all need to understand that we are in this together and the weakest link in the chain will cause failure, both for individuals and the breed. CN: As a breeder-owner-handler, I know that I have to Show my highest quality dogs and handle them expertly in order to win over the full-time handlers. I want judges to know that even though owner-handlers may not always exhibit their dogs the best, they may have the best dog and should be rewarded for that. It should not matter who is on the end of the lead. It is always about the qual- ity of the dog. Remember, what is winning will further everyones’ breeding program. Judging does affect our genepool. 6. And for a bit of humor, what’s the funniest thing that you ever experienced at a dog show? PD: Well this happened at a dog show but it could have been anywhere. I had custody of my grandson as a small child. Most of the handlers helped each other with conflicts and so on. My grandson, who was about three or four years old at the time, and I were at the Raleigh shows in line to get lunch when one of Jeff Brucker’s helpers came in and said Jeff needed me to help him with a conflict.
I said, “Seth, we have to go help Uncle Jeff so we need to come back and eat.” Jeff was always so kind to us during that time that my grandson called him Uncle Jeff. So out the door we went and I looked around and saw Jeff sitting across the ring. I was totally confused, as he certainly did not need help to sit there. As I looked across at him, he pointed at a tricycle with a strange stuffed animal sitting on the seat. I was in one of my sharper modes and caught on to what was happening so I said, “Seth that bike is for you from Uncle Jeff.” My grandson just stood there. I was like, “Don’t you want to ride it?” He kept standing there staring at it and finally said, “Yea I want to ride it. Get that monster off it!” I guess you must have had to have been there, but it was funny he was afraid of the stuffed animal. Anyway my Grandson is now 28 years old and no longer afraid of stuffed animals! CH: Okay. You would have to be near my age to remember Charles Ruppert. In the early 90s, Charles was judging in Colorado. I was wearing one of the latest fashions— a lovely wraparound skirt tied very tidily at my waist. Apparently, I should have tied a big old bow knot in the tie instead of making it tidy. As I was doing my down and back, you guessed it—the tidy tie came undone and my skirt fell off right there in the middle of the ring! Thank you, Gary Steele, for helping me get re-dressed! Judge Ruppert laughed and said something like, “Maybe next time we should make sure our attire is properly fas- tened.” I will never forget it—I was horrified!! DJ: Twice over the last several years I have experienced two women that during their time in the ring lost part of their wardrobe. Once as a woman was moving her Doberman, her slip continued to slide down her body and finally out of sheer frustration she stopped, shuck it lose and proceed to flip it out of the ring with her foot. This same thing happened at our National during the Top Twenty Competition, of which I was judging, and finally the handler stopped stepped out of her slip and her husband retrieved it. We later auctioned the slip to raise money for our Rescue efforts. Never a dull moment in the dog world. CN: At a Doberman Specialty in my 20s, I slipped on a clump of wet grass moving around the ring with my Doberman bitch. I fell head first, sliding into the baby gates dropping the leash of my dog. I just remembered feeling so embarrassed but I heard everyone yelling, “Look at her, look at her!” As I went to get up, I looked around and saw my bitch free stacking herself in the middle of the ring with no one touching her, looking at me in disgust. As I got up, gathered my lead, the judge sent us around again and gave us Winners Bitch for a 4 point major. The Judge said during pictures that my dog looked absolutely stunning in the ring without me! Also, during pictures I tried to cover the grass stains all over my white skirt!
242 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , J UNE 2017
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