My view of Dobes

As Bruno and I have been spending all of our time together, he has completely changed my view of Doberman pinschers. He is my baby. He is a very large baby (63 pounds), but he is such a baby. He loves to cuddle, lick, snuggle, play, and cuddle some more. A few months ago, if I had seen another Dobe being walked a few feet away from me on a trail in the park, I would probably pause and/or freak out, and I try to remind myself of this, but every time I take Bruno for a walk and somebody freaks out, I get so angry!  He doesn’t even pay attention to other people when we’re on a walk.  He is not a fierce biting machine.  He is a puppy!

So many people have made nasty comments to me, like, “Well, maybe your dog’s nice, but it’s the breed”, as they slowly walk in the other direction. Or my favorite, by some yuppie at the dog park, “Ugh, not this dog again.” (Because he’s too big to play with her miniature piece of vomit.) This dog seems to be the friendliest dog I’ve ever counted, to other dogs and to other humans. He doesn’t greet people incessantly. He minds his own business. But if someone seems interested, he’s more than happy to play with them for a while or let them scratch his neck.

My brother took him to the vet last week, and Bruno was laying on the floor licking a little girl’s face, when two older women walked in. They saw Bruno and froze in the doorway. “Be careful,” warned my brother, sarcastically, “He bites.” They panicked. “Really?” My brother shook his head and was like, “He’s licking some little girl who he’s never met before!”

People have been so conditioned to fear Dobes, just because they happen to represent attack dogs in practically every movie.  And I’m sure if you conditioned them to live in your backyard and only have contact with a human or two, they will turn into fierce, human-eating monsters.  I’m also sure that if you tried to sneak into my house and Bruno had never met you before, he would probably become very territorial and would want you to leave.  But as long as he’s meeting you on neutral territory, as in on a trail in a park, he would probably pay no attention to you and would simply walk on.