Upcoming Litter Plans

Are you thinking of buying a Doberman Pinscher?  Click here for important and valuable information.

Why does a puppy cost what it does?

(The "Red" litter born June 22, 2008)

Doberman Pinschers ...

Shelby (Ch. Gorrmae's Simply Complicated) was bred to Bubba (Am. Ch. Traditions Red Son CD, RE, NA, NAJ, NAP, NJP, ROM, CGC, TDI).  Their all-red litter arrived June 22, 2008.   Five red males, three red females (the girls are spoken for).  Litter info here.  This litter is DPCA futurity nominated for 2009.  Puppy pictures here.

Dobermans have several health issues, not unlike most breeds.  The biggest problems in Dobermans are what we call the 4 C's - dilated cardiomyopathy, CVI (cervical invertebral instability), CAH (chronic active hepatitis) and cancer. A bigger problem is that these problems typically manifest themselves after the dogs have been bred and the horse is out of the barn. Not to mention that the modes of inheritance are unknown, and cardiac problems and cancer probably have other triggers in addition to genetics like environment, food, vaccines, hormones, stress, illness, etc. 

Our philosophy ...

What we're trying to do here is (usually) breed our girls at an older age than normal. We don't usually breed them for the first time until they are 4 or so, giving them a longer time to show us a problem and if they do, we can choose not to breed them. We're also trying to choose older males (5+) whenever possible. By choosing older dogs, we also have more information on what is going on with their parents and grandparents, etc.   Many people breed their dogs very young, their parents were young and so on. You can look at their 5 generation pedigrees and it only covers 10 or so years. The dogs in the 5th generation might very well still be alive because they're not terribly old yet themselves. We want a 5 generation pedigree to represent 20-25 years, more if possible, and we will know what the longevity of the ancestors was and what their causes of death were. We just think that better choices can be made with more information like that. 

We think it stands to reason that if you choose to breed for longevity, you will improve it eventually. When breeders were offered a test for evaluating hips and they started making choices based on good and excellent hips, they were able to improve hip statistics. We should be able to do the same for longevity over the long term. 

Our Doberman puppies ...

- have champion sires and dams
- have health tested, temperamentally sound sires and dams 
- are registered with the Canadian Kennel Club (includes CKC Non-Breeding contract) 
- come with 6 weeks of complimentary pet insurance courtesy of the CKC and Petplan Insurance
- come with a 5 generation pedigree
- have tails docked and dewclaws removed at 2-3 days of age by a veterinarian
- receive early neurological stimulation exercises
- are exposed to obstacles and challenges such as tunnels, teeters, steps, ramps, etc. See here
- meet and exceed the Rules Of 7's
- are tattooed and microchipped
- have ears cropped at 8 - 9 weeks of age by a veterinarian (ear aftercare help and instruction provided)
- are wormed
- have their shots up to date
- come with their immunization and worming record
- come with a small supply of their puppy food
- will be spayed/neutered during cropping if deemed pet quality
- have a 5 year health guarantee/contract (we can't guarantee there will never be a problem.  NO ONE CAN!  Our contract spells out options if a problem does arise.)
- can be returned at any age for any reason
- come with a binder of info and tips, copies of the parents' health testing results, pictures of the parents, pictures of the puppies from birth, complete instructions and care guide, etc
- usually go to their new homes at 10 - 11 weeks of age

In addition, we send out annual surveys around the time of the puppies' birthday asking for information about our puppies.  We are looking for information about their general health and well-being, any problems you may be having, input about their temperaments, information about their feeding, their accomplishments, etc.  We use the information the puppy owners provide to create a litter newsletter which is sent to all the puppy owners from that litter.  We are happy to report that the majority of our puppy owners do return their surveys!  We share pictures and news of the puppies (regarding health and/or titles, accomplishments, problems, etc) from the litter along with the latest health testing results and/or accomplishments of the puppies' parents with the puppy owners.  We keep the puppy owners informed as best we can about when ancestors die and their cause of death.  We try our best to keep the puppy owners up to date on the latest health information regarding the breed.

We also maintain a private e-mail newsgroup for our puppy owners to share antics, ask for help, provide tips and new information, and to support each other.  

Puppy owners are encouraged to take part in ongoing Doberman cardiac research.  

A bi-annual puppy reunion/BBQ is also held at our home.  

German Shorthaired Pointers..

We have no plans for a GSP litter.