GENERAL APPEARANCE
Shoulder height: 65-69cm
Colour: Black, brown blue or fawn - all with tan in designated areas.
Coat: Smooth, short, hard and close lying.
Gait: Fore and hindlegs move straight with the important and distinctive rotary hind action.
These bold muscular dogs with their proud head carriages are capable of great speed. The almond shaped eyes and the slight stop are set midway in the clean cut wedge shaped head. The nose and eye colour tone in with the body colour. The high set ears drop to the side of the head, or in countries which permit cropping, they are erect. The long neck runs smoothly into a straight topline that slopes slightly to the customary docked tail. The well angulated fore and hind quarters finish with small cat like feet.
CHARACTERISTICS AND CARE
Many feel that as guard dogs, Dobermanns are second to none as they combine both loyalty with courage. Easily trained, they are popular as police dogs. Care should be taken to select a puppy from lines with sound temperaments. Making excellent family companions, they do need to live with their owners rather than being shut out in a yard. Coats need practically no additional care.
HISTORY
Although their ancestry is rather obscure, it was Louis Dobermann, the keeper of a dog pound in Germany, who decided to breed a larger, stronger dog than the pinschers and terriers that were currently popular. In order to retain the terrier agility and spirit, Dobermann crossed some of these dogs with Rottweilers and German Shepherds. Otto Goeller completed the evolution of the breed by adding some Manchester Terrier bloodlines. The final experiment was immediately successful and the breed has become widely popular.