Our love for dobermans started way back when my husband {his name is Joe} and I were dating. We used to spend a couple nights a year curled up on the couch, popcorn in hand watching the professional dog shows on tv. We'd make little bets on who was going to win, and acted like we knew everything about every breed that was shown.
Yeah, we were really cool.
Of course we had our favorites.
Mine . . . Pomeranian, Weimeraraner, French Bulldog.
His . . . English Bulldog, American Staffordshire Terrier.
But nothing compared to the regal stature and grace of the Doberman Pinscher.
So here we were. In love with a breed that neither one of us knew anything about. But right then, we knew that we HAD to have a doberman some day. Whether it was that year or 20 years down the road, it would happen. Granted, at that point in our relationship, we didn't even know if we'd be together in 20 years, but if we were, a doberman was in our plans.
Well, here we are. Eight years, three apartments, two houses, seven vehicles, three career changes, two kitchen renovations, six wedding anniversaries, three sons and SIX dogs later. We're not quite to 20 years yet, but we're on our way.
So back to the doberman that we so very much wanted.
Not sure if you were shocked or not when reading, but I did say "SIX" dogs. We don't have six dogs. We have HAD six dogs. Lets just say we've had some bad luck with dogs.
So here we go . . .
The first {Wrigley}: The Demon
A little black and white pit bull terrier. Obviously, Joe's choice. I re-named him the "Demon Dog". Why? Well, that's what he was. Although he was probably a wopping 8 lbs, he was a demon! The dog NEVER and I do mean NEVER stopped biting. Which was horrible for our oldest son {his name is Madden} at the time our only son at age one and a half. Wrigley was with us for a grand total of THREE days before I couldn't take it anymore and my husband found him a much more suitable home.
The second {Polo}: The one that got away
After our experience with the demon dog, having a dog was far down my priority list at this point. However, I let my husband talk me into driving out to some little country town called Clintonville to meet a guy with a puppy. The ONLY reason that I agreed to go . . . it was a doberman.
Now, not a pure bred doberman. He was 12 weeks old, tail was still long and ears were natural. But he was a beautiful chocolate and rust color with all the doberman markings. Apparently there was some chocolate lab in his blood line somewhere. But we couldn't say no to that adorable doberman face!
Polo was brilliant. House trained in days. Basic commands took minutes. We did have his tail docked but kept his ears natural. He was a big boy at 80 lbs at only 8 months old. Great with our son. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.
But at the end of my pregnancy with our second son {his name is Maxim} I had a hormonal melt down. My pregnancies were not easy ones. In and out of the hospital in active labor the last couple months. After coming home from a three day stay, I woke up the next morning to find dog pee EVERYWHERE! Seriously! It seemed like he had not peed in days, there was so much. Well, I lost it. Screamed and cried and told Joe to get him out. Find him a home. I was done.
And I regret it every day.
The third {Onyx}: Houdini
The following Christmas a friend of mine decided to get her daughter a puppy for Christmas. She was looking at multi-poos. So in searching for these little "fu fu" dogs, as I call them, I happened upon some Pomeranian puppies for sale. Now, if you remember, the Poms were always one of my favorites when watching the dog shows. So I convinced my husband to "allow" me to have one.
On Christmas Eve I brought home a dark gray ball of fluff. At around 2 lbs, she was tiny little thing. But smart. Oh so smart! The second night she was in our house, she not only managed to jump out of a three foot high box, climb one flight of stairs (which she really didn't know how) climb a second flight of HARDWOOD stairs, and scampered into our bedroom at 3:00 am. She could escape from anything!
We had Onyx for over a year and a half, within which she was no long gray but gold, when we went away for the weekend. We let some of our friends watch her at their home. They have two daughters who spoiled Onyx to death and I just didn't have the heart to take her back. She was so much more happy with two little girls rather than my two crazy boys. And we still get to see her from time to time which is great!
The fourth {Hero}: The Cowardly Lion
So Onyx had joined our family at Christmas. Well, that spring I went out with the girls one night. All of a sudden I get a photo message on my phone of a little golden puppy sitting on a deck.
Cute.
But wait . . . that little golden puppy is sitting on OUR deck!
Well, Joe had decided that the boys needed a BOY dog. Apparently Onyx wasn't good enough for them. So Joe, loving those Amstaffs, went out and got one. Lovely.
It took us a few days to agree on a name for this golden boy. We finally decided on Hero, which is funny, because as time went on, his name didn't fit him AT all! He was the biggest coward there was. Afraid of his own shadow. But a good dog. And great with my boys. And in LOVE with miss Onyx.
When Hero was six months old we discovered that he had a liver disorder. He would have to be put on medication that could cause neurological problems, meaning he could possibly snap and bite at any time. Well, obviously we can't have a dog like that around crazy little boys. So it was a sad day for us to surrender him to Bully Breed rescue where he would get the medical help he would need to live a normal life and have foster parents, without children.
I have to admit that it wasn't as hard for me to say good-bye to Hero as it was for Joe. He truly wasn't really ever MY dog. I didn't have that warm spot in my heart for him. Now if he'd of been a doberman, it would have been a different story.
The fifth {Blitz}: The prodigy
Our vet at the time came to us shortly after we had to give up Hero and asked if we'd be interested in getting another puppy. One of her best friends just happened to be a doberman breeder down in Indiana and she just happened to have puppies for sale.
But here's the best part . . .
She is willing to GIVE us one. Yes, give, as in FREE. As so many people were affected by the crappy economy, dog breeders were as well. And she was having a really hard time selling her pure bred $1200 price tag doberman puppies. (Can't imagine why) So rather than lower her price and risk that the puppies get bought by "not so nice" people, she decided to give us one. We obviously had the vet reference. We had to send her pictures of our house, family and fully fenced in yard. And we had to sign a no breeding/showing agreement. DONE!
Joe and I drove down and picked up the most adorable puppy I had ever seen. A little red/rust boy. Tail docked, floppy ears. Adorable! We named him Blitz. Well, Blitz Von Heisman to be exact.
Shortly after bringing him home, we had his ears done and finally felt like we had found "the one". He was perfect. Smart. Fun. Obedient. Beautiful. The whole package. We couldn't have asked for a better dog. Plus, he was a doberman, so we were in heaven.
Then one night, a couple weeks before Christmas, a tragedy happened. Blitz suddenly bolted into the street and was hit by a car. The driver asked if he was in trouble and when Joe, who had been there to witness the whole incident, didn't reply, he drove away leaving our extremely injured dog behind.
Blitz died within 10 minutes of being hit. It was devastating for our family.
I took it the hardest, I think. You don't realize how much they mean to you until they are gone. In fact, I'm still getting over the loss. I still feel like I should look over and see him laying in his bed in it's normal spot. I miss him . . . a lot.
Which brings us a little closer to date.
