— Breed of the Month —

The Doberman Pinscher

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Breed Traits and Characteristics

According to the American Kennel Club, here are some breed characteristic you can find in Doberman Pinschers. 

 

  • Height

    26-28 inches (male), 24-26 inches (female)

  • Weight

    70-100 pounds (male), 60-90 pounds (female)

  • Life Expectancy

    10-12 years

  • Coat Type/Length

    Smooth/Short

  • 100 Affectionate with Family
  • 100 Good with Young Children
  • 60 Good with Other Dogs
  • 100 Trainability Level
  • 100 Energy Level
  • 60 Barking Level
  • 80 Shedding Level
  • 40 Drooling Level

History

The Doberman was bred by Louis Dobermann, a tax collector in the town of Apolda, Germany, around 1890 for a specific purpose – protection from hostilities at collection time. While their exact lineage is largely a mystery, it is believed that Dobermann crossed Rottweilers, German Pinschers, Black and Tan Terriers, and several other breeds to create a dog suitable for his needs.

The Doberman’s intelligence and athleticism led to international recognition as a working dog. The United States Marine Corps selected the Doberman Pinscher as its official service dog, and the breed garnered fame during World War II for their contributions to the war effort. Today’s Dobermans are celebrated show dogs, excel as therapy or service dogs for the disabled, and continue to retain popularity as guard dogs and trustworthy pets.

Doberman Pinscher Personality & Temperament

The Doberman Pinscher possesses an ease of movement and regal appearance befitting their royal status in the canine kingdom. Originally bred as guard dogs, Dobermans are strong and athletic, with boundless energy and keen intelligence that makes them highly trainable. Equally loving and loyal, these compactly-built dogs are very popular pets – provided their owners can cope with their energy level.

Doberman Pinschers have sweet, appealing personalities and stable temperaments. They are extremely loving, loyal, and trustworthy, and even play well with other dogs – provided they can run the show! Dobermans are generally stable and trouble-free. Instances of timidity or aggression can be easily rectified if addressed early in their development, as their high intelligence means they respond well to training.

If you are thinking of purchasing a Doberman, it is important to source from a responsible breeder who is breeding for not only looks, but health and temperament as well. Rescues are also great options for prospective Doberman owners. Contact your local Bark Busters trainer today to learn about great breeders and rescue organizations near you!

Doberman Pinscher Physical Characteristics

Dobermans are a strong, whip-smart breed, with medium-size square bodies. Their appearance projects elegance and nobility, as well as a sense of endurance and speed befitting their energetic nature. They make excellent watch dogs, as they are constantly alert and observing their surroundings.

Class & Color

Class

  • Working Group

Color

  • Blue & Rust
  • Black & Rust
  • Black Brindle & White
  • Fawn & Rust
  • Red & Rust

Size & Life Expectancy

Size

  • Medium to Large
  • Height: 26-28 inches (male), 24-26 inches (female)
  • Weight: 75-100 pounds (male), 60-90 pounds (female)

Life expectancy

  • Doberman Pinschers typically live between 10 and 13 years.

Other Traits

  • Sleek, graceful physique
  • Angulated head with long muzzle, tapered at nose
  • Flopped ears and long tail (though some owners crop both)
  • Smooth, semi-coarse topcoat and a soft, fine undercoat

Bark Busters Trainer Jeff Drier on the Doberman Pinscher

Doberman Pinschers are renowned for their natural leadership qualities and protective natures – noble traits that can create dangerous situations if they misinterpret human behavior, make errors in judgment, or start to determine who is and isn’t welcome at home on their own.

Case Study

Take King, whose human family included two teenage siblings. Like most brothers and sisters, they would squabble and sometimes roughhouse with each other. King’s protective instincts would kick in, leading him to misinterpret their wrestling as something more serious. King would growl and bark at them, and one day even bit the son when he was wrestling with his sister. He fortunately escaped without serious injury, but it was clear to the family that King needed help.

Our trainer reviewed King’s behavior and developed a plan to teach King that it was the parents’ job, not his, to police the kids. Being a typical Doberman, he was very smart and took to the re-education very quickly. The family soon reported that King had vacated his duties as policeman and was no longer reacting to the teens’ dustups, instead letting the parents handle any disputes at home.

Like any breed, Dobermans can make poor decisions and mistakes in judgment. Your local Bark Busters trainer can quickly help establish new patterns of behavior – often in just a single session.

Tips for Potential Doberman Pinscher Owners

Doberman Pinschers are susceptible to certain health risks. Responsible breeders will screen breeding stock for medical conditions inherent to the breed.

Dobermans are extremely active and require space for play and exercise, making them poor choices for apartment-dwellers.

Early socialization and basic obedience training are important to establishing patterns of good behavior with your Doberman.

The Doberman is an energetic athlete who needs a lot of exercise and free play. Taking your dog for long walks and hikes is great for their wellbeing.

We are always available to help you develop a consistent, compassionate approach to good behavior for your Doberman Pinscher. Learn more about our services and schedule an appointment with one of our trainers today!

Connect with Us!

Need help training your Doberman Pinscher? Call 1-877-500-BARK (2275)or enter your zip code.

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Doberman Pinscher Health & Grooming

Health

The breed is usually healthy, but can be susceptible to bloat (a digestive condition), heart ailments like hip dysplasia and enlarged hearts, and a spinal condition called wobbler syndrome. Potential owners should purchase from responsible breeders, who typically genetically test their breeding stock for these issues.

Grooming

Dobermans are brush-and-go-type dogs that require little care for their short coats. A few minutes brushing and one wash per week should be enough to remove the soft, fine undercoat hairs that can shed or contribute an unpleasant smell if left alone. The American Kennel Club recommends monthly nail trimming, regular teeth brushing, and wiping out their ears with a small amount of baby oil on a paper towel every few days.

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Hear from Bark Busters Clients Who Have a Doberman Pinscher

Had a Doberman that was misbehaving. Marcus did a wonderful job working on his issues. Now we can go for walks. The barking and charging has stopped. Now its our turn to work.
Scott has been helping us with a reactive Doberman who also has very high anxiety. After seeing her get worse we did private and group training classes but those used shock collars and we didn’t know then that we were making things so much worse and more traumatic for her. We then tried one of the top rated animal behaviorists; but they were the polar opposite. The more we paid the less they did. I felt hopeless and knew we would lose her if we had anymore biting incidents with her. I found Bark Busters and was immediately drawn to the fact that they do not use shock collars, clickers, treats or any things else you have been taught to keep your pup in line. The lady on the phone was fantastic and answered all my questions and told me about Scott. I honestly was surprised he was not working with famous people at how good he looked on paper. Scott came to our home and was so calm and patient. He listened and
I would like to start out by saying i have had 9 dobermans in my lifetime, most lived to be between 12 and 3 actually to 15 years. I thought i had seen it all. Never needed a trainer. Well our newest puppy challenged us. Our pup extreme high energy, very excitable, and out of control with puppy biting and jumping like a kangaroo. I had to resource to a trainer. No success the first 2 trainers and their methods, so we tried barkbusters. Chris, came to our home, and had immediate success on one command with our puppy, at the time 5 months old. I have to compliment the training methods suggested by Chris and barkbusters because they were successful, and totally humane. But the key as to anything is consistency. I am not going to say we are over the hump just yet since we are approaching 9 months and getting challenged daily with his new teenage doggy interests and challenges, but the overall experience was well
I have two dobermans ages 3 1/2. I needed to learn how to be the leader of this pack. The skills Sharon taught me were/are very effective with my boys. In addition, we worked on their backyard behavior. In the first session she had my boys greeting the neighbors dog with out aggression. Sharon knows dogs and is very patient when teaching her clients. This was well worth the investment. I am so happy I made the appointment. I would definitely recommend her services. Thank you Sharon.
Omar helped us with a barking problem with our Cavalier, and it was so amazing! He spent the time to teach me and my family how to work with her natural instincts, and I’m so grateful! I would definitely recommend!
Our dog Moose is a one year old Golden Retriever who loves to put his nose down to the ground dragging us behind on the leash. He also loves to meet people to the point that he's so overexcited that he's hard to handle. After just a couple sessions with Omar, Moose now heels on the leash and we are learning techniques to help settle him down so everyone involved has a better experience meeting, including Moose. Walking our dog is finally a fun experience! Omar is very patient, communicates clearly, and takes time to answer our many questions. He's available between sessions for questions/advice, provides supplemental training videos, and even just checks in with us. We are so impressed with the quick progress we are making and are excited to keep working with Omar on more skills. Thank you, Omar!!
Omar and Ryanne saved our dogs! This may sound like hyperbole, but let me explain. It was summer of 2024 and we thought our two female dogs were healthy and happy, they'd play with each other, we'd walk them daily. The older dog is a mostly Siberian Husky mix we rescued in 2018, now about 8 years old. The newer dog is +3 year old full Australian Shepherd we've had since she was eight weeks old. The Aussie completed two obedience classes very well. Yet last spring-into-summer, the two dogs began fighting each other, much more than simple play, and this reached a crescendo in late summer. We tried to figure out the reason for the fights, thinking it was our interactive play with the dogs in the yard. Two separate fights resulted in injuries to each dog requiring veterinary care, and we despaired that we might have to re-home one of our beloved dogs. It was a stressful time and we decided to find a solution to keep
We came to Bark Busters for help with potty training our puppy--the puppy just did not seem to catch on and we felt like we were not making progress. Ryanne of Bark Busters came out to our home and set up a program for us. She had many suggestions and ideas which we followed to the letter and saw immediate results. Ryanne had also been extremely quick to follow up when we have questions or if we want to add additional training. We are 100% satisfied with Bark Busters!
I was amazed at the progress the trainer with my dogs. It is encouraging to think that the barking problems are correctable. I look forward to working with Joshua in the future. Excellent job!
In one visit, we have experienced a complete transformation. Thank you, James. I'm not sure what we're going to talk about next visit. Maybe we can figure out what is wrong with the cat? 😂
John was amazing. He gave us so much info and I feel so confident this will work.
John was exceptional at training my 3 dogs and providing training for me to continue. I'm excited to implement the training by myself.
The experience with Orlando was very helpful and hands on. By understanding the pets needs I was able to understand how to help my pet during the training process. This training session was very helpful and informative thank you so much!
The training session was outstanding. Dottie who always is aggressive responded quickly to the lessons and became a sweet girl.
Orlando is amazing!!! We've seen such improvement with our dogs in one day. Orlando is a professional who is well educated in his profession. We feel so at peace now regarding our dogs safety and future.
Very informative with training our Draco. Will refer Barkbusters & Orlando to others. We are very pleased with Barkbusters and Orlando very personable.
Scott is awesome. After only a few sessions, our dog has become unbelievably better behaved and is walking on a leash without issue. Scott helped us think from a dog's perspective and his techniques seem to resonate with our pup much more than our other attempts at discipline. We are so grateful! He is responsive, easy to schedule with, and we are happy that we can call him with any issue and he has a solution for them all.
It was super helpful understanding the dynamics at play in the home and how we are unknowingly contributing to Georgie's belief that he is the leader. I'm looking forward to implementing the tips Carrie showed us!
We had a great session! Our dog is already responding to the exercises and Carrie was great with her. Carrie was very helpful to us humans too with how best to interact with our dog for consistent results. I'm shocked by how well our dog is behaving already and can't wait to see how she improves with continued practice.
Loved working with Jared with our 2 year old Mini Aussie with reactivity issues. As many others have mentioned, there is no quick fix to these type of problems but Jared is great at providing a really unique and thorough perspective to look at your pet's issues! We use his techniques daily and his method of thinking like a dog has really helped us. Beyond that, he is easy to work with on scheduling and follows up regularly. Highly recommend!
We recently had the opportunity to work with Jared. What a terrific trainer! The results we experienced with our dog Franklin far exceeded our greatest hopes. He is much more relaxed, responsive to us, and his behavioral issues with other dogs have mostly been resolved. Best of all, Jared shared his expertise with us to help us continue working effectively with Franklin on our own. Jared's love and understanding of dogs made all this possible. We recommend him highly!
We feel confident in the tools we were given by Pascha and look forward to applying them moving into this season with Polly.
We couldn’t be happier with the progress our dogs have made thanks to Jared! We started our journey with Jared last December, and from the start, he was incredibly understanding of the issues we were facing. Our dogs were experiencing serious sibling rivalry that led to intense fights, so we had to keep them apart. We also mentioned to Jared that neither of our dogs had any prior obedience training, to which he assured us that it would not be an issue and he would be happy to work on that as well. During our first couple of sessions, Jared focused on basic obedience training, which we diligently put into practice at home. We truly believe that it was this consistent obedience training, along with our commitment, that helped slowly reduce the sibling rivalry. Over time, the fights have been reduced to zero, we no longer separate them and they play together once again! Of course with a watchful eye to make sure no tension
My dogs responded well to the commands and showed reasonable improvement. The session was engaging and positive. I appreciated the structured approach.
We noticed an immediate change in Kody's behavior. Joshua was great at teaching us the proper body language and tone so our pup would understand. So happy we decided to work with Joshua!
We described our dog's behavior and shared the goals we wanted to accomplish with reactivity and Bark Busters gave us clear insight on how to be successful. Demonstrations were provided and we got the chance to apply those techniques on our dog ourselves with visible results!
I saw noticeable difference in Toby's behavior today - I feel I've been given some great tools to improve our behavior.
Amazing improvement
Trainer worked fast and well with me and my dogs
Trainers are very professional and experienced

Need Dog Training Assistance with Your Doberman Pinscher? Find Your Local Trainer Now!

CALL TODAY 1-877-500-BARK (2275)

Please begin by confirming your zip code.