Comments on: Are Dobermans Mean, Dangerous, or Overly Aggressive?

By: John Walter

John Walter — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 14:33:41 +0000

In reply to Max. These statistics are purely just the number of dog bite fatalities by breed that were reported. You're right that it doesn't account for the total number of dogs of each breed present in the U.S. so the stats are not adjusted for this. As far as I can tell, the stats for the total number of each breed of dog doesn't exist.

By: Max

Max — Mon, 23 Mar 2020 18:42:29 +0000

Hello John, Max from Italy. Been owner of doberman in the passed, think best dog ever but don’t think that these statistics are good to be considered. In the 70s and 80s, if I’m right, doberman was at the first place because it was the dog that everybody had for guardian/defense and there was a lot of backyard breeders with no selection experience. Now it’s the pitbull time. Everywhere you look around you see Pitbulls then Rottweilers then German shepherd, dogo, corso ect, at least here in Italy. It’s rare to see dobermans around these days. I’ve had doberman, Rottweiler and now pit bull. All beautiful breeds if treated in the right way. I think Bad dogs do not exist. Only bad owners

By: John Walter

John Walter — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 05:49:03 +0000

In reply to Brenda. That's such a great story Brenda, thank you so much for sharing! Thank you for not giving up on him. You now are rewarded for life with a dog who will lay his life on the line for you, I'm sure of it!

By: John Walter

John Walter — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 05:31:12 +0000

In reply to Brian. Hi Brian! If you want the least problems possible, you have the best chance waiting until your new dog is an adult (2 years old or so) and then getting a Dobie puppy of the opposite sex. But to be honest, I think it would be fine to get a Dobie pup who is a similar age to the Golden Retriever if they were of the opposite sex. Getting a Dobie pup of the same-sex might be an issue when they hit puberty but every dog is different and almost any situation can work, these are just my recommendations if you want the highest probability of the two dogs getting along. Good luck to you no matter what you decide! I hope you do find a way to get a young Dobie pup at some point when it's right for you!

By: John c

John c — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 14:13:28 +0000

Hey John. Great info and I enjoy your videos. You’re right on with the statistics. As a former police officer with over 30 years of experience , in my many years on the street – 90 percent of the dog attacks that I personally responded to involved Pit Bulls. I never once responded to a Doberman attack. Also as dog owner and trainer I can tell you that owning a Pit Bull is not worth the risk. In countless of situations I’d be met by the owner of the Pitt Bull and neighbors and they always said the same thing. “ He’s never been aggressive before”. Gimme a break. It’s not fair to the dog. The American Pit Bull has been bred for over 100 years to be extremely aggressive in reaction to pain. So when the child pull on it’s ear and the pit bull maims that child it’s what it was bred to do. So I don’t believe the notion that it’s always the owner. Some dogs are just bad. Like humans. Good luck and great work.

By: benjamin

benjamin — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 21:30:34 +0000

That statistics table needs some context regarding the number of dogs that there are in the area statistically studied compared to the number of incidents. A bit deceiving if you ask me. Pit-bulls have become very popular therefore they may be misunderstood at best.
Another thing would be: How are those dogs kept: Are they chained all the time? Do they exercise? Is the owner educated on how to train the dog? Not all dogs are suited for everybody. Not everybody can control a nervous-aggressive German shepherd for example.

By: Julia

Julia — Sun, 29 Dec 2019 19:55:02 +0000

I appreciate this! My doberman is the sweetest girl ever. While I’m sure she’d try to defend me (or herself) if threatened, her goal around most people is to give them kisses. (Or pee on their shoes. I’m hoping she eventually grows out of the second goal. Maybe…)

(In fact, even during a vet visit where the vet was significantly hurting her, she tolerated the pain and gave the vet kisses after. The vet said she’d never met such a sweet, well tempered dog.)

So I completely agree – dobermans get a very unfair reputation for being vicious when the statistics bare out that they’re a loving breed of dogs (who can be protective, but only when needed).

By: John Walter

John Walter — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 16:44:31 +0000

In reply to Larry. Hi Larry, I don't think the police K9 bites are reported. At least it doesn't appear that way. I see that German Shepherds say they only have 20 bites per the CDC. Also, Malinois is the most common police dog used out here where we live (California) and I know for sure that each year, just at our local police department, their K9's get at least a handful of bites and they aren't even on this list. That's just one department in the nation. So that makes me doubt that they are counting police K9 bites.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 28 Nov 2019 08:01:32 +0000

John, my wife just reserved a 6 wk old Golden Retriever (will get it 7 Dec 2019 @8wks).
My best friend (don’t tell my wife) was an 11 yr old female Dobie named Bree that went with me everywhere, and moved all over the US with me (Retired military). She was my baby girl and the most close to a human I’d ever seen. Crazy smart and funny (best 11 yrs of my life). She passed away 11 months ago and I was so completely devastated, even today I thinking about the amount of love I’m gonna put into my next dog and I instantly feel un-loyal to Bree. Silly, I know. But. I’m ready to do it all over again and I’m excited.
With my wife getting her MALE Golden Retriever puppy, would it be okay for me to get my Dobie puppy now/wait a little while, or something else? Would they get along okay? Should I get a male or female Dobie?
I believe my Dobie of 11 yrs was more of a European Dobie according to your videos, specifics, and appearance but she was our only dog. She was great with us, but hesitant with people for a few minutes but then loved on them like a family member. On the other hand, she was not friendly with other dogs in her later yrs (Probably more my fault then her age as I quit taking her to dog parks and to stores)

By: Larry

Larry — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 03:12:08 +0000

As a Doberman owner the one thing that I find wrong is how they count dog bites. If a Dobermann or German Shepherd is a K9 and bites someone while working that bite is simple reported as a bite to CDC. Thus the total bites for the year by Breed is not broken down by working and or domestics and thus The numbers are skewed where it makes it look like Dobermans and German Shepherd’s have a high number of bites per year. When a bite from a K9 is on the job doing what they were trained to do should get count on it own and not included when the family pet bites someone. If these number for bites where Separated then the numbers per year for Dobermans and German Shepherd’s would be a lower.