Welcome

  Correct Response

  Correct Genetics

  Correct Matching

  Correct Structure

  Correct Support

     Our Philosophy, & How
          We're Improving the Breed

     Previous Litters

     DoberTips

     Dobe Connoisseur

     Why You Shouldn't . . .

     Health & Temperament
          Guarantee

     Contact us

Dedicated to Roo the stunt cat, our favorite barncat who disappeared just before we found 4.5" cat prints just across the creek.

Correct response is vital with a dog that has the power and purpose of the Doberman, the only breed created with the mission of protecting people. The success of Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann, Otto Goeller, Philip Gruening and others with the Doberman breed comes with serious accountability: the owning family must properly train, guide and interact daily with their powerful, intelligent and athletic dog. A Doberman is not a dog to tie outside and forget, nor is it one that should roam the house ignored by its family. Properly raising a better Doberman takes time, energy and money. The only shortcuts are good information and starting with a healthy pup bred and started for correct response that has been carefully selected to match your goals.

Dobermann's goal was a dog for personal protection. He wound up creating the breed that appears on more "Beware of dog" signs than any other breed. For example, although the Doberman was accepted as a breed by the AKC in 1900, as late as the 1930s, some Doberman champions were still so aggressive that judges were afraid to examine their teeth, an essential part of all confirmation shows. Into the 1950s the Doberman still had a well-deserved reputation for not allowing anyone besides family members into the home. But its demeanor was deliberately softened in past century. Today, the well-bred and well-started Doberman retains much of its guard instinct while being an intelligent and loving family dog that accepts well-meaning strangers who are introduced by its owners.

How a specific dog responds depends partly on genetics (correct-tempered parents tend to produce increasingly better tempered offspring). It also depends largely on the dog's experiences in the first weeks of its life, and partly on its training which starts in week 4 (stimulation starts on day 1) and continues through adulthood, if possible. (Also see Star 2 and Star 5.)

Canine mental and emotional development is rapid and rather fixed. But dogs that receive proper training during their critical stages tend to be quick learners throughout their lives. Improper handling during the first four months of the puppy's life always prevents it from reaching its potential, and usually produces a dog that is less interested in human input, though most dogs in loving homes more or less "work out".

In fact a dog can have certain undesirable traits cemented as early as week 4. An example is extreme shyness, which could cause the dog to suddenly respond with fearful aggression to a situation that seems harmless to a human observer.

Taking a powerful, security-oriented dog such as a Doberman into your house without knowing how it was started and hoping for the best is a leap of faith.

The importance of starting a puppy inside a loving home

Our puppies are born and started in a loving home - it's all they know when they leave to join their new families. This is unusual among breeders because it limits the number of litters, and because a litter of puppies produces plenty of odors and messes, but there are ways to deal with both.

Though a common mistake, a dog that will be a family pet shouldn't be raised in a pack situation for the first couple of months (with minimal human intervention) and then taken out of the pack and handed to a new owner. It should be started to enjoy the company of both humans and other dogs, and to know how to behave with both.

This is why we start our puppies inside. It gives them a tremendous leg up on socialization. Puppies raised outside a home, whether in a shelter, garage, "hut" or a barn, don't have constant interaction with people. They won't be as secure as possible in the situations that they may experience in your home: the noise and excitement of children running and playing, visits from adult and child friends, attention and petting from people they don't know, canine and feline housemates, huge (for a puppy) rooms to explore, and the background sounds of a typical home: vacuum cleaners, the radio, dishwasher, washer & dryer, television, telephones ringing. A secure dog is an accepting dog. A secure dog learns more easily. A secure dog is less fearful and more loving.

We homeschool our children, so our home is filled with energy and noise and laughter most of the day, and our children's friends come over even more often when we have puppies!

And finally, the puppy's mother is a loved, trained, inside pet, and our puppies constantly observe her easy interaction with and submission to people of all ages.

This is the backdrop to our puppies' first seven or eight weeks. Below is some of the canine development research that we follow that separates Five Star puppies from those of other breeders.

Different breeders, different goals

All higher-end breeders breed for their ideal dog.

Conformation breeders have given us a more attractive Doberman (see Star 4). The consequences to the health of the Doberman breed have been unfortunate, in general (see Star 2), though many of the best show breeders take genetics seriously. Confirmation shows can be exciting and dramatic, and the skill of the best handlers is truly impressive.

High-end working lines focus on health, athleticism, and frequently, power. This tends to produce a dog with an extreme need for "a job", perfect for working but quite possibly too busy for even an active family.

Five Star's goal is a better active-family dog. We breed for response, genetics/health and confirmation, in that order. We take advantage of decades of research on the subject of canine development and the health testing that is currently available.

Probably the most common mistake in America today in buying a purebred dog is being overly concerned with registrations and championship pedigrees. Registrations guarantee neither temperament nor health. Confirmation titles are ideally won by the dog that most perfectly matches its breed's standard, which for the Doberman describes physical, mental and temperament characteristics. The Doberman breed standard is one of the most specific. Here are Doberman breed standards from 3 different countries.

Westminster, held in Madison Square Garden since 1877, is the most prestigious dog show in the country. Below is a photo of Westminster over a century ago, before Dobermans were a recognized breed in the U.S. This photo below hints at the rich and appealing history of conformation shows, but also the difference in expectations for show dogs and family dogs.

Focusing on a show pedigree is wise when selecting a puppy for showing, but may be a mistake when selecting a family dog. Below are a few reasons that involve correct response:
- In the photo above you get an idea of how a dog is expected to behave. Compare this to how you want your dog to behave with your children in your living room, or while being teased by one of your children's most annoying friends or while in the presence of a threatening stranger. Much of the work starting a better active-family Doberman goes toward making it patient and stable when surprised, but still protective.
- You may commonly hear that "dogs must have good temperament to succeed in the ring". There is definitely truth to this with the better judges, but if you attend a dog show you'll see that show temperament is quite different from that required of a better active-family pet. And if you talk with dog trainers you'll hear plenty of stories about some show dogs behaving quite differently out of the ring. Champion dogs are shown by individuals who excel in the art of showing a dog, with all of its strengths and weaknesses, and use precise strategies so that the dog appears as an unquestionable champion. Again, many show dogs do have wonderful temperament. It's just that being a show dog or being bred from show dogs should not be seen as a guarantee of excellent temperament.
- Anyone buying a Doberman in this day and age is invariably interested in protection. The classic protective Doberman response is not a success factor in the show ring, and is not typically a large part of show breeding goals.

Five Star breeds heavily for temperament, and starts puppies according to both developmental research and our own experience. Our goal is to produce a dog that both highly values interaction with its family and will protect “with extreme prejudice”, but whose mission in life isn't to intimidate and chew on members of your Tuesday bridge club, the Fed-Ex man or the family cat. We aim for a dog that loves and needs you, but also discriminates and protects against realistic threats without always being at attention.

Canine Development, in brief

Decades of research have discovered and repeatedly confirmed that dogs begin learning their major fixed behavior patterns around the beginning of week 4, and go through a few reasonably discrete periods of development over the next few months. Again, temperament is primarily shaped by genetics and by experiences in the first few weeks and first few months. Shaping also occurs more subtly in-utero and through the first 3 weeks.

Below is a brief list of some generally accepted findings of canine developmental research since 1963, when Clarence Pfaffenberger published his "The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior", containing the groundbreaking 11 page chapter entitled "Some critical periods in the life of a puppy". But first, a nod to another man who was essential to our modern understanding of canine development, Dr. John Paul Scott. In his highly acclaimed seeing-eye dog training program, Pfaffenberger built on the Scott's hints at the existence of critical periods of canine development, published in Scott and Fuller's seminal "Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog". Scott was extremely helpful and supportive of Pfaffenberger and his work, and a true friend.

Some cautionary notes:
- In our experience the Alpha dog/dominance concept is commonly applied too broadly in explaining canine behavior and (by human standards) misbehavior.
- Although serious problems with early development are not overcome easily or completely, the rigidity of the development periods may be somewhat overstated for dogs in a loving household environment and for dogs that receive excellent training. But still, significant problems during critical stages will seriously reduce the potential of almost every dog.
- In studying canine development it is easy to lose sight of the fact that while the researchers generally look for similarities between dogs, dogs are individuals. Although science has given us an outline to follow, the soul of both breeding and having a great family dog is loving and working with the individual dog. Without love, a dog will not become a great family dog.

THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS

First Critical Period: days 1 through 21 (weeks 1 through 3)

Though puppies do not see or hear, they can smell and feel from the first day. Their brainwaves will not indicate conscious mental activity until the end of week three, but puppies can be trained to relax during this period under gentle male and female touch, and can be exposed to minor stressors such as different temperatures, or different surfaces or textures of bedding as part of a program of making the dog as tolerant and accepting as possible of different stimuli.

The puppies will start wobbling around at about three weeks, and eyes will open at two or three weeks, but vision isn't functional until . . .
At the end of this period a momentous event occurs: measurable brain activity begins. The puppy becomes conscious.

For the first week, or as long as necessary, one member of our family sleeps beside the mother and pups to prevent any pups from being accidentally injured by the mother. Which means, basically, no sleep.

At this point, during waking hours, we spend a couple of hours per day working with a litter.

Failure to properly work with the puppy throughout this period can result in a dog that
- has a lower desire for interaction with humans
- has a lower tolerance for interaction with humans
- does not interact well with one human gender
- does not respond well to new experiences
But the concern for error in this period is lower than the next two periods.

Second Critical Period: days 22 through 49 (weeks 4 through 7)

Week four is the single most important week in a puppy's development. All senses are working and everything is new and much of it is scary. Any frightening experiences in this week may possibly affect your dog for life. Loud, sudden noises such as vacuum cleaners, strong human emotion, aggressive adult dogs, or being isolated too long from mother may all qualify as traumatic experiences for a puppy at four weeks. The puppy must be sheltered! It is important to maintain consistency in the puppy's schedule and living environment during this time.

Head-swinging, whining and time spent sleeping all decrease.

Proper socialization and working with a puppy from birth through 8 weeks will help a puppy:
    - learn to submit to multiple adults and children
    - expect and receive love and playful behavior from their family
    - be started on their way to being as easy to train as possible

Our dear friend, Miss Margaret stopped by to assist with Puppy Socialization. Her specialty is putting them right to sleep!

Teething begins - rawhide treats are excellent.

During this time the mother disciplines and begins to teach submission. And the puppy begins exploring his world with wobbly steps and with enormous curiosity.

Week five: eliminate the startle response, watching for late bloomers. Expose to loud noises - start small and gradually increase the volume - such as crashing pans, traffic, loud music, ringing telephones and exuberant children. Work with the whole litter at once - pups are more confident while with their littermates.

Puppy coordination is improving rapidly. Create small obstacle courses for the puppies. And continue to introduce to new experiences such as other pets, gentle male dogs, bicycles, trips in the car, water play, etc.

Puppies will start using a separate potty room in the whelping box.

Puppies begin recognizing specific people - provide regular daily periods of individual attention. Pfaffenberger's research indicates that regularity is more important than quantity or frequency.

Temperament is largely in place between six and ten weeks.

By week seven puppy brain is fully functioning and the puppy is fully capable of learning. Begin full housebreaking, with a crate if possible.

Five minutes at a time, twice a day do obedience training in different places at different times and using different people, if possible.

Socialize with other people of both genders and different ages and with other dogs. Work hard on recall and leash training.

Ideal time for joining new family is between weeks 7 and 8, depending on puppy, as bonding period lasts from week 8 through 12.

At this point, our family takes only short breaks throughout the day from working with the puppies.

Failure to properly work with the puppy throughout this period can result in a dog that:

Dash ("B" Litter) likes his people!

- is fearful and unpredictable around any number of common sounds or occurrences
- is poorly socialized toward people of a particular age or gender, or even toward people in general
- would rather be around dogs than people
- is behind in developing coordination
- is having its curiosity stunted
- will not come when called
- will be difficult to housebreak
- can't stand being alone
- is hard to groom: nails, teeth, hair
- will be harder to train
- is noisy and high-strung

After this period, undesirable traits may be difficult to alter.

Third Critical Period: days 50 through 84 (weeks 8 through 12)
Note: this period may occur in same home as whelped or in home of new active-family.

Continue to work on obedience training, socialization with other dogs and with people. Continue to expose to large numbers of people such as crowded parks, children's sporting events, and stores that allow dogs such as pet stores and farm supply stores. Your puppy still loves to ride in the car.

Continue to work on noise training if still necessary. Let your puppy play with other dogs that have had shots. This will teach him both how to play-bite and how to interact with other dogs. Do not allow any biting of people. Discipline by saying "no" firmly while making firm eye contact and holding muzzle - do not squeeze.

Continue to work on housebreaking. Success is coming soon!

Remaining with littermates during this period may stunt individual development as pack instinct is developing. However, placing in new home with other dogs does not create similar problems.

This is a good time to teach fetching, and the easiest time to teach basic commands like "Sit" and "Stay". Avoid distractions for now.

Puppies inadequately socialized with people at this point tend be permanently weak at bonding.

Work with the puppy should dominate either the breeder's or new owner's day.

Week nine: obedience sessions are now 15 minutes long, more than once per day, but remember, you're dealing with a puppy - keep training fun.

Failure to properly work with the puppy throughout this period can result in a dog that:
- doesn't know how to play with other dogs
- is harder to train
- will be much harder to housebreak
- will never reliably come when called
- doesn't bond with people of all ages and both genders well
- is less interested in people
- is more likely to nip and jump on people (even less desirable for a dog the size of a Dobe)

Fourth Critical Period: days 85 through 112 (weeks 13 through 16)

Continue work from third critical period: bite-inhibition, socialization.

By now your obedience training will now include all AKC obedience exercises. Serious training can begin, but gently so you don't sour the dog on training in general. This mistake is more common than you'd think. Watch the dogs in a show ring - do most look like they're enjoying it? Your main goal with training at this point is to teach the dog to love training. Do this and you'll be happy that you started before week 16 - it makes all the difference.

Recall should be solid because flight instinct begins here, and the puppy is faster then you are. Also allows puppy to train off-lead.

Housebreaking is often complete by end of this period.

Puppy will test you with subtle displays of dominance. Firmly teach that he can't dominate people.

Fully developed brain allows your high-energy puppy to get into increasing amounts of mischief.

There are additional considerations as the dog matures,
which is typically between eighteen months and 3 years of age. You'll find Five Star Dobermans a source of reliable and timely information on your dog's development (see Star 5).

Family Protection - A Doberman is a wise choice

A family that selects a Doberman is invariably interested in protection.

First, as the only breed created specifically to protect, the Doberman is alert, confident, and wants to protect people and property. This innate ability usually show up by 12 months of age, but we've seen it begin as early as 4 months.

Second, in spite of being an absolutely wonderful family dog, the Doberman has unfairly acquired a reputation in the U.S. for being a vicious dog. Doberman owners benefit from this: our loving active-family dogs are also very effective watch and guard dogs.

Though this reputation is false today, it may have been somewhat deserved initially:
- There's a story that the first Doberman in the U.S. to win the highest show-honor did it while intimidating the judge out of properly examining his teeth.
- The Doberman played a major role in the Pacific Theatre during World War II and was the mascot for the U.S. Marines. It emerged from WW II with a reputation as a heroic and aggressive war dog.
- Then there's the "Doberman Stare": Most breeds won't hold a person's gaze, but the Doberman is an unusually confident breed. While in security mode, we have witnessed the "Dobermans stare" unnerve even people who get along with almost every dog they meet.
- Finally, the Doberman started out as an extremely aggressive or "sharp" breed, and Hollywood had firmly typecast the Doberman as a vicious dog by the time the Doberman breed was gentled. Movies continue to inadvertently teach everyone to be afraid of your Doberman. No matter what a Doberman is doing, most people are initially timid around one (the exception is a person who has had a Doberman). A Doberman could sneeze and send some people scurrying for cover! This is a good thing!

In spite of the large number of Dobermans in the U.S., many of which were not properly started and have not been responsibly raised, you'll notice that the dog attacks that are making headlines today almost never involve Dobermans. This is an incredible breed!

And a Five Star Doberman is a wise choice for three additional reasons.

First, reliable protection comes from a dog with good temperament that is confident around strangers. Good temperament is the primary aim of our breeding and starting the puppy. Poor temperament may produce a dog without confidence that is fearful around strangers or one that is overly aggressive. A family Doberman must absolutely be stable when surprised.

Second, Five Star tends to mix working European bloodlines with American. European Doberman blood lines introduce a dog that is much more powerful. Euro-Dobes have a wider chest, and much more muscling in the hindquarters, from which all working motion starts.

Third, our early socialization produces a more confident Doberman which should produce superior bonding with its family. This bond is a vital to combine with a Doberman's nature to be a great family dog but also to naturally protect people and property.

Additional Notes

Facility: If possible, it is important to visit the breeding facility before you select a breeder or a puppy. At Five Star Dobermans, you will not find attention-starved dogs isolated in cages. Our facility is our home, and our females are active, inside, family-loved dogs. (Unfixed males still require a large amount of attention, but they may not work out as inside pets.) Living without a loving family would be particularly hard on a Doberman, which requires and gives unusual levels of affection. We love our Dobermans and they are a central part of our life.

 Accepting cats: Research has shown that lab rats are more accepting of animals around which they are raised. This makes us think that exposure to our house cats will cause our puppies to be more accepting of cats they later encounter. Things aren't always as placid as this picture indicates, but our puppies watch our adult Dobermans coexist daily on a reasonably peaceful basis with our housecoats, Elvis and Diamond, dignified feline representatives.

Owners must train: This means a class if the owner has inadequate training experience. The owner must meet the dog's need for a leader.

Selecting the right dog - Animal shelters across the U.S. put down millions of dogs per year. Countless other families live with dogs that they don't enjoy. How many of these are the result of poorly thought-out, emotional decisions to get a puppy? Adding the wrong puppy from the wrong breeder to your family can be a terrible mistake. There are many reasons not buy a certain breed, a specific dog, or any dog at all. [more]

If you are going to buy a dog, know that and there are better and worse ways to buy and to raise a dog - please do your due diligence: to start with, if you want a purebred be certain of the breed, be certain of the breeder, and be certain that you will have the support you need while the dog develops.

 And the secret ingredient: Daily Tummy Rubbing. Studies have found that "when a pregnant animal is petted her litter is more docile (Denenberg and Whimbey 1963, in Fox 1978)." This facilitates relaxation, emotional attachment, and socialization as well. Other studies have indicated that puppies that receive outside contact (petting of the mother) while in-utero have a higher tolerance for touching than puppies who receive no contact at all. Our dogs receive plenty of petting and tummy rubs, pregnant or not.

And the other secret ingredient: you! We only start the job, you finish it. As you welcome your puppy into your active family and provide training and love, you're continuing in the development of a great active-family dog. And Five Star helps in this area, too. (See Star 5.)