Origin of the Dobermann
by: Philipp Grünig
Which strains do the race we call today “Dobermann” contain? That's a question many ask, especially new owners of this beautiful breed.
According to one of the Dobermann's earliest breeders “Philipp Grünig”, the dogs further down this article should be contained within the Dobermann breed. At the same time - to get a total focus of the origin of this breed - Philipp Grünig goes all the way back to the origin of the first tame dog. We will here try to delineate how the breed arose.
It all started with Wolf (Canis Lupus), and from there to Canis Familiaris Decumanus.
Now we make a big jump ahead in time, to the cross-breed, which were the foundation of the breed. The Butcher dog - this cross-breed was bred from:
Rottweiler/German Pinscher/German Shepherd and Rottweiler/Mastiff/Hound
A real mixed-cocktail, which has been enlarged through time.
Beginning with:
- Manchester Terrier aprox. 1897
- Gordon Setter aprox.1902
- Grey Hound aprox.1903
Time passed by, while the breeders experimented with the following breeds:
- Beauceron - Weimeraner
Whereupon the breeders elevates with:
- Manchester Terrier aprox. 1910
- Grey Hound after 1910 and more than twwice.
Why were these breeds used as bloodline additions to the breed we today know as the Dobermann?
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- Manchester Terrier - Gordon Setter
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Head shape (wedge shaped - dark eyes - short rough-haired coat and dark markings, temperament and hunting abilities) Improvement of colours - though with less success, and a tendency to longer/smoother fur
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Notice, that the breeds mentioned previously have contributed to this breed with more advantages and/or disadvantages than have been mentioned within this article. The ones mentioned are of larger interest because of their inheritance.
Furthermore, the Dobermann is related to:
Boxer - Grand Danois - German short hair/rough hair hunting dog - exec.
It's not without reason that the Dobermann is called the largest cross-breed of the purebreds.
Did you know, that until the middle of this century, there were “Harlequin” Dobermanns? This could explain the white spots/hairs we see in the breed even today.
Until the end of the 2nd World War, it was common, that Dobermanns were born with bob-tails. Meaning, dogs were born with very short tails, consisting out of 1 to 2 vertebra. This inheritance unfortunately has been reduced severely because of the 1st and 2nd World Wars, during which, a large number of Dobermanns were lost due to the duties they preformed and hunger. Accordingly, the breeders could no longer use the bob-tail as a preference for the breed, instead they just docked.
The Blue Dobermann Syndrome is usually connected to a Blue Grey Hound, which was used add it's bloodline to the breed. We don't know whether this is correct, but according to Philipp Grünig, the syndrome should come from Mastiff and Weimeraner. This statement seems reasonable, because - before the Grey Hound was introduced as a bloodline - there were blue and fawn Dobermanns.
Dentition (missing premolars) goes far back in time, and occurs in connection with the refinement of the length of the head, which does not seem realistic. The refinement gives more space for the requested amount of teeth. But, may be a warning from mother nature, that a degeneration has begon. Mother nature tries to compensate for the human changes. Longer head, weaker jaws.
The above is repeated when we talk of “Romen nose”. This fault occurs as a compensator for the human changes in connections with elevation of the head.
We hope that the references from “Philipp Grünig” have given you some knowledge about the origin of the Dobermann, and how this breed of dogs has been improved to become the Dobermann of today.
