For those who cannot personally pick up their new Hoytt Dobe or those who are returning their Hoytt Dobe for added services but cannot come in personally, we would like to assure you that Hoytt Dobes have already traveled millions of miles without injury or fatality. The House of Hoytt has been shipping their Dobes by air since the early fifties. Even the momentary confusion a Hoytt Dobe faces with relation to the sounds and motion of takeoff and landing is short-lived, for the personalities of our Dobes are excellent and their self-confidence high. Give the Hoytt Dobe an hour with its new family and the flight is forgotten. The fact is that for the new canine traveler the flight is probably easier than a 300 mile first time auto trip.

There is more to our shipping record, however, than just luck. Dobes shipped from us are in the best of health. We also make sure to have advanced reservations, use the best in shipping kennels, and check weather conditions before leaving for the airport, both locally and at any stopover or transfer point. Add excellent service from the carriers we use and the extra personal attention given to us by the carriers who know us well, and you have some of the main reasons why 70 percent of our buyers take advantage of air shipping services.

As to shipping costs, just give us a call letting us know the destination airport and city and the carriers that it is serviced by. For the most part, when one considers all costs related to highway travel, including food, room, and gas, as well as time away from one's occupation, you can see why we are so sure flying is the way to go for most of our clients. Actually we would rather see you spend your free time enjoying your new Dobe following its arrival than trying to squeeze a fast round-trip to the kennel and back in a weekend. Yet we are within a day's drive of 68 percent of the U.S. population so driving in is not out of line for many of our clients. We fly our Dobes throughout North America. From the east coast to the west coast, to the limits of northern and southern U.S. borders (including Alaska), and more international destinations than we have room to list. Here are a few of the better known cities: Cancún, Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Amman, Florence, St. Thomas, Caracas, Reykjavik, Istanbul, Puerto Vallarta, San Juan, Hamburg, Curacao, Montreal, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, San Salvador, Jeddah, Zurich, Bermuda, Buenos Aires, Nassau, and yes, we are patting ourselves on the back. Our following throughout the world is most impressive yet back on home turf meet Jax on arrival in San Francisco and what his new family reported in the letter that follows. More in "Owners Gallery".

JUST  HOME Dear Mr. Hoytt,   We are so happy to have Jax here as part of our family.  He is so confident and smart, not to mention handsome.  I'm sure he misses his Hoytt family, but we will make every effort to make him feel right at home.  He's a great kid!   Picking up Jax from the airport was a good experience.  The people at Delta were wonderful and said, "He's a good dog, never whining, crying, or barking."  I say, he's a confident pup.  So cute.  His kennel (picture attached) was pretty clean considering he'd been on a connecting, long flight.  That's a lot of flying for this youngster, but he handled it well.  When we picked up Jax , I clicked the leash three times, and as he approached the door, I gave him some cheese which he gladly took.  Jeff, my husband, had to coax him out with a little more cheese, but as soon as he knew he was on friendly ground, he warmed up to us.  He's such an intuitive little guy.   Before our daughters, Shana and Lauren, came home, Jeff and I took Jax into the backyard for a look see.  As you might remember, we have a swimming pool.  To make sure Jax would be all right around the pool, we first let him romp around on the grassy area of the yard.  Never mind about the yard, he was more curious about the pool.  He approached the pool and with that, I sprinkled some water on his face and said an authoritative, "NO!"  I placed my hands in front of his face and again said, "NO!"  Well, needless to say, it didn't matter.  Jax decided to go around me and stepped into the pool as if he were stepping onto dry land.  It was pretty amazing.  So there was Jax in the cold pool.  Jeff, who was dressed, shoes and all, jumped in after him and pulled him out.  I must say, Jax is a good little swimmer, doing his best to come to the surface.  It was funny and, at the same time, scary to see.  Certainly, they were both feeling cold.  It's about 55 degrees around here.  When I spoke with Graig yesterday, he told me your weather was around 75 degrees. . . big difference.  So while Jeff got cleaned up, I dried Jax off and warmed him up by the heater.  He's a tough little guy.   When Shana and Lauren arrived home, they were so happily surprised that they both started crying those happy tears.  I can assure you that Jax will be loved dearly.   The first night went well, better than we expected.  "Night, night, Jax," and for the first night, we thought we could leave him in his kennel in the laundry room, which is pretty large, but on second thought, we decided to bring the kennel in to our room.  We believe he'd be in something familiar and still be in a new surrounding.  Jax was fine with this arrangement.  I guess it must have been around 4:00 a.m. when he started to rustle around with some attention-getting howl-type whine, telling us that he had to do his business.  How smart is that?!   Early this morning before Jeff left for work, Jeff took Jax out into the backyard for a short walk around.  No curiosity about the pool.  Well, not this morning.  Now, Jax is doing the usual puppy thing, eating, drinking, sniffing around with curiosity, and, of course, his biz.   He fits right into our family, and if at all possible, and I can only speak for myself, I'd like to have another Dobe next year.  Now that would be wonderful.  Just have to wait and see.   In any event, I want to thank you and your staff for creating such wonderful Dobermans.  Most important, I want to thank you for having such a high regard for these "kids."  Sorry, I can't consider them as dogs as some people might.  I consider them as intelligent companions with a great sense of humanity.   In closing, please find attached some pictures of Jax.  More will be forthcoming, but for now, here's a few.  My apologies for the individual attachments.  I'm not that tech savvy.   Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a new year filled with much joy.   Regina (Reggie) Karp