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Color Associated Points of Interest
For those just learning about Profiling, more how a breeder can determine before mating the future potential of a match. Understand that with enough ancestral knowledge, one can even match two Black & Rusts to produce a four-color litter (called a rainbow litter). The four Hoytt Dobes above were born 4/3/08. For our latest Rainbow Litter born 6-15-09 go to AVAILABLE on 7-24-09 and see the cute little devils.
Here are a few more areas of information where individual selection and placement for over half a century has given us answers to questions not yet thought of by the first-time reader but very important to those who care. The ongoing communication to and from clients in time became as important to our success in matching mates to each placement as to the right answers to questions you will one day need answering, need to be answered not by guesses but actual firsthand experience. This section covers a few more of those un-discussed areas that should be taken seriously and help in your final decision making.
Longevity...this area is rarely given much thought by the first-time buyer, but a serious consideration to those who have already enjoyed the unique relationship only a great Dobe can offer. While dog sellers have little first-hand experience related to the actual life history of the first (both parents) or even second generation ( adding the grandparents - total six dogs ), the House of Hoytt, in creating a secure Blood Line, first had to use all three areas of the breeders art until we could maintain Line breeding. Once we achieved this level of the breeders art, we were able to create this well monitored line known as HOYTT. But first we needed first-hand experience so we followed the life and times of each new generation until we had the combination qualities we sought.
Today we use our past experiences working
with the Dobe and its owners many placements dating back to the sixties to guide
our tomorrows. We have built a Line that carries our name though the
hundreds of individually placed background Dobes, and these past experiences help
profile an individual Dobe and then match it with an individual or family. This
is why we do what no other seller of Dobes can actually offer, choose a Dobe for
its future adult attributes, for we have tracked everything from longevity to issues concerning health
longer than any other specialty breeder in history. These are just two of more
than a dozen key areas that this site offers to educate the future owner of a Dobe and in turn give those interested the greatest opportunity to bring into
their lives more than just a registered example of the Dobe the chance to make
their decisions based on knowledge.
Color by the numbers...For starters the prominent color offered at House of Hoytt is the Black & Rust ( see...Color tone variables-under construction ), with the next in line, our Red & Rust. Of course we also offer both the much more limited colors of Fawn and Rust along with our Sliver & Rust, the latter generally called Blue & Rust. Now, in the area of Longevity which for medium breeds average eight/nine years, six/seven for the bigger boys like Great Dane, Mastiffs, etc., we have found that of the four colors our Dobes average 9/13 years, with our Black & Rust averaging individually 10/11 years. But like one of our special mention Dobes, Maximillian Von Hoytt RN LN CGC, who is introduced in Owners Gallery, who in early 2009 entered classes with the Association of Pet Dog Trainers ( A.P.D.T). Within two months of his 'first day of class' he stepped into the ring and in the following twelve weeks he certified in AKC RN competition, received his CGC certification and also under A.P.D.T sanction won his RL title. I attended his second showing in AKC trials and videoed the boy and his 'other half' at a show outside Philly. I did not know who to be most proud of, Max's mom, Max, or myself. Actually my job was simply to select the right Hoytt Dobe for the soon to be clients. I guess I can just say life is good when everything fits. And in answer to the question. I guess I'd have to say it was owner and canine as a very special team I'm most proud of. Now, while Max does not represent his color group age average, Max is fourteen, I have found that most of our reds enjoy a bit longer life, averaging 11/12. This average comes at a time when even an extra good day is much appreciated.
Of course we do have many Blacks, Reds, Fawns and Blues that have
reached well into their teens, and at this writing we just placed a Grand Victor
into the home of a very sweet black & rust female a few months older than Max.
And recently placed a new kid with a client who enjoyed one of our Fawn girls almost sixteen years.
But even with some of our foundation Dobes living years over average like a
black boy known as "The Rock" who had begun life as one of our future key
foundation Dobes and lived to seventeen. At his last birthday party his family
toasted him and said Rock was still hoping for one more date. It had been about
ten years. He was in mind ready to woo a lady
but in body ready for the rocking chair. Back on track, I have noticed the colors
in our Lines seem to be given more time with us. But in the end, our knowledge
enhances the chance of total success in all four colors. So
being able to profile in all areas helps keep out the dozens of preventable
breeding line problems and the information we can pass on to our clients related
to the latest good, bad and ugly in the medical world, in the educational field
and through diet information, is a continuation of what one also receives when
their new Dobe is a Hoytt.
The Color of Intelligence or which color is mentally superior. Experience proves that the entire range of personality variables as well as physical attributes are found to be the greatest in ... all four colors. Meaning in the end, with the exception discussed below, go with the color that best fits your interests.
Sometimes in life we have to make adjustments for others to achieve our own goals. The Doberman enthusiast would say the breed is highly respected. In public we see both folks who respect and admire the breed's aristocratic look - the 22 Century companion - yet for some the term for respect would be 'fear'. The fact is that it's good to have the pubic respect your Dobe, better to protect its family circle. Let those problematic individuals fear the breed but look at your total interests. If you plan on expanding the Dobes social structure, say the kid is to hang out at the office or you want to partake in Therapy work, you might think of the public's perception of the different colors.
First and foremost, the black with ears up studying the stranger you are talking to ( unless they too own a Dobe ) see the DEVIL sitting next to you. So with blacks you have both fear and respect. Go to a Red and you have all the respect the breed deserves but with less of the DEVIL DOG fear moment. Thus physiologically a deep red Dobe in public is not seen as this Devil Dog figure, but still well-respected.
Based on this public perception, you will understand that the rarer the color, the less nervousness initially on introduction when the kid must attend social gatherings or simply needs to be in public places. Personally I don't care if my dog is looked upon as the Devil or the Angel if it fits my personal profile. But when I'm in public and want a Dobe to be more welcome, color makes the difference. Or, of course, if you come to our kennel and meet Dobes for the first time, well, then it's important to me that the visitor relaxes as quickly as possible. Of course, I can bring in any color depending on the moment, but we just might start with some of the colors, for the visitor just might feel like they just walked into the lion's den.
For those who are open to color, wanting first and foremost a great Dobe, know that the Fawn is so unique as well as rare that most people have never seen one. Meaning in public you will be asked more times - Is that a Doberman? Our Silvers are almost as rare, but the fun once more for you may also be their exclusiveness*. Here too you will be asked a bit less times - Is that a Dobe? Usually no matter what the color, a strikingly handsome or beautiful example of the breed, also well-behaved, is quite the public attention-getter. It also is human nature that the public perceives a well-mannered dog as being more defense ready.
In the end, while the world immediately recognizes a Black & Rust and the Red & Rust, you will have a social edge with a Red. Now add manners to any elegant Dobe and you have a traffic-stopper. Really we hear about clients here in the US and abroad say the same thing. Vehicles pull over and compliment them on their most beautiful Dobe, be it black, blue, red or fawn - life is good. So there you have it. It is only public perception that is the difference related to color.
*Here's an interesting note. In 1899 the first Doberman was given pure breed status - a black. The next year the reds were accepted and then the Blue Dobe. I have not been able to pin down when the Fawn was actually accepted but we know of one registered in the early 1900's.
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Since then I have met a few personally, received photos from sellers and have a few on video. Does this mean white Dobermans exist? Perhaps, but only if you rationalize. If it's not black, red, blue or fawn but it appears to be a Dobe of light color, then yes, Whites exist. Or are they just washed-out fawns or blues? Take, for example, the red Dobe. If the color is so light it looks like straw, it still is considered a red; or should someone begin calling it the rare blond Dobe? There is also a "chocolate bar-brown" Dobe, but these too are simply called red; or should someone begin calling these dogs rare Hershey® Dobes? In the case of the reds, straw and chocolate are simply genetic or medically induced flukes. One day we may see an ad that hypes five legged Dobes. For those who spend time hiking with their dogs, if it breaks a leg, it still has four good ones. Fine examples of American salesmanship.
Taking into consideration the color variances and knowing the ancestral history of the breed, not even the second authored book* on the Dobe (The Doberman Pincher, 1926) mentions a white-coated dog as contributing to the development of the breed. For the first one-hundred years of the breed's existence, even a small patch of white was looked upon as a sign of inferior breeding.
One also must wonder why, if the breed took only seven years from initial mixing of the old German Shepherd and the large smooth-coated German Pincher to be an accepted breed (1899), did eighty years pass before we began seeing ads offering 'whites?' And why in the last 35 years did no breeder of whites yet produce paired whites that produce just whites if in fact a white gene given back in the 1890s does exist?
Perhaps one day the American Kennel Club will allow the white as a showable fifth color, but for now we can only presume, like the chocolate and blond color, white is just a shade that some seek and others turn their backs on. So is the White Dobe a rare find or rip-off? It depends on one's point of view. Have I changed my opinion about 'whites' since first taking a stand against them? No! For one should be breeding for improvement, not novelty. Final point here. The blues, fawn, reds and blacks were part of the initial colors and eventually each were simply accepted as pure and part of the breed's heritage. In the meantime, I cannot believe even today that one can take a patch of white from a dominant black & rust breed and create the white Doberman. Oh well...
* there is one earlier publication on the Dobe written in 1913 - we located one of these extremely rare, perhaps the only copy in existence, but it's in old German so we have yet to learn anything more than what Mr. Smith wrote in 1926, but who knows, it might hold the final answer to the question of what breeds were combined to create the Dobermann.
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