You made some really good points, especially the amount of work and individual attention it takes to get a dog to National competition level. A lot of people seem to think the dog alone is responsible for getting there, but the dog is only one half of a team. The dog definitely needs to have the right raw qualities but it also needs a skilled and dedicated handler, trainer and helper(s) to make it. It's interesting that once you get away from 'breed oriented' people, it's the trainers and handlers that get the recognition, not the dogs.
It was also a good point that all Dobermanns are descended from the same stock. There's a lot of bad feelings within the UDC right now because of the American vs. European arguments. Since they're really the same dogs, just selectively bred for different purposes, I can't see any reason for the argument. If a dog from many generations of show oriented breeding can still work well, that says a lot for that dog and his parents and is something that should be explored more in my opinion.
Thanks for a great interview.
Erik.
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