All puppies are raised in our home, with access to fenced, outdoor areas. We do not have a kennel environment. Dobermans are velcro dogs, we do not believe in dogs living their lives in a kennel. All of our dogs are expected to interact with other dogs, kids, and strangers on a regular basis. Our puppies receive neurological stimulation starting a few days after birth. They are handled numerous times a day and exposed to loud noises, the home environment, the dremel and when they are old enough, our other dogs and our children. As puppies get older, they may be started on crate training and house training.
WHat are our puppy prices?
Our puppies start at $3,500 and go up from there. Be realistic about your budget when searching for a puppy. You can find dobermans for less than that- from unknown lines, without health testing. Ear cropping on our puppies is constantly increasing, but we use the best ear cropping vet in our state- this is definitely a factor in price. We do not churn out a lot of litters and we generally have a wait list before litters are born so we are not hard pressed to find homes. If you send me an email asking if we negotiate on pricing, it will be answered by a "No" or ignored.
Why are dobermans so expensive?
Raising a litter of puppies properly is expensive. The doberman breed is prone to numerous health issues such as DCM, cancer, wobblers, etc. Health testing for the breed is involved and costly. While it is impossible to be 100% sure that all puppies ever produced will not be afflicted with any health issues, we do our best to research pedigrees and use health testing to select against genetic health issues. Just x-rays for hips/elbows are $400, cost of a holter monitor for cardiac testing >$400, vest for holter monitor >$100, cardiologist reading the holter report $60 (annual expense), then you also have blood panels for things such as thyroid $85, liver panel $85, genetic testing for issues such as vWD and DCM markers- $150. ECHO- $550, annual expense. In European lines, importing the parents can easily run >$800 and that is not including the price of the dog. For European adults, shipping easily costs >$1500 (not including the price of the actual dog). AKC registration for an FCI dog is also costly and the dog's DNA must be registered ($50). If the dog is titled, there are also training and showing costs which can easily be in the thousands. Show fees for one weekend are usually >$100. Handler fees cost thousands.
All of these expenses occur well before a litter is even produced. If the dog fails any health testing, then the breeder must start over. If they are lucky enough to have a healthy adult that has passed all health testing and an excellent specimen of the breed, then there are stud fees >$1500, progesterone testing ($262 first time our local repo vet), possible artificial insemination fees (surgical implantation >$600), travel. If you are lucky enough to have the female pregnant the first time from AI then there are fees for: pregnancy confirmation (ultrasound, $80), whelping box ($250), whelping supplies, possible c- section or other health related expense in the case of an emergency. If you are lucky enough to have no issues and a healthy litter, there are also ongoing vet fees for wellness exams, tail docking/dew claw removal >$300 for the litter, deworming dam and puppies, vaccines, AKC registration fees, food and litter supplies, puppy kits for new owners. You also have ear cropping which varies widely but can range from $500-$700. We have searched hard for a vet that specializes in doberman ear cropping and spend hours of travel time bringing puppies to this vet. In reality, breeders often spend more money than they make from the sale of puppies. We breed because we are passionate about the breed and want to improve the breed.
i am looking for a deal on a puppy, will you negotiate?
Please don't contact me looking for a bargain. We don't go looking for the cheapest dogs to add to our program and we sure as heck don't go cheap in maintaining our dogs or raising the puppies. Our last imports cost over $5,000 and we searched for years for the perfect additions to our breeding program. If you are looking for a cheap puppy, we are not the breeder for you. In fact, if you email me looking to get a cheap puppy, I probably won't even email you back. That is not the way to introduce yourself and reassure me that you will provide a wonderful home to one of the puppies we put years of planning, hard work and love into.
Can I reserve two litter mates?
Please do not do this to yourself. We will not place 2 puppies from the litter in pet homes. If you have 30 + years of doberman experience, working titles on numerous dogs, unlimited time, and separate areas to raise the puppies- maybe (not sure why anyone would want litter mates). If you aren't sure why litter mates shouldn't go home together, please google litter mate syndrome. Apart from that raising two puppies at once is incredibly hard! Posting one set of ears is time consuming and requires great patience, with two puppies you will be posting ears non stop. Puppies do mess with and bite at each others ears- if they chew at the tape that could lead to infected ears. At best, it means you are reposting ears every time you take your eyes off of them.
I have a male doberman already, can I reserve a male puppy?
Dobermans are known for male on male aggression. We will not knowingly place a male into a household with another large male. Yes, we are very lucky not to have any issues with our current males- they do not live together but can visit and be around other males without issues. We still avoid having males living together.
How do I reserve a puppy?
1. Fill out the application and wait for approval. 2. Deposits are $500, nonrefundable and transferable to the next litter. 3. We do picks by order of deposit placed, but have ultimate say in matching the appropriate puppies with families. When puppies are 7 weeks, we ask families for a list of their favorites, if we cannot contact you, then we move down the list. 4. We do selections between 7-8 weeks, after Volhard testing. We may choose to hold puppies back to grow them out, for our program. 5. Ears are cropped between 7-8 weeks. 6. After selections are made and ears are healed then puppies are ready to go to their new homes. 7. Final payment is due when you pick up your puppy- cash, Venmo, Zelle. We do not accept PayPal or check for final payment.
Can my puppy be shipped to me?
We prefer to meet new owners. We no longer arrange shipping or travel. You can arrange ground transport and we do have people we worked with in the past. New owners can pick up their puppy in our home or we can meet at the local airport (LFT). Puppies must be picked up within a week of being able to go home. A boarding fee of $25/day will be charged for any puppy that is not picked up within a week of being ready to go to their new home. If arrangements are not made for pickup by 8 weeks of age, the nonrefundable deposit will be forfeited and the puppy will be made available again.
I am new to the breed, will I receive ongoing help with the puppy and especially with ear care?
Yes! We want to hear about how our puppies are doing in their new homes. We recommend taking basic obedience classes with your new puppy, but we are also here to help. For adopters that live in the area, we are happy to meet up if you need some help with puppy issues or need some lessons on ear posting. For adopters further away, we are available by text, phone, video chat and email. We would love to have enough adopters nearby to do socialization and training classes with the pups. Please don't think you are on your own after adopting your puppy.
Do you offer breeding rights?
This is on an individual basis. Please discuss with us prior to placing a deposit. If there is no discussion, the puppies will automatically be registered with limited registration. We would like to get to know anyone inquiring about full registration and find out what your goals are prior to deciding on letting a puppy go on full registration. We would like a relationship established and would like individuals who want to improve the breed. We want puppies with breeding rights titled and health tested prior to breeding. If you have no intention on showing or doing performance events, please do not inquire for a puppy with breeding rights. We would like to keep improving the breed, so when you inquire, please expect to send us stacked pictures of the dogs used in your current program, health and pedigree information.
do you require a contract?
Yes. All puppies sold as pets will require a spay/neuter contract and will be sold with limited AKC registration. All puppies sold for breeding/show purposes will be sold on contract- health testing will be one requirement and is non-negotiable. If you breed and do not health test, please do not contact us for a puppy with full registration. Please be prepared to communicate with us about the health and well being of your puppy. We need ongoing communication to evaluate the health of our lines. If for any reason you cannot keep your puppy, please contact us. We will always welcome our puppies back, we do NOT want our puppies going to the shelter or rescue- they always have a home available.
do you offer adults?
Yes, some of our retired adults are offered for pet homes. They are often titled in conformation or other dog sports and have basic obedience. We have children so they are use to living with children and other dogs. If we feel a retired adult will do best in a single dog family, we will state that. There are many benefits to welcoming an older dog: you don't have the puppy stage and training to struggle with, ears will be standing and an older dog will usually be more calm than a puppy.
How long do i have to post ears?
Ear posting is so dependent on numerous things, such as ear length, ear leather and each puppy is an individual. The biggest impact on how long ears have to be posted is diligence of the new owners. If the new owner lets the ears flop in between postings then the ears may never stand. The rule of thumb is for every time you let the ears flop, then that is 2 weeks longer you have to post. Expect to post a puppy through teething, shorter ear crops with an experienced ear poster can stand within a few months, and generally the really long show crops take closer to a year to stand.
What do puppies come with?
All puppies are on a de-worming schedule starting at 2 weeks and will be de-wormed every 2 weeks until going home. Our vet vaccinates at 6 weeks and suggests vaccines every 3 weeks until the series is complete. All puppies will have their first set of vaccines, several de-wormings and prophylactic medication against coccidia prior to going home. We microchip everyone and pre-register all puppies with AKC. All puppies are cropped and docked, no exceptions. Any emails or texts asking for uncropped/undocked puppies will be ignored.
Can we visit your kennel?
We do not have a kennel, our adults are a part of our family. Our dogs are raised in our home. We put a lot into raising puppies so we do not have many litters per year. We have careers that support our hobby and only have a litter when trying to improve and produce a puppy for conformation or working sport. You can often meet our dogs at shows, our dogs often travel to other states.
do you Offer uncropped or undocked puppies?
NO!!! Please stop asking. We are the ones that put our blood, sweat and tears into producing the next generation and we choose to crop and dock all puppies we produce. If you are against it or do not want to post ears, please go elsewhere- we are not the breeder for you.