The
Dobermann Welfare Association

Presents:

Dobes of the World

USA: Rescue Dogs Page 3

California: The Golden State

Obie is pictured below aged 1 year old, while she still had her vision. She is now four years old.

Obie is the result of 10 years of work.  That's how long it took me to talk my wife, who had never had a dog as a child, into getting one. After having spent time with a wonderful Doberman who belonged to a friend, I decided a Dobe was what I wanted. At first I looked into purchasing from a breeder, then one Sunday as I was scanning the LA Times classified ads for Dobies, I noticed an ad placed by the southern California Doberman Pinscher Rescue. I called and talked at length with Ardis Braun who runs the operation. She was wonderful, answering all my questions and understanding my concerns. A few weeks later my wife and I were north of LA for a wedding and I convinced her to stop at the Rescue on the way back to Whittier. She agreed on the condition that I promised we would not bring a dog home with us that day. 

After some difficulty we found Ardis, who was pleased to answer Lisa's (my wife) questions. Ardis normally has around 90 dogs, and we certainly had to make some choices before we even began looking. We decided black, female, and relatively young. We looked at several animals and then noticed one in a kennel by herself. Ardis explained that she was separated because she had just come to rescue and had a classic case of "kennel cough." Ardis was happy to show her to us although she didn't want to place her until she was well. Ardis got her out and leashed her. I knelt down and called to her.  She came and buried her head in my chest, and that was that.

I kept my promise and we didn't take her home that day, but about a week later Ardis brought her to us on one of her regular trips to the LA shelters.

Getting used to each other took some time. I had to learn just how willful and stubborn Dobes can be and Obie (her new name) had to learn about her new home. Lisa remained a little shy at first, but was soon comfortable with this new creature in our lives. Like many Dobes, Obie is a natural comic, full of fun and Dobie foolishness, quick to learn, and eager to please. It didn't take long to win Lisa over. 

Among her other activities, Obie became my field partner. I am a geologist and spend a fair amount of time in open spaces studying some of Califronia's active faults. I soon learned that I could trust her to keep me in sight and so she had days of running after lizards, ground squirrels, rabbits, and never catching one. 

Our lives together have been good, but not without our problems. About two years ago, Obie lost the sight in her left eye due to acute glaucoma. We are lucky to have one of the best veterinarian opthalmologists in the country here, and he worked with us to help preserve the other eye. Our efforts worked for a year and a half, but last summer another glaucoma attack took the vision in the other eye despite the best efforts of some fine doctors. Heart broken barely begins to describe our feelings, but the doctors assured us to have faith and that we could be surprised at what she would be able to do as a blind dog.

They were right. In seven months Obie has adapted remarkably well. She knows her way around home and my lab (where she spends most of the day being adored by every student who comes in). She is good on leash, although she has a tendency to enter a "fire hose" mode, swinging from side to side when she gets excited. In doors she is normally in the "radar head" setting to find her way around. In open spaces she will run full tilt and uses her other senses to enjoy her surroundings. She will play with any dog that has the persistence to pursue her. Most importantly, her essential nature has hardly changed.

She has indeed retained her good spirits. She even still skips. I have never seen another dog that skips, but she does. We were walking along one day and a woman pulled her car along side us and asked me, "However, did you teach you dog to do that?" I could only respond that she came that way, prancing and skipping is just her style.

Obie and I live in Whittier, California, part of the greater Los Angeles area.

Obie is still a wonderful friend.  I hope this story will help anyone facing similar problems and I would enjoy hearing from others about their experiences living with a blind dog. My e-mail address is: drhodes@whittier.edu

If you would like a picture of your Rescue Dobe to appear on these pages, then please e-mail me, and I will let you know the relevant details. Hope to hear from you soon!

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