How Dobermans Prove Their Undying Loyalty

2 January 2012
11:46 AM

Sunrise at	10:53 AM	in direction	152°	South-southeast
Sunset at	2:57 PM	in direction	208°	South-southwest

Duration of day: 4 hours, 3 minutes (3 minutes, 27 seconds longer than yesterday)

The things I do for my family ..

If you ever wondered how short haired dogs survive the Interior Winter, here's a clue.  See the  ears slightly flattened out?  Not only is she required to wear this get up, but now she must accept the humiliation of being photographed in it!


Living with Dobermans in Fairbanks requires some serious work.   By nature, any thing that could be invading what they have defined as the perimeter of our territory causes three dogs to charge the door leading out to the deck and fenced back yard.  The oldest, soon to be 12, will often let the other two do the work outside, but that doesn't change her seriousness about being sure they do.


They will keep at you too - just like a child set on getting that toy.  "Let us out!  Let us out! We need to do our job."  


Any time it's below -20F, the booties go on their feet.  These are not sled dogs who wear booties only to protect their feet from hard trail.  Despite having pads that have toughened up through the years, they simply do not tolerate the cold well.  My older two are developing thick hair between their toes in response to their new found life style, but if we were to move to warmer climates, it would gradually return to less inter-toe fluff.  


We boot them up, so they will stay out long enough to relieve themselves at the least.  If we don't, they will be right back at the door lifting each paw in turn so it does not touch the snow or deck.  So cold winter days like we have had recently mean several times during the day booties go on and off along with coats.  Even with the booties on, they will lick their feet and joints while resting back indoors.


I admit, we can get lazy and leave the booties on during selected times of the day - when we know they will feel compelled to defend at regular intervals.  It is easier on all of us.  Have you ever tried to boot up a Doberman bent on getting outside to warn off an encroaching raven?  


Sled dogs also have a negative response to the cold, but for different reasons.  I was going to go out to SP Kennel and hopefully Team Tsuga to visit friends (canine and human) today.  But the folks at SP hauled their dogs south to find warmer temperatures for training.  When it is seriously cold, it is hard to keep their dogs' weight up.  Like horses, sled dogs burn lots and lots of calories to stay warm.  Running them in cold temperatures means decreasing the amount of fuel they have for warmth and they can lose weight rapidly using fuel for both training and keeping warm.  With races in January, February, and March, it is important to keep the dogs at good solid weights before those races.


I try to tell our girls that they have it very easy in comparison, and they do believe me, until they have been out for more than 3 minutes at -38F.  At that point they don't care for the comparison.  They want back in where it is warm and they can keep a close eye on their human charges.