Our Dobergirl, Freya
This is Freya with her bowl. She likes to carry it around in case somebody has any food they'd like to drop into it!

Freya is very much a "pet" quality doberman. She does not have papers, but that doesn't mean she isn't a wonderful representative of the breed in terms of her temperament...she is a little on the quieter side for a dobe (now that she's eight years old!). She is a totally devoted girl. She is friendly with everyone--people and dogs alike.

Last year (at age 7) we took her back to obedience classes (she had basic obedience when young and has had that reinforced all of her life) and in her first "mock" obedience trial, she placed SECOND under a very experienced Golden Retriever and above a very experienced Rottweiler. We were very proud. Her biggest fault was running out of the ring during the recall. Of course, ever the lady, she ran out of the gate instead of under the yellow tape that demarcated the boundary. She then ran right back in and fronted. Just checking out the crowd, I guess!!

My new plans for her include having her become a therapy dog. Check back to learn more later!
This is a picture of Freya the day that we got her. Notice the blue reflection in her eyes. This is diagnostic of parvo, of which she had a very severe case. She went to the vet's the next day and spent the next 12 days there. They saved her and we'll always be grateful to them for it. This is when we learned to always find a vet that has someone on the premises 24 hours a day--it made the difference for her!
About Freya's parvo: She had already had the appropriate parvo vaccinations for her age, but became infected anyway. This is most likely because right after she and her 11 brothers and sisters were born, her mother developed mastitis and was unable to nurse. All of the pups were hand-fed by the breeder, but did not receive the natural immunities they would have received from their mother's milk. In addition, the pups did have exposure to other dogs. The breeder was a security dog handler, so the other dogs in the kennel went in and out.

Dobermans may be more susceptible to parvo than other puppies, so it is important to make sure they have all of their vaccinations, avoid situations with a lot of other dogs and dog traffic (read: poop) until your pup has completed all of his/her vaccinations and to be aware of the early symptoms: "blue" eyeshine, vomiting, diarrhea, depression.
This is Freya in her pen. She has spent a lot of time here recovering from her cervical disk surgery. She doesn't like it much, but it's a comfy place!
Last December, Freya started to limp slightly on her right front leg. After several vet trips and some experiments with medication, she was tentatively diagnosed with possible herniated cervical disk, a possible spinal tumor or cervical vertebral instability (CVI). As a result, we were referred to a fantastic veterinary surgical clinic, Southern California Veterinary Surgical Center, and we consented to having her have a myelogram and surgery.

As it turns out, she had a very herniated cervical disk which they were able to remove through vertical slot incision surgery. Although she has not recovered 100% (she has a slightly noticeable slower foot response time on her back right foot), she is now normally active. In fact, it was hard to keep her down!

The surgery was complicated by her low von Willebrandt's titer, but she did not have any bleeding problems. It was reasonably expensive (in fact, for us shockingly so) but it was definitely worth it--the results are truly remarkable.
Now this is more like it! Right next to mom! It's hard to believe that this is our girl who couldn't walk last December and could barely raise her head!
Doberlinks


Doberman Pinscher Club of America


Doberworld home page


Doberman Domain


If you would like to link to this site, please click here!
Home Page
This Doberman Ring site is owned by
Nancy A. Charest
[Prev] [Next][Random] [List Sites]
Want to join the Doberman Ring ?

This page hosted by Get your own Free Homepage