A Happy Thought for the Tax Season

If it weren't for paying taxes, we may not have the Doberman breed with us today. The Doberman’s history can be traced back to Herr Karl Louis Dobermann in the early 1880’s. Dobermann was the tax collector and dog pound operator for the German town of Apolda in the province of Thuringia. Dobermann wanted to develop a special breed of dog that would protect him on his money-collecting rounds. He wanted a fearless, alert, fast, protective dog with a loyal and steady disposition.

Although Dobermann was determined to obtain his goals, he did not keep records of the exact breeds that he used in developing his namesake. He used a trial-and-error method to arrive at his ideal. How could he know that his dog breeding experiment would result in a world-renowned breed?

As far as experts can tell, the German pinscher, Rottweiler, German shorthaired pointer, weimaraner, greyhound, Manchester terrier, the Great Dane, and perhaps a few others contributed to “Dobermann’s dogs.” The breed later became known as “Thuringian pinschers.” “Pinscher” is the German word for “terrier.” Eventually, the dogs became known as the “Doberman pinscher.” Many people have dropped the second “n,” and only in the US, the “pinscher” has remained. Most Europeans consider the breed to have long since departed from the terrier family. In fact, the Doberman is considered a working breed and sometimes even a mastiff.

In the late 1800’s, the Doberman’s popularity increased. Thousands of the dogs were commissioned to serve in World War I. It is said that some of the dogs were so heartbroken over their military handlers’ deaths that they had to be destroyed. The dogs would obey no one else, and became listless and morose.

German breeders, determined that their best breeding stock should survive war’s hardships, sent many of their Dobermans to other countries, including the United States, to preserve the breed.

During World War II, the United States commissioned approximately 250,000 dogs of several breeds, including Dobermans. The Doberman later became the official mascot of the Marine Corps. Dobermans were highly effective trackers, patrollers, and mine-hunting dogs. The Russians and Germans, however, used the dogs as weapons. They strapped explosives on Dobermans and ordered them to crawl under enemy tanks where the devices were detonated from a distance. Dobermans have the physical ability to “GI crawl” on their bellies. Allied servicemen were able to save some of these dogs. If the enemy troops were killed before they detonated the dogs, the Allied men placed the dogs into stockades and feed them on poles until the dogs allowed the explosives to be safely removed.

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