Been aaaaaaaaages since I've been on here for any length of time, but I figured now was a good time.

seeing as I have two new furry family members :-D

Here's the whole gang:

http://i40.tinypic.com/2e51aio.jpg

Clockwise from laying down - Opi (rott mix), Soli, Fox (new boy :-) ), River (lab/collie), Remy (dobe), Cassie (new girl :-) ).

Both the newbies are 10 on April 4th - brother and sister.  They came in from their last owner - who'd had them from 7 weeks old - as he had been evicted and despite doing everything he could, he couldn't keep them.  He was in tears on the way out of my house and had me going too :-(

But fostering turned to keeping in all of 3 days (well, less than that really), and they aren't going anywhere :-)

Good to see you back Kiddo! :O)
  I've not been able to be on much either, so we can catch up together! Looking forward to hearing about the new gang's antics. xx

Aww...thats  a gang looking hopeful...
Karen

Have seen those little lovelies elsewhere ;)
Extra exposure is fine in my book!

Welcome back Nikita - long time no hear but great that you have come back to visit :-) :-)

You had three dogs last time - I think River was the newest one at the time - so your pack has certainly grown. Hope you are settled in your new home now and enjoying life :-)

What a lovely looking bunch of dogs :-)

LOvely looking gang! :)

Super photo!

Yes, River would have been the newest - but she was the fourth.  And I had four in my sig.  So not been as long as I thought lol!

I do love it here and the dogs do too - how could they not with a garden like that? :-D

I love your fawn he is very handsome. Have you found he's been more prone to problems than your other dobes? We were thinking about getting a fawn when we got our Daisy (she is brown) but all the fawns were from blue/fawn parents which put us off a bit. I think if we had found a suitable pup with one brown or black parent we would have probably gone for it! I just wondered what your experience had been so that i can sweet talk the OH into getting a fawn next!!!!

Welcome back :-) Well done on taking on Fox and Cassie, I can't think of anything worse than having to give up dogs you've had for 10 years, poor guy. How fabulous that they've stayed together and in such a good home :-)

Hilly - my suggestion, honestly, would be to keep an eye out for a rescue fawn.  It will take a long time but they do crop up - and as they are getting more popular, more of them will end up in rescue.

I have spent years (literally) trying to find a decent, responsible breeder who has fawns show up from time to time (you will not find one who breeds them deliberately) and I have never yet managed to locate one.  I've seen breeders with brown or black dogs that throw fawns in their litters - but the breeders brag about it, and I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.  The way they are being bred at the moment seems to be akin to the albino dobes - it's all about the colour and the money, not the dogs themselves.

Problem-wise the main issues are colour dilute alopecia and skins problems - Remy has both in spades.  He's as light as he is because almost all of his main coat has gone now - it was sparse as a pup but he started to lose it at 2yrs old.  Skin-wise he gets pimples constantly and quite often I have to shave a small patch of his back to get them under control again (with hibiscrub etc) - and because of the alopecia, those patches will literally take months to grow back.

I would also be willing to bet that fawns will be more at risk of the other problems associated with dobes - hypothyroidism, DCM (heart disease), vWD etc - because the people who produce them deliberately do not, IME, perform the necessary tests on the parents to protect against those problems (or to aim to breed fawns/blues with the coat and skin problems).  They are just out to make money.

Keep your eyes peeled, I have seen a few fawns this year looking for homes - they do pop up now and again.

Welcome back :-D

I totally agree. I have to say i was quite shocked that breeders were having litters out of one blue parent and one fawn parent, surely thats a recipe for disaster and again as you say just breeding for the colour and the money rather than the health of the dog.

There is a fawn who lives near us called Harvey (constantly being mistaken for a Weim) and he was the only fawn in a litter of blacks and browns from 2 brown parents so hopefully he will grow up strong and healthy. The breeders vetted the owners and chose this particular bloke because he had owned fawns before and he knew that should any problems start to occur that he would put in the time, effort and dedication rather then just shipping him off to dogs trust. The mark of a good breeder i'd say.

I can understand why the demand is high for the blues and fawns as they are so stunning but it makes me sad that people dont consider the health risks.

I'd love to rescue them all from the Dobe Welfare i'd have a house full if i was allowed!!! And greyhounds too!

Congratulations again on having such a lovely bunch! I bet they have the time of their lives together.

What a lovely photo,beautiful dogs.

Sheila

> I totally agree. I have to say i was quite shocked that breeders were having litters out of one blue parent and one fawn parent, surely thats a recipe for disaster and again as you say just breeding for the colour and the money rather than the health of the dog.

Exactly.  Remy is a brilliant example of why it shouldn't be done - at nearly 7 he is almost devoid of topcoat and his already sparse, thin undercoat is disappearing daily.  The pimples can get very bad too.

Not only that but conformation-wise he is pants - very roached back, stocky, not how a dobe should be really.

Hehe that made me chuckle, the word pants always does! Ahh dont give him too harder time he's still a lovely looking boy :) His face is lovely very masculine and square!

Our daisy is still very delicate looking with her long nose! No doubt she'll fill out in the next few months. I swear she grows everytime i leave the room, the little bean.

Welcome back Nikita! :-)

> Ahh dont give him too harder time he's still a lovely looking boy :-) His face is lovely very masculine and square!

He's still lovely, of course he is!  He does have a good head on him, that's his one good point lol.  Fox looks stranger - he has a very masculine head but the rest of him is so dainty it looks like his head was photoshopped on!

Cassie is a very dainty girl - she has the pointy nose and the thin face, tho it's not so clear in that pic.

Thanks everyone for the welcomes, tis good to be back!