Expectations, expectations

When mum and dad brought me to my new home they thought I was going to take over where their previous Doberman, Hona, had left off. They quickly came to realise that not all of us Dobermans are the same.

For example, they put a kennel, casita in Spanish, inside the front porch at the front door and dad tried to tempt me to go into it because that was where Hona had stayed. I suppose being a Doberman she liked to keep an eye on everything that was happening at the front of the house and if anyone cycled or jogged past she would be able to see them off. She was however, as I am, very fond of people but one difference is that I don't need to be seeing everyone as they go past the house and I don't mind bikes or joggers.

I chose where I wanted to be, at the back of the house. It is sheltered, as is the front entrance, but it is sunnier and warmer. Once again, as soon as mum and dad realised this, they moved my casita down to the back door and I have recently started using it with it's top on, before I was very reluctant to go into it and would only use it when the top had been removed.

Something else that Hona didn't like and that was other animals of any description and she would chase other dogs probably with the intention of playing with them but they often didn't realise this or didn't like her form of playing. When I went to the vets the other day it was the first time my dad has ever sat inside the waiting area. Normally he would have to stay in the car with Hona or outside the waiting area and would have to restrain Hona as other animals entered or left until it was their turn to see the vet. The other day at the vets I found other dogs interesting and I wanted to find our about their smell and generally be friendly towards them.

At the moment, and I put this down to my lack of energy, my dad plays with me by throwing a ball for me to return to him to get a treat.  With Hona he would throw it as far as he could and she would run after it then bring it back to get her reward. With me he throws it up the sloping driveway and when it rolls back to us I pick it up and give it to dad to get my treat. It saves a lot of running around which at the moment I'm not up to.

I'm also a rather fussy eater. Dad has tried to get me to eat those special "scientific diet" crunchy biscuits but I'm not keen on them although they are supposed to be very good for my growth. He even bought some other very special "grain free" biscuits at the vets, full of goodness, but I don't like those either. My favourite food is minced beef or pork from the supermarket and I can eat almost 1 kg of that per day! At least I'm still growing and one day I will be a full size Doberman, at the moment I'm still a Doberboy!