Irish the Doberman
2
When Robbie and Phil Hearse were determined to give a new home to a Doberman, the internet turned out to be their meeting place. Here is Robbie's rescue story.
We’ve had Dobermans since our two boys - now adults with families of their own, were small: our first was a red head named Kimmie, who unfortunately had haemophilia and a brain tumour, and passed away at only two years of age. Next came Rastas and Charlie, a mother and son team (Charlie was our dog, who was mated with a professional stud dog, and we kept Rastas from the litter.) After he and Charlie passed away – both at ripe old ages, we bought Salty, another Doberman, and a couple of years later, Alfie, a standard poodle. When Salty was nine, he died suddenly of a suspected heart attack.
A couple of years ago we decided we wanted to become a two-dog family again, and were both keen to have another Doberman. I started doing research, looking online for breeders, and on rescue sites. One day I was looking on Gumtree and an ad for someone looking to rehome a Doberman popped up in the suggestion panel. I clicked on it, and he sounded perfect.
Irish was already four years old, but in great health, and was well trained as he’d been a show dog. His family had moved from a farm to a more residential area, and didn’t really have time to spend with him. After a few conversations, and a medical, we decided we were a good fit for each other, and they arranged to have him sent interstate.
Irish the overtrained
Interestingly, one of the biggest issues we’ve had with getting Irish adjusted to our home is he’s had a lot of obedience training, and he was like a little kid that was so used to having to do the right thing that he didn’t really know how to play and relax. The most rewarding moments we’ve had with him is watching him shyly gallop around the park with another dog, sharing a ball, or joining in a game with our grandkids and their dogs.
He also had issues with small dogs in the early days – it’s likely he had an altercation with one when he was with his last family, because from the day we got him, he’d lunge at small (especially fluffy) dogs in the park. We decided early on to get a dog trainer in, but before the first session, we decided to have him fixed – it wasn’t helping with aggression, and he had a rather unpleasant habit of humping people, dogs, and furniture!
We spend a lot of time with our extended family, and they frequently visit with their dogs for a weekend. Unfortunately, in the early days, he didn’t get along with several of the other dogs, and even the gentlest dog would get a nip if they approached him in a confined space. We chatted with our dog trainer, who’d already had amazing success teaching him to play nicely, and she suggested a group training session so she could have a look at the dynamics and how we were dealing with them. She showed us what we could do to encourage them to get along, what signs to watch out for, and what to avoid (for example, they all get along well now, but we also ensure when they arrive at his home, we take him away from the entry, as it gets busy with three or four dogs and it can trigger him.)
It’s been two years since we adopted Irish, and he’s gone from being a beautifully trained but highly-strung show dog to a still beautifully trained, but playful fellow that gets along well with his doggy cousins and dogs in general. While we always take precautions around other dogs, he’s loving the time and attention he gets from the whole family and will join in happily with social occasions without any problems now.
New family member: Irish the Doberman
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