I selected this dog to write about because I used to have one that lived next to me as a child. I can’t remember the dog’s name completely. It was something like Killer, Demon, Damien, Diablo, or any of those cute and cuddly names that seem to be reserved for Dobermans or Rottweilers. Well, I lived next to this dog for more than six years, passed by its house every day from school, and that dog always barked at me. I mean always barked at me. Never in the six year relationship did that dog ever not bark at me. Never.

It’s not like I never tried to get along with that dog. I was never overly cruel to it. Well, towards the end I shot it with a BB gun, but that didn’t change our relationship. It still didn’t like me and it still barked at me.

I remember once, Hell Dog got out of his yard and came into mine. It didn’t realize I was there and I don’t remember offering it an invitation. We came face to face for the first time as I sat there in the dirt playing with my GI Joes and it stood there looking at me.

Our eyes met.

A quick understanding came to both us at that moment.

I knew that Devil or Daemon would never bite me and I also knew he would never stop barking at me. No matter how old I got, no matter how many treats I tossed him, he would never change his role as protector of his home.

That’s how I would describe the temperament of this breed; a stalwart guardian until the end. Too many confuse this attitude with aggression but it’s not the same thing. This dog was designed to guard and protect not attack and kill; there is a distinction.

Doberman Pinschers came into existence because some guy named Karl Dobermann was an avaricious tax collector and ran a dog pound in 19^th Century Germany. Karl had to travel into the local ghettos to get some of his money and would occasionally get shook down buy the local bandits. So he set out to try to breed a strong loyal dog that would protect him and that’s how we got the Dobie.

While Dobermans and I have had our own issue, one thing we both agree on is the unnecessary cutting of the tail and ears. Look, I don’t agree with much of God’s designs for the world, but I am sure if he wanted his creations to have lesser parts, he would have made them that way. Docking and ear cropping are barbaric dog customs that are illegal in some countries and need to be here, too.

Maybe Satan would have been nicer to me if he had had his tail. Or maybe if I didn’t shoot him with a BB Gun, either.