29A – Venture Concept No. 2

Our opportunity exists among fanciers of the Doberman Pinscher. The popularity of breeds varies from year to year-last year, the Doberman was the 17th most popular breed out of 192 recognized by the AKC. While not the most popular, families that own Dobermans represent a surprisingly large portion of the American public that owns a purebred dog. For many people that own or have owned a Doberman, no other breed will do. Dobermans are the only breed that was created solely for the purpose of personal protection. This appeals to many people who are either buying their first dog or are at a point of their life where security is important. A vast majority of our customers are newlyweds buying their first home or just starting their family, families where the husband travels away from home for work, or retirees that want to feel safe. For the foreseeable future we will always have the need for security. For many Americans, when we think of home security we may think of an alarm system or firearm. Both, however, come with significant drawbacks:
Alarm systems will alert police if your home is burglarized but will do little to protect you if you are outside of your home or during the time it takes police to respond. In 2018 the average police response time in the U.S. was 50 minutes. While alarm systems act as an effective deterrent in most cases, in the event you are subjected to an attack by a determined attacker 50 minutes is more than enough time for them to harm you or a loved one.
Firearm ownership historically has been as American as apple pie but firearms are not without their drawbacks. Public sentiment is shifting. While firearm ownership remains popular in rural areas, we have seen declines of ownership in urban areas. Many people simply do not want a firearm in their house. In the hands of an untrained homeowner they can be ineffective and in the hands of a child the results can be catastrophic.
A safe and effective solution many people turn to is man’s best friend. Most dogs of any breed will bark if they hear an intruder or sense a threat but many are little deterrence to a determined attacker meaning you or your loved ones harm. While many large breeds may effectively deter a would be assailant, it is often left to a case by case basis whether or how that particular dog will intervene. In the instance that a “bad guy” is not deterred, many large dogs will be just as afraid as you are. Of the few breeds that possess the instinctive courage required in such a situation, many come with drawbacks of their own. Dogs bred to hunt large game may have excessive prey drive and thus may pose a risk to other pets or children. Others might lack excessive prey drive but might also lack agility or even worse trainability. Among dogs that will bite, over 90% do so as a fear response. This not only creates a liability during non-emergency situations, in emergency situations it results in non-full bite and a failure to effectively hold an attacker at bay. Dobermans are unique in that they were bred to be instinctively protective and fearless. This true courage gives the dog the confidence necessary to be stable enough to be trusted with children while ensuring that when it is time to intervene physically, he/she will do so deliberately and with power. All working line Dobermans, whether male or female and regardless of individual temperament, will intervene physically to protect their family.
There are many breeders of Dobermans across the country. Many of them however are breeding American show lines. These dogs for the last 50 years have been bred strictly for their appearance at the expense of the utility for which the breed was originally created. These dogs look beautiful but lack their working aptitude which limits their effectiveness as family guardians. Even worse, show dogs look the most poised and are awarded the most points when they are erect and at attention. This has incentivized breeders to breed dogs that are high strung and easily alerted. This in turn undermines the stability of the dog. The increased anxiety contributes to a host of issues from chewing, to incessant barking, and fear biting. Breeding for appearance has also resulted in small gene pools and prevalence of the bleeding disorder vWD, the neurological disorder DM, and vestibular deafness DVOB dings.
By breeding European working lines, breeders address the behavioral issues but at the cost of introducing the lethal cardiac disorders DCM1 which causes congestive heart failure and DCM2 which cause sudden cardiac arrest. Within European working lines, genes pools are also limited leading to prevalence of other hereditary chromosome mutations.
Across dogs of all breeds, for every 10% increase of inbreeding coefficient researchers have observed a 13% reduction in size and an immeasurable but significant increase in genetic disorder.
We have selectively bred the best American line in the Southeast United States to the best European lines from Eastern Europe and Russia. At every generation, we DNA tested all parents and every puppy over the course of 6 years to produce a hybrid of the two lines that possesses the appearance, temperament, and stability of European working lines-but more importantly dogs that are free of every genetic disorder known to affect canines with inbreeding coefficients lower than over 75% of all purebred dogs.
Our puppies range from $1500-$3500 depending on sex, parentage, and registration type. Our customers do business with us with confidence that they are getting the most healthy family guardian that money can buy.
The feedback we received in the "What's Next" assignment was unanimous in that we should focus on training to expand our business. Almost everyone that has a big and potentially dangerous dog might enjoy the peace of mind of having it trained. The dogs we breed are particularly trainable, so it just makes sense. I've taken steps to incorporate basic and advanced obedience and protection training to our services available to customers. We contacted Jim Edwards of K9 Patrol Dogs who has been training high level canines since 1978 and made arrangements to take his course this summer.
This development may ultimately result in a shift where we sell only trained dogs.