MarylKateS
New member
- Jun 16, 2010
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Roughly two weeks ago, I purchased a 9 week old male Doberman puppy. In spite of researching the breed thoroughly (suited to an active lifestyle, requiring consistent training and socialization, etc) and rigorously studying Cesar Millan's (a.k.a "The Dog Whisperer) methods and techniques for bringing up a puppy and educating a dog, I found myself overwhelmed and realized I was far from capable in terms of bringing a dominant, high-energy puppy up and coping with the 24 hour responsibility bringing up a young puppy entails - as well as finding that I could not imagine myself truly and selflessly dedicating what would most certainly be a minimum of 1 - 2 hours per day on education and hard exercise once the puppy reached adolescence.
I made the decision to return the puppy to the breeders for re-homing ten days or so after he had joined our home, against advice of family and friends who told me to simply stick through the difficult puppy phase. I know there are numerous experienced dog-owners and professional breeders on this forum, so what I would like to ask is: the Doberman was certainly too ambitious to take on as a novice dog owner - would I fare better with a smaller, lower-energy dog (if I do get a dog in the future I would adopt him/her from a rescue or animal shelter) or am I simply unsuited to dogs?
I feel terrible for "giving up" on the puppy, although I know it would be unfair to him if I had kept him; and I know the breeders will find him a much more suitable home with experienced owners willing and able to sacrifice time and energy to bring him up.
Thank you for your advice and responses.
I made the decision to return the puppy to the breeders for re-homing ten days or so after he had joined our home, against advice of family and friends who told me to simply stick through the difficult puppy phase. I know there are numerous experienced dog-owners and professional breeders on this forum, so what I would like to ask is: the Doberman was certainly too ambitious to take on as a novice dog owner - would I fare better with a smaller, lower-energy dog (if I do get a dog in the future I would adopt him/her from a rescue or animal shelter) or am I simply unsuited to dogs?
I feel terrible for "giving up" on the puppy, although I know it would be unfair to him if I had kept him; and I know the breeders will find him a much more suitable home with experienced owners willing and able to sacrifice time and energy to bring him up.
Thank you for your advice and responses.