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Dobermann breeders

The Dobermann is a German breed in the RKC Working group, described by the RKC as the largest of the Pinschers.

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Advertise your Dobermann puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Dobermanns? List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk so buyers searching for Dobermann puppies for sale, and owners looking for a Dobermann stud dog, can find you. Advertise Dobermann puppies for sale, planned litters and stud dogs free of charge alongside a free breeder profile. An optional Premium profile adds a showcase with space for health test certificates, such as BVA/KC hip and eye scheme results and vWD1 and DINGS2 DNA certificates. Add your listing or see pricing.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
  • Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
  • Premium showcase for your services and prices, previous customers, awards, video, gallery and health certificates, with your phone and email shown to buyers.
  • Sponsored articles about your breed or industry, written and published by our team.
  • Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

Create your free breeder profile Advertise a litter Advertise a stud dog

Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Dobermann

The Dobermann is a German breed in the RKC Working group, described by the RKC as the largest of the Pinschers. It takes its name from Louis Dobermann, a tax collector in Apolda who wanted a fierce-looking dog to deter robbers and defend him while he worked. The RKC says he started from Pinscher stock and added Weimaraner, Greyhound, Manchester Terrier, Rottweiler and German Shepherd Dog blood; by the late nineteenth century he had fixed the type, and the German Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1899. Police and military services have used the breed, which the RKC credits with intelligence and trainability, for guarding, tracking and other work. The Dobermann Club, the national club for the breed, was established in 1948, and its stated aims remind members that the Dobermann is a working dog. Browse other working breed breeders, or read about security and protection dogs and working trials.

Size and build. The RKC's breed guide classes the Dobermann as large, while the breed standard describes a medium-sized, muscular and elegant dog, compact, tough and built for speed. The ideal height at the withers is 69 cm for dogs and 65 cm for bitches; no weight is given.

Coat and grooming. The coat is short, smooth, hard, thick and close-lying. The standard allows black, brown, blue or fawn (Isabella), each with sharply defined rust-red markings, and treats white markings of any kind as highly undesirable. The RKC lists cream and white as non-breed-standard colours, and puppies with white ancestry in their pedigree are registered with a note saying so. The RKC suggests grooming once a week, and the breed sheds. The Dobermann Club's health pages warn that so-called 'pink' puppies are white Dobermanns, and note that the dilute blue and fawn colours are prone to colour dilution alopecia.

Exercise. The RKC recommends more than two hours of exercise a day for an adult and suggests a large house and garden, in town or country.

Temperament and suitability. The standard asks for an intelligent, loyal and obedient dog that is bold and alert, and rules out shyness or viciousness. The RKC says the breed's loyal, obedient nature makes it an excellent family dog, and the breed club encourages owners to train and socialise their Dobermanns. Plan for daily training as well as plenty of exercise. The RKC gives a lifespan of over ten years.

Dobermann health tests

The RKC Dobermann breed page lists one good-practice test: a DNA test for von Willebrand disease type 1 (vWD1), an inherited bleeding disorder, which is also the only test in the RKC's Dobermann DNA package. Its best-practice list adds an eye examination at least once before breeding, for persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV); a DNA test for DINGS2; and hip scoring under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme. The RKC describes DINGS as an early-onset neurological disease whose signs, from around three weeks of age, include deafness, circling, a head tilt and poor balance. It describes both DINGS and vWD1 as autosomal recessive. The breed is in Breed Watch Category 1.

The Dobermann Club lists dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a disease of the heart muscle, among the breed's main health issues and describes a Dobermann Breed Council DCM screening programme in which dogs were examined by veterinary cardiologists as part of a research trial. A 2017 article on its PHPV page says puppies can be tested for this congenital eye condition from about 8 to 12 weeks, and argues that money is better spent on annual heart testing than on repeat eye tests. The club's code of ethics encourages testing breeding stock for hip dysplasia, PHPV and vWD.

  • DNA test for von Willebrand disease type 1 (vWD1) (RKC good practice)
  • BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme: eye test at least once before breeding, for PHPV (RKC best practice)
  • DNA test for DINGS2 (RKC best practice)
  • BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice)
  • Heart screening for DCM by a veterinary cardiologist (breed club focus, not an RKC-listed test)
  • Breed Watch: Category 1

Choosing a Dobermann breeder

A responsible Dobermann breeder will show you both parents' vWD1 and DINGS2 DNA results, hip scores and eye results, which you can check on the RKC Health Test Results Finder. Members of the Dobermann Club sign up to its code of ethics: a bitch is not mated before two years of age or more than once in 12 months, has no more than four litters and does not whelp after her seventh birthday; no puppy leaves before eight weeks; and sales are agreed and signed in writing. The code also says member clubs do not condone breeding white Dobermanns or colours outside the standard. Be wary of adverts for 'rare' colours, cropped ears or docked tails. In England and Wales, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes non-medical procedures on sensitive tissue an offence unless regulations permit them, and removing a dog's tail other than for medical treatment is an offence except for certified working dogs no more than five days old. In England, a council licence is needed to breed three or more litters in 12 months and sell puppies, or to breed and advertise dogs as a business. Read our buyer safety guide.

  • Can I see both parents' vWD1 and DINGS2 DNA results?
  • What are the parents' hip scores and eye (PHPV) results?
  • When were the parents last heart screened for DCM, and what did it show?
  • What is the inbreeding coefficient for this mating compared with the breed average?
  • Will I get a written sale agreement, RKC registration papers and vaccination and worming records?

Dobermann questions

What health tests should Dobermann parents have?

The Royal Kennel Club lists a DNA test for von Willebrand disease type 1 (vWD1) as good practice. As best practice it adds an eye test for PHPV at least once before breeding, a DNA test for DINGS2 and hip scoring under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme. The Dobermann Club also highlights dilated cardiomyopathy, so ask about the parents' heart screening.

Is a Dobermann a good family dog?

The RKC says the Dobermann's loyal and obedient nature makes it an excellent family dog, and the breed standard asks for a bold, alert dog, ruling out shyness or viciousness. It needs more than two hours of exercise a day plus consistent training and socialisation, and the RKC suggests a large house and garden.

Are cropped ears and docked tails allowed on Dobermanns in the UK?

In England and Wales, the Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes it an offence to carry out a procedure that interferes with a dog's sensitive tissues or bone structure other than for medical treatment, unless regulations permit it. Removing a dog's tail other than for medical treatment is also an offence, with an exception only for certified working dogs no more than five days old. The Dobermann Club's code of ethics commits members not to create demand for, or supply, illegally docked puppies.

What colours do Dobermanns come in?

The breed standard allows black, brown, blue and fawn (Isabella), each with rust-red markings, and the RKC lists cream and white as non-breed-standard colours. The Dobermann Club says most responsible breeders concentrate on black and brown, warns that the dilute colours are prone to colour dilution alopecia, and does not support breeding white Dobermanns.

More for Dobermann owners and breeders

Official sources