The questions families ask us most.
If you have a question that isn't here we would love to hear from you, reach out any time.
A typical Dobermann is intelligent, loyal, confident, alert, and affectionate toward its family. They are energetic, sensitive, and naturally protective, with a strong desire to work with and be involved with their people.
Dobermans can get along wonderfully with children and other pets when they are properly socialised and raised alongside them. Due to their temperament and energy level, supervision, training, and respectful interaction are important—especially around young children and smaller animals.
Dobermanns are active, athletic dogs that need regular daily exercise as well as mental stimulation. Regular walks, play, training, and activities that encourage them to use both their body and their mind, keep them happy and balanced.
Dobermanns have a short, close-fitting coat and are relatively low-maintenance when it comes to grooming. A weekly brushing is usually sufficient to remove loose hair and keep the coat looking healthy.
Dobermanns are moderate shedders and tend to lose hair throughout the year rather than having a dramatic seasonal coat blowout.
As with any breed, Dobermans have certain health concerns that deserve particular attention. These include heart conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), as well as von Willebrand disease.
Health and longevity are central to our approach. That’s why we place great importance on appropriate health screenings, genetic testing, and carefully selecting our breeding partners. Our goal is to reduce health risks as much as possible through informed breeding decisions and, in the long term, to breed healthy, sound-tempered dogs.
According to the breed standard, the desirable height at the withers is
Males: 68–72 cm. Females: 63–68 cm.
Weight: Males: approx. 40–45 kg. Females: approx. 32–35 kg.
The Dobermann is a medium-sized, athletic breed with a strong, elegant, and balanced build.
Dobermanns are highly intelligent and eager to learn. They respond best to consistent, positive training and enjoy having a job or purpose.
They want to understand what is expected of them and enjoy activities that challenge them both physically and mentally. Their sensitivity and intelligence mean building a strong bond and a trusting relationship with their owner, clear communication and fair and consistent guidance are especially important.
They can be, but they are not a low-maintenance or independent dog.
Anyone considering a Dobermann should be prepared to invest time, care, and dedication in training, socialisation, exercise, and building a close partnership with their dog.
We offer honest, individual guidance to our families to help ensure that both dog and owner are truly a good match.
Dobermanns typically have a lifespan of around 10–12 years.
Longevity is something we take seriously when evaluating breeding decisions. We consider the health and ages of dogs in the wider pedigree, including the longevity demonstrated by ancestors and relatives, alongside available health information.
No breeder can guarantee a particular lifespan, but selecting breeding dogs thoughtfully and considering the health history of their families is an important part of responsible breeding.
Yes. Health testing is an important part of our breeding program.
We believe health testing is an important tool for responsible breeding, while also recognising that no collection of tests can guarantee a completely healthy puppy. Our breeding decisions therefore consider health testing alongside pedigree, family history, temperament, structure, and longevity.
Yes, of course. We love getting to know our future families personally and building a trusting relationship with them before their puppy comes home.
Visits are by appointment. We also provide regular updates throughout the puppy's development so that families can follow along as their puppy grows.
Our puppies are usually black and tan, but brown and tan puppies may be available depending on the parents of a particular litter.
Yes. Our puppies receive their age-appropriate vaccinations and are dewormed according to our breeding and health plan.
Yes. Our puppies are microchipped before they leave us.
Our puppies are raised in our home and are exposed to everyday family life from an early age. They experience normal household sounds, movement, visitors, children, other dogs, cats, handling, and the many sights and sounds that come with living in a home environment.
We follow a holistic approach incorporating Puppy Culture and Badass Breeder early-development work to encourage resilience, curiosity, confidence, and appropriate neurological development. Our aim is not simply to expose puppies to as many things as possible, but to provide age-appropriate experiences in a thoughtful and positive way. By the time they leave us, our puppies have already had a foundation of handling and socialisation that can make the transition into their new home smoother.
Socialisation does not end when a puppy leaves us. The experiences provided during the first months in their new home are equally important. We provide lifelong support to help our families navigate training, socialisation, feeding, development, and the many questions that naturally arise as their puppy grows.
Our puppies are raised in our home as part of our family environment.
Our puppies generally leave for their new homes between 8 and 9 weeks of age.
Yes. vom Illerdamm is registered with the Dobermann-Verein e.V., the VDH (Verband für das Deutsche Hundewesen), and the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale).
Responsible breeding means more than simply meeting formal requirements. Above all, it means taking a long-term responsibility for the health, temperament, and development of our dogs.
Our kennel was registered in 1988.
With more than three decades of breeding history, we have had the opportunity to learn from generations of Dobermanns and to develop a long-term perspective on health, temperament, structure, working ability, and longevity.
Breeding is a continuous learning process. Every generation provides information that can help us make better decisions for the generations that follow.
Yes. The contract sets out the terms of the sale and the responsibilities of both the breeder and the buyer. Our intention is to establish a clear and transparent relationship with every puppy family from the beginning.
Our responsibility to our puppies does not end when they leave our home.
If a buyer can no longer keep a puppy or adult dog that came from us, we ask that they contact us. We will work with the family to help find an appropriate solution, which may include helping to rehome the dog or reassuming ownership where appropriate.
We never want one of our dogs to be placed in an unsuitable situation because an owner feels they have nowhere to turn. We would always rather be contacted early so that we can help.
Yes, we enjoy meeting prospective puppy families and building a relationship before the puppies go to their new homes. Visits are arranged by appointment.
Visits are arranged by appointment. For the health and wellbeing of the litter, however, we do not allow general visits to the puppies until they are approximately 5 weeks old. Young puppies are particularly vulnerable to infection, so limiting visitors during their earliest weeks is an important precaution
Once the puppies are born and we know that we can offer a suitable puppy to you, we require a 50% (of the purchase price) deposit.
The deposit reserves the puppy for the buyer and means that we will hold that puppy rather than offer it to another family. The deposit is credited toward the final purchase price when the puppy is collected.
A refund or transfer of the deposit to a future litter is available only if we are unable, for whatever reason, to provide a puppy to the buyer.
Current puppy pricing is shared with you when you contact us.
Each puppy leaves us with a comprehensive package that includes:
We do not require any additional payment beyond the agreed deposit and the remaining balance of the puppy's purchase price.
However, bringing a Dobermann puppy home naturally involves ongoing ownership costs. These can include:
Prospective owners should consider the long-term financial commitment of owning a Dobermann, not simply the initial purchase price.
We prefer our families to collect their puppy in person whenever possible. This gives us the opportunity to go through the puppy's information and care requirements, and make the handover as personal as possible.
If personal collection is not possible, we can help explore suitable transport arrangements. The specific options will depend on the destination, timing, and applicable travel requirements.
International puppy transport will involve additional documentation, veterinary requirements, travel arrangements and the puppy will, in most cases will have to stay with us until at least 16 weeks of age.
Please note that transport options will always incur more costs.
We prefer to call it an “interested people list” rather than a traditional waiting list.
The reason is simple: being the first person to express interest does not automatically mean being the first person to receive a puppy. Our priority is finding the right match between each puppy and its future family.
The number of people interested in a litter changes continually as people join the list, while others find another breeder, decide that the timing is no longer right, or any number of other reasons.
We do not promise a fixed position nor can we guarantee a timeframe, mother nature will decide if the mother gets pregnant, how many puppies there are and when they’re born.
Absolutely.
Our responsibility doesn’t end when a puppy goes to its new home. We consider the relationship with our puppy families to be lifelong. Taking a puppy home is only the beginning, we know that new questions naturally arise as your Dobermann grows.
We’re available to provide guidance and support with areas such as feeding, training, socialisation, development, behaviour, general care, and the transition into your new home. Our goal is to help our puppies and their families succeed together for many years.
Our puppies are fed a BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) diet four times per day, at approximately: 07h00, 12h00, 17h00 and 22h00.
We recommend maintaining the puppy's established diet and feeding schedule for at least the first few days after arriving home. A major change in environment combined with an immediate change in diet can be unnecessarily stressful for a young puppy.
Dobermanns thrive on consistent training, daily physical exercise, and mental stimulation. Early socialisation and positive, structured training are especially important, as is giving them plenty of time and companionship with their family. Their short coat is easy to maintain, but regular nail, dental, and general health care should be done regularly. We also recommend regular handling exercises to support their physical and emotional development — while also strengthening your bond.
Our goal isn’t just to send you home with a well-socialised puppy, but to give you the best possible start to a long, healthy, and trusting life together