Our goal was to breed Dobermans with an emphasis on therapy work especially with children who have emotional and physical limitations. To validate achievement of our goal and set the foundation for a longitudinal study of genetic traits, we keep three dogs from the litter -- Tazzmans Nite Hawk, Angel Fire and Valle Bleu. We had planned to keep only two but "Bleu" was returned to us because the new owner had breast cancer and could not handle the treatment and a new puppy at the same time. The remaining four were sold to companion homes and to owners that get together each week on Saturday for puppy obedience training, grooming, socialization and just general discussion of dogs and things, etc. We offer this training as a free service to the new owners because we believe that bonding between them and the pups is critical to establishing a long-term relationship and besides we get to follow the litter and make new friends. It certainly is a "win-win" for all involved.

With the exception of "Lexi' who went to New York at 8 weeks to support her Mom while they visited and cared for a very sick Grandma, we raised this litter in our house till they were all 12 weeks old. The new owners came each week to play with the entire litter and learn about Dobermans, conformation and these pups. We were blessed with a unique group of owners who we told up front that we would not make a decision on which dogs we were going to keep until 8 weeks of age. In addition, we attempted to help them pick a puppy based on their and the pups personalities, their life style, their planned use i.e. agility, couch potato, availability of time to train a Doberman, etc.

All of them agreed to these conditions and they reserved their pick order by signing a contract to purchase the dog. The first to sign received the first pick after our choices. This worked out well and it eliminated impulse decisions and they came to understand that each dog was a quality animal from superb backgrounds. The new owners understand that their dog is perfect for them and is in fact their pick of the litter. Two of these owners had waited over a year for a "Taz" puppy.

In raising this litter, we used a couple of techniques that any owner or breeder may want to learn or emulate.

• For the first 3 weeks, we used the first two subordination exercises (elevation & inversion) from SuperPuppy by Peter J. Vollmer. We did this twice a day for three weeks. We also gave this book to each of the new puppy owners to read while they were waiting to select their dog. From three weeks on, we continued all the subordination exercises as prescribed in the book.
  
• After three weeks, we used Linda Tellington Jones's Ttouch methods on them twice a day for about 5 minutes. We also play classical and other types of calming music throughout the day for them.
  
• Starting at about 7 to 8 weeks of age, we started operant conditioning through clicker training. By nine weeks of age, they could perform reasonable sits, downs and stays and fetch a toy, etc.

In addition, we did other things that may have impacted their maturation or in the future make a difference in the quality of their lives.

• From the time they were three weeks old, we had visitors playing and holding them in the whelping box and we made sure that this group included kids of all ages.
  
• We had trained the litter that human flesh was never to come into contact with their mouths and that any nipping of humans was totally inappropriate behavior. Throughout their teething, they have not attempted to bite or nibble on hands or feet.
  
• We raised them on Solid Gold Puppy food and supplemented Mom's feedings with rice cereal mixed with goat's milk.
  
• We microchipped all the puppies when they were getting their ears done. The chips were permanently registered to us and the new owners are able to add their names latter if they desired it. Hopefully, this one act allows us to be able to help or rescue any of this litter if they needed it in the future.

Well so far so good but we now needed to continue socialization of the pups away from their home. At 9 and 12 weeks of age, they visited Pat's Junior High School class for the whole day and we also had outings to parks with the entire litter. Just picture all those pups enjoying a romp in the grass. While at the park these pups would play with a group of young adults on probation. Their supervisor told us that these kids always made sure their work detail was done and that their behavior was outstanding so they could have "lunch" with the pups. Our other therapy dogs are rotated into and out of this school while performing various duties and functions so it was no huge surprise to the children when the pups came to school. In those two days, they were exposed to and handled by about 300 or so different kids. We believed by 12 weeks that we had laid a solid foundation for future training and had socialized the pups as best we could.

However, we still needed a test to validate that our program had worked and this is where Superstition Mental Health's Mountain Heights Academy came into the picture. Every year for the last 4 years we had taken our dogs - Taz and Sara to work in their summer program. So we approached Mr. Richard Arbogast, the Director, Children's Intensive Services at Superstition Mountain Mental Health Center and asked if he would consider using our puppies instead of our certified trained and experienced therapy dogs to work in the formal summer school program. He agreed to pilot the program with the pups and coordinated the development of the learning outcomes for the five-week program. From that we built a program of instruction and lesson plans to achieve the following:

As a result of learning to train, socialize and work with a puppy, the students will:

1. Respect other species.
2. Understand the need for patience and consistency in everyday life.
3. Be able to communicate their needs without anger or physical force.
4. Be flexible in their approach to situations and people.
5. Understand and apply non-verbal communication and feedback.
6. Understand the difference between discipline and punishment.
7. Apply problem solving and brainstorming.
8. Work in teams as well as take directions and constructive feed back.
9. Understand the need for basic hygiene and grooming of dogs.

After the first week, the students had to earn the privilege to participate in the program. It was amazing to observe the motivational value of this program in controlling behavior in children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other emotional problems. In the 5 weeks that the program ran, we achieved 100 per cent appropriate behavior from the children. The program really fostered self-control in the children because they wanted to participate with the pups.

During the first three weeks, we brought a different puppy to class each time. We did two half hour and a one hour session every Tuesday. We did this because of the attention span of the children and to ensure that the children and puppies were exposed to different personalities, sexes, learning abilities, teaching styles, etc. During the first week, we showed them a video on the Doberman, discussed dog and human anatomy and had them practice Ttouch on themselves and the pups. During week two, we introduced clicker training and showed them how to do operant conditioning. They practiced teaching sits and downs using clicker training. We never told the children that the dogs were pre-trained. It was amazing to see their enjoyment and sense of accomplishment when the pups responded positively to their training. In the third week, we worked on some more Ttouch and introduced "downs and stays". In week four, we did some skill polishing with the pups and children and introduced the "come" command. In the last week, we brought all the dogs to the three different sessions and let the children pick the dog they liked the best to start off with. We rotated the dogs. During each rotation, they did sits, downs, stays and Ttouch that calmed the children and pups. The most rewarding part of the class was graduation day. We took photos of each child with their favorite pup and then took them to one-hour photo so they could have them back the same day. For many of these children, you would have thought we had given them gold. Maybe those pictures represented something more precious to them - a sense of accomplishment, unconditional love from all of us or perhaps the thought that we all cared about them and wanted the best for them.

When we left on the last day, we could honestly say it was a "win-win". We had raised exceptional pups, the pilot program had achieved its goals and exceeded expectations and more importantly the staff and children thought the world of the program and Dobermans.

None of this could have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the following:

• L. Michelle Lewis (LeMils) and Valerie Varnauskas (Brass City) and Barbara Lee (Acoma) for breeding such stable and magnificent animals.
  
• Pat Policastro's efforts and long hours caring for this litter and her tireless efforts on behalf of Dobermans and all creatures - human and animal.
  
• Richard Arbogast and his staff at Mountain Heights Academy for their willingness to experiment and take a chance.
  
• Dr. Cathy Turner, DVM for all her advice and friendship.
  
• Taylor Junior High and the Mesa Public School System for their active support.
  
• The city of Apache Junction's Parks and Recreation and Central Arizona College for their support and patience.
  
• All others involved with this effort for their trust and for believing in Dobermans and the value of therapy dogs.

If you have any questions on this program, Delta Society or therapy dogs just email us at Tazman_Dobe@msn.com or call (480) 982-6080.