Oh, Dance... where to even start? She is my best friend. She's the quirkiest, most fun, animated dog I've ever known. She never, ever fails to make me laugh at least once a day. She's my constant shadow, but not clingy, which I love. She can be beligerantly sneaky and can try to push her boundaries a bit... but mostly in a funny way! She's always thinking. Plotting. As sweet as she is, she can be quite the devious little thing, LOL. She just brings me so much joy, no matter what we're doing. Be it hanging out in the house, playing Agility, practicing Rally, etc. She just loves to play and have a good time. Overall, she applies the things I've taught her in life without many reminders, and living with her does not often feel like work. She thinks she should be treated like royalty, and is pretty certain that she's the star of the show. She may be little, but she's got personality plus! Oh, and love all of the noises she makes to communicate. She's so vocally communicative with her people. Her downfall is she's stupid with strangers. Not even fearful really anymore, she just will not give herself a couple of minutes to like somebody. She's learned that when she barks, people get scared and leave her alone. And then in the same moment, she seems like she wanted to maybe meet them. She's a hundred times better than she used to be, with a lot of work put into her, but she's still not a reliably friendly/quiet dog when meeting people. However, the many good things that she is by far outweigh the bad! She's so easy in comparison to other dogs I've owned.
Ripley is just a big doofus really, haha. He's not much of a thinker, and instead just blindly follows along with whatever another dog is doing and therefore can be very reactionary. Sometimes I just grab his cheeks (nicely) and look at him and say "why can't you just think for yourself for once?!", LOL. Life would be so much easier for him and for me if he would think before he acted, and he wouldn't need to feel sorry for doing something stupid after. He does have a brain... I think. He often hears "I'm pretty sure you came with a brain. Why don't you find it and put it to good use?". He's just so easily over stimulated around other dogs (especially if those other dogs are very energetic, nervous or hyper). But one on one, or around dogs he knows, he is a dream. He's pleasing, he tries very hard, he learns pretty quickly and he is truly the sweetest boy ever. A little on the touchy feely side, but Dobermans as a breed are very velcro, and he is not unlike the many others I know in that way. And as long as you know his rules, he is relaxed and not pushy about it. However, if you don't know his rules, he can be a downright jerk about making somebody touch him (at home or at his breeder's -- not so much elsewhere). He worships the ground I walk on, and gazes at me constantly throughout the day. He loves nothing more than to just hang out and be with his people. And I love how I can take him anywhere knowing that I don't have to worry if people reach to pet him without asking. He takes everything in stride, and is very polite and gentle. He's just a sweet, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky guy. He just wants to have fun and be loved. I also love that no matter what when training, he will not shut down. He is sensitive to emotion, but he is not soft and can take a lot more pressure than many other Dobermans I know. Oh, and he has the cutest Dober-smile! Maybe not to everybody, but I think it's adorable, LOL. He may frustrate me at times, but at the same time, I can't imagine life without him. I love him
so much.
And Keira... I don't even know how to describe Keira. She's so hard to describe, as she is very difficult, but at the same time I couldn't love her more. She's a sweetheart, and one of the most soulful looking dogs I've ever known aside from Winston and her dam, but at the same time she can just be very hard to get along with. Despite training and time and effort, she is pushy, beligerant, selfish, difficult to teach because she doesn't care, a little neurotically attached to my mom, etc. She's really easily anxiously exciteable over things like going through doors, going outside, eating, when other people come over, etc. And unless you know how to deal with that, she just turns into a complete idiot. Which creates a lot of work for me, because I seem to be the only one with enough patience to only reward the good, calm behaviour. Which means she's nearly perfect with me, but left with anyone else, she just becomes downright irritating and embarrassing. You can't just live with Keira -- everyday is managing her energy level, to make sure she does not become anxiously exciteable. The latter state is very stressful to live with, for humans and the other dogs. She is not a dog that an inexperienced dog owner could ever live with in a million years. However, at the same time, once you've channeled her energy in the right way, you could never find a more devoted, kinder dog. She is fabulous in so many ways, and if it wasn't for the insane amount of daily work to keep her in a relaxed state of mind, she'd be pretty near perfect. And if everybody was as committed to only rewarding the right energy state, I don't think it would be as much work as it is. Consistancy is key, as we know, but in order for consistancy to happen, everyone needs to try hard. She's one of those dogs that you really can take anywhere without a problem. She's fantastic with other dogs, wonderful with people, supremely gentle with children, etc. Aside from slight pulling on the leash sometimes, I've never had a problem with her out in public. She's always the favored dog of anyone that ever meets all three of mine or comes over to visit. For as demanding as she can sometimes be for attention, she is gentle about it and you can't help but look at that sweet, soulful little face and not melt.