FOXFIRE DOBERMANS
Michelle Santana
Interview with Breeder
Meet the Breed: The Doberman Pinscher
BIS Magazine USA Doberman Issue 2020
Q: Thanks for doing this interview with Best in Show Magazine. Please tell us, how did you get involved in dogs? How did you start with Dobermans?
A: Actually, I didn’t find Dobermans. They found me through my mother! As a child of about five or six years of age, my mom had a male Doberman named Carlo that she aspired to show. Judging by his photos that I now have, I do not think that aspiration ever came to fruition. He also did not have a great temperament with strangers. I do remember my mom dragging my older brother and me to fun matches and maybe a specialty show. These shows were truly boring for kids!
Every year, it was a family tradition to attend the Golden Gate Kennel Club Bench show at the famed Cow Palace Arena. I would come home to play dog show with my little poodle and my dad’s German Shepherd. Eventually, my mom purchased an adult female Doberman off the bench named Fancy. She was already had points and a success story was envisioned. However, she promptly bit one of our neighbors who excitedly came running towards my mom while waving his arms to meet our new dog. While it was a warranted reaction, given the situation, my mom returned Fancy to her breeder. It was then that my mom took a long hiatus from her dream to own and show Dobermans.
As a small child, I had the whole collection of books by Albert Payson Terhune that included Lad of Sunnybank. I wanted to be a Collie breeder! My parents promised me a Collie when I turned twelve. I had a small, elderly poodle and the plan was that when she passed away, I could get a Collie and start going to dog shows. When I was fourteen, my parents acquiesced and consented (for me) to get my Collie. I set out for a sable Collie, just like Lad. I came home with a blue merle Collie already named Todd. Since my mother was chauffeuring me around to fun matches and training classes with Todd, she decided to pursue owning a Doberman again. We turned to the yellow pages of San Francisco. This was as common as looking for a dog in the classified ads in the newspaper back in the day.
In 1979, we came home with our foundation bitch! I commandeered her to show in conformation once my Collie fizzled. I put her first two points on her from the 9-12 months class when I was sixteen years old. When she aged into the 12-18 months class, much to my dismay, I was ‘fired’ as her handler. Her breeder convinced my mom (that the bitch) was ready to go (with a professional handler). My mom hired Mr. Eugene Haupt, who quickly finished her with a Best of Breed and Group One from the classes under Langdon Skarda. Our first litter was born from her in 1982. Every Foxfire Doberman today can be traced back to her!
Q: Which Doberman has been your heart dog? Please share a short story about them.
A: That is such a hard question!! When you have been breeding for 40 some odd years there are so many that come across your path that are game changers. From my first Foxfire Special, Dreamer, to my first Best in Show winner, Demon. If I had to take a stab at naming the defining Doberman of my life, and my pursuit of making an indelible mark on the Doberman breed, I would have to name Jade. Multiple BIS/BISS/DPCA AOM Top Twenty Winner and the #1 Doberman of 2005, CH Foxfire’s All That Jazz.
Jade was the epitome of what I had worked so hard to produce. If I could just replicate her hundred times over, I would be supremely satisfied! She was my companion and slept on my bed for twelve and half years, which is a rare age for a Doberman. Jade and I traveled the country together, and ultimately, she was so much more than a winning show dog because she proved herself in the whelping box ten-fold. She was the American Kennel Club’s top producing Doberman dam in 2008 and 2009. She produced fourteen champions.
Jade’s most noted son, Jet, CH Foxfire All Star, is one of the top producers of Dobermans. In 2009 and 2012, Jet was the AKC’s top Doberman sire and Working Group sire, with nearly one hundred champions! We are using his frozen semen now to reach that apex. Jet is the sire of the famed Fifi, GCH Protocol’s Veni Vidi Vici CA DN MX MXB MXJ MXJB ROM. Fifi is a Doberman Pinscher Club of America (DPCA) top twenty winner and four-time DPCA National Specialty winner. Jet was also the sire of the only BIS/DPCA TT Qualifier/SCH I Doberman in the history of the breed, Ava, GCH Catawba’s Take No Prisoners CD ROM SCH I. Another Jade son, Jullyen, CH Foxfire Alltimate, also sired a National Specialty winner, Julius, GCH Foxfire’s Alltimate Wanna Be that was the #2 Doberman All Breed in 2019.
Q: Which attributes are your priorities when breeding the Doberman?
A: Because the Doberman is a ‘what you see is what you get’ breed, and no one part is more important than the whole, like head or coat, I really try to breed for overall type. They are a package to me. However, one must never throw the baby out with the bath water, so slight nuances are to be accepted. One area that I do place great emphasis on is in front assembly angles. My early mentor was a stickler for striving for correct angles. That has stuck with me.
Q: What criteria do you use when evaluating puppies regarding coat color? Do you prefer one?
A: My desire is always black! Which is ironic considering in that we set out for a black foundation bitch but came home with a red! Mother Nature always has different plans for me as she delivers outstanding reds into my life! Quality over color is something I often recite to myself!
Q: How many dogs do you keep in your kennel? How often do you use dogs for reproduction from the private families who own your puppies?
A: I try to only keep a minimal amount dogs at any one time. This fluctuates during show season and with litters and puppies (but) I am growing out. Over the years I have cultivated what I call a village of wonderful folks that help me keep dogs for showing and breeding. It is a common joke around my Foxfire Village that I ask my nearest and dearest puppy folks to babysit. It is a win-win for everyone! They get a wonderful companion, get to follow and participate in the show scene, and then watch their dog’s progeny reach the heights of success. ‘Once you have one potato chip, how can you resist another’ is our mantra!
Usually co-owned bitches are placed with the understanding that I may take them back to show them and possibly breed them one or two times. It really depends on their pedigree and the importance of that pedigree to carry Foxfire forward. How good a mother are they? How well do they produce? Do they have siblings that excel them? There are many factors and no one size fits all, but there is a clear understanding in my mind. It is kind of a motto amongst my breeder peer group that when you let them leave, anything can transpire.
Q: How often do you use a dog from other breeders at stud or by acquisition? Are these generally dogs in the USA or do you also go abroad?
A: I would say I ebb and flow in the use of dogs from other breeders. It is kind of a go out for one-year/generation and then come back in. If I find a niche, I will breed several bitches to that stud dog or encourage my village of bitch owners to use them too.
I recently acquired a puppy back, though it is two years old now, from a litter sired by one of my stud dogs. I had wanted to go into a Canadian bloodline that we had cross bred many years previous. It was near impossible to go to the Canadian line itself because of the hassle of shipping semen through customs. They recommended one of their US based, co-owned bitches be breed to my stud dog that lived on the East Coast. Well, I jumped at the chance to acquire a male from that litter. His first two litters here are quite exciting!
In Dobermans, there is not quite the European abroad use of stud dogs because they are so different from American Dobermans. The one instance I did go abroad to Argentina was to breed Jade to Jet’s sire, CH Inaqui De Black Shadow. It was fortuitous that Jade was in season during the Eukanuba, now Royal Canin National Championships in 2005. I was able to breed to him. I had chosen to go South America because of their good size, excellent head type, eye shape and color. My desire was to keep all the good qualities of Jade, but maybe increase her size/bone and to keep her lovely head and ingrain the deep black eye and almond shape.
Q: In the show ring, which achievements are you most proud of?
A: There are three Awards for Outstanding Breeder that I am most proud of as accomplishments. The first came in 2010 when the American Kennel Club honored me with the Working Group Breeder of the Year Award at the extravaganza that took place in Long Beach, California.
The second achievement was in 2012, when the Dogs In Review Winkie Award for Outstanding Breeder was bestowed upon me by my peers.
My third was a 2015 accomplishment award from The Doberman Pinscher Club of America. It is called the APEX Legacy Award. Currently, I am the only Breeder at the Gold Level. This award is unique because you must qualify by producing outstanding dogs with a certain number of champions. You must also meet the criteria set forth for producing Performance Dogs, Register of Merit dogs (those attaining a champion/ upper level performance degree and pass the DPCA Temperament Test), and have a certain number of dogs on the DPCA Longevity Program list. Lastly, you must also serve the DPCA, in some capacity, as a volunteer. The insignia on the award reads, ‘for making a lasting , positive impression on the breed, improving public awareness and perception of the breed, and through service to the breed community, The Doberman Pinscher Club of America hereby grants Michelle Santana of Foxfire Dobermans the APEX award GOLD level as outstanding Breeder’.
Q: Which 3 dogs showed in recent years, not from your kennel, do you most admire?
A: I’m not sure if this qualifies as not from my kennel since she is sired by my Jet, but my favorite Doberman of All Time is GCH Protocol’s Veni Vidi Vici, better known to all the world as “Fifi”. She was outstanding in conformation, temperament and spirit. I Love the Fifinator!
My favorite male is the late, great Monty, BIS CH Eastwick’s Meadow Monster. He contributed greatly to the breed and Foxfire Dobermans. Notably, I judged his dam as my DPCA Grand Prize Futurity winner in 1997.
Third, I just stand and watch in awe Fifi’s daughter, Sparkle, GCH Protocol’s I Came I Saw I Sparkled.
Q: What do you think are the strong points and weak points in the breed today?
A: I think the Doberman is in great shape! There are many breeders doing their best to produce Quality Dobermans! Hence, I see there are many quality specimens being shown.
Q: Do you think judges generally have a well understanding of your breed?
A: For the most part. The DPCA has an outstanding Judges Education Committee (JEC) that distributes wonderful educational materials including a video called, How to Judge the Doberman. This can be found on the DPCA website (www.DPCA.org). Periodically, they publish and distribute bookmarks to judges containing key points to judge the Doberman. Also, current breeders that are members of the DPCA can assist by notifying the JEC when we see novice judges not getting (the breed standard). The JEC will even issue letters to judges when a DPCA mentor reports to the JEC that a judge, perhaps, needs a bit more mentorship.
I would say that one of my pet peeves is that one thing that escapes many judges is that the Doberman is an angled breed. The breed standard reads, ‘shoulder blade sloping forward and downward at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Meets the upper arm at an angle of 90 degrees. Length of shoulder blade and upper arm are equal.’ The shoulder and forearm should not be straight as a stick. ‘The appearance is that of a dog of medium size, with a body that is square. Compactly built, muscular and powerfully built’. Yet, the specimen should fit in a box as to meet the description in the standard. I often witness, in a judges effort to emphasize finding a dog that ‘fits in a box’, a body that is square, they will forego striving to appreciate the angles desired in my breed and award the shortest backed specimen in the ring. The dog awarded could actually (be) under-square, and quite straight in the angles desired.
Q: Which judges would you consider ‘specialists’, meaning that their understanding of the breed is deep enough, that their opinion should represent a point of reference to breeders?
A: That is also a hard question to answer. Obviously, breeder judges should fulfill that role. However, obtaining an AKC permit to judge does not always require you to have an eye for a superior specimen. A breeder judge can have bred and exhibited mediocre specimens of their breeding program, even attaining a modicum of success, and still go on to be a great judge. Conversely, a breeder judge could have wide acclaim as a judge just not be able to walk in a ring and apply their expertise and knowledge. Personally, I would say that is the same even for all breed judges that walk into a ring. Some can apply their eye across the threshold of other breeds, and others can just never see a quality dog standing before them!
Q: Which breed would you have if you did not have Dobermans?
A: Well, I’ve already had some! Unbeknownst to many, my significant other, David Miller, was a breeder of German Shorthaired Pointers when we got together over twenty years ago. Under the banner of Placer Country, he has 175 Champions. While we do not breed German Short Haired Pointers anymore, I am the co- breeder of probably a dozen.
Twelve years ago, exasperated by the futility in breeding Dobermans due to their inherent health issues, I wandered around a dog show to pick my next breed. I chose the Papillon! It only took having to groom the bitch to deter me from wanting to show that breed! We now reside with our stubborn foundation bitch “Ch Pebbles Devils” and her son “Puff Daddy”. Ironically, they are the matriarch and patriarch for raising the Doberman puppies at Foxfire with our daily walks to our creek.
Q: Finally, please share why you would encourage people to get a Doberman?
A: I might be skewered for this response, but I initially discourage folks from owning a Doberman unless they fully understand the scope of the Breed!
You are usually on what I term as 24/7 suicide watch. As everything is fair game to be ingested by a Doberman. They are notoriously destructive and needy. Our prospective homes are screened by: Are you retired? Do you work from home? Can you go home at lunch? Can you employ a Doggy Day Care? A Doberman cannot sit at home by themselves, for an eight hour a day, forty-hour work week and turn out ok.
Next, you will want a Velcro dog. They follow you everywhere! You will no longer even be able to go into the bathroom or take a shower by yourself.
Sadly, our Breed is plagued by some major Health issues. Most notably, a couple of forms of heart disease so it is not a breed for the faint of heart. Researchers estimate fifty to sixty percent of all Dobermans, regardless of pedigree, will succumb to some form of heart disease. At what age (will they succumb) is the more realistic question. Their heart health upkeep includes annual cardiac screening via echocardiogram and halter monitoring which can be cumbersome and expensive. On a positive note, the treatments for heart ailments has dramatically come a long way! With early detection and medication, dogs can now thrive for many years!
The positives of the Doberman include their selfless devotion to their owners. Dobermans have an innate alert, watchful, determined nature. Coupled with a unique versatility of unmatched intelligence, and a generally biddable attitude to please, they can do virtually any kind of work! In police (work) and the military, they were once the (United States) Marine ‘Devil Dogs’ (first used in World War II) and saved many soldiers in war time. Yet, they can be gentle, with great patience, and do wonderful therapy and service work or children’s reading programs. They excel at obedience, agility, tracking, dock diving, and virtually any dog sport you can imagine. They are well suited as a loyal, family companion. The Doberman is a breed that can do anything!
