Benchmark Dobermanns

Controversial topic time.

Not every dog should stay with its original owner.
You heard that right. Some dogs are much better off in different hands than the ones that originally brought them home as a small puppy.

Some people are much better off letting a dog go to someone more qualified or prepared for it.

No one brings home a puppy expecting it NOT to work out. People get that puppy because they wanted it and fully expected to have that dog forever, and in the case of well bred purebreds, they likely applied for it, went through a screening process, and paid a fair bit of money for it.

In some cases, the puppy doesn’t end up being a good fit, despite the owners best efforts, despite doing everything right to provide the Puppy with every possible advantage, providing socialization, training, and following the breeders advice. However these cases, considered no fault returns, are unfortunately not the norm.

In less ideal cases, the buyer breaches their contract or other agreement with the breeder, leading to a loss of trust and faith in the stewardship of that dog, and necessitating its return.

Far too often, a buyer brings home a working bred puppy with unfair expectations, or an incomplete view of the needs of that Puppy. They expect the puppy to come home behaving a specific way, or with a specific amount of training already “installed”.
They expect the Puppy to pick up new skills and behaviors immediately:
-To housebreak with little effort.
-To be fearless working dogs from the moment they walk in the front door.

They aren’t prepared for the amount of time and commute and expense it takes to bring up a working puppy. They are quick to give up, and the Puppy ends up relegated to the back burner, an afterthought. It’s rarely in the dogs best interests for it to remain in that same household for its entire life, unfulfilled, where it’s mental and physical needs aren’t being met.

It takes a very self aware and selfless individual to admit that they aren’t a good fit for a puppy, and to return it to their breeder to be placed more appropriately. Truly, it is the best case scenario when a buyer can come to that conclusion before too much time has passed, and too much baggage has been accumulated. Puppies and young dogs are remarkably resilient and typically adapt to new surroundings easily and with little stress. A dog returned before anything has really gone awry, or as soon as things begin to go awry, is the very best possible scenario, and most breeders are delighted to welcome their puppy back home, with no hard feelings toward the previous owner.

-Sometimes a puppy ends up too high (or low) drive for the buyers needs and experience level.
-Sometimes the buyers personal situation changes and they are no longer able to fulfill the promises they made in their application and/or contract.

There are a wide variety of reasons a puppy may be best served by returning to the breeder, and a good buyer can recognize that and fulfill that obligation to the puppy.

The unfortunate and rarely talked about truth is, sometimes the buyer is too concerned with the money they spent, the status of having a working dog or a dog from a specific breeder, or their own ego and need for control to make the right choice to return the dog and depending on the situation, either leads to the breeder repossessing the dog (as we have had to do on a few occasions) or the dog living out its days low on the owner’s priority list, spending much of its time in a crate, blamed for behavior issues it develops and never growing to be the dog that genetics and purposeful careful breeding intended.

As a breeder of working dogs, we have always had far more respect for the buyer who reaches out to admit that they and the puppy weren’t a good fit, or their circumstances have changed and they can no longer provide what they promised to provide for the puppy’s physical, mental, and genetic needs, and returns them willingly; than we have for the buyer that we have to watch in dismay as our puppy is mentally and/or physically damaged, and we have to fight for their return. We have no problem with dogs being returned. We have problems with fighting for dogs to be returned after they have been significantly damaged and have loads of baggage, and need months and months of work to get them back to where they should have been. And most ethical breeders feel the same way.

When your dog is your whole personality 🤣
There are worse addictions!

Phantom (Berlino x Shiva) owned and loved by Destiny B.

We’re so happy with our sweet Poppy for earning her BH this weekend at the OG Buckeye IGP trial!

Poppy has been with our dear friend Sydney for a couple months and we are so grateful for Sydney expertly piloting Poppy to this achievement ❤️

Here’s the reality a lot of people don’t want to hear:

I do not owe you a puppy.
Read that again.

I. Do. Not. Owe. You. A. Puppy.

I reject people all the time, and I am completely unapologetic about it.

You are not entitled to one of my dogs because you want one.
I don’t care how long you’ve wanted one.
I don’t care how much money you have.
I don’t care how excited you are.
I don’t care how qualified you think you are.
And I don’t care if being told no hurts your feelings.

My dogs’ welfare comes before your feelings. Every single time.

These are extremely high-drive working dogs.

They are not pets you buy on impulse because they look impressive online. They require structure, consistency, training, boundaries, and an actual understanding of what you’re taking on. They are not dogs you buy, work for a few months and then shove to the back burner because you’re too busy, or you don’t want to make the commute to a club, or any other excuses not to fulfill your working dog.

I reject people who underestimate the breed.
I reject people who think love is enough.
I reject people who want the image of a working dog but not the reality.
I reject people who get defensive when asked basic questions.
I reject people who aren’t prepared to manage a working dog.
I reject people who expect a puppy to come preprogrammed with adult working skills.
I reject people who want a nasty aggressive “real dog”.
I reject people who think money should override judgment.
I reject people who think wanting a dog equals being qualified for one.
And yes—I reject people based on household environment.

If your home is chaos, if your kids are screaming nonstop, have no boundaries, and adults are doing nothing to correct it, I’m not placing a high-drive working dog into that environment. Not because I dislike kids. Because I care about the dog.

A dog is not a toy. It is not something to be grabbed, chased, climbed on, screamed at, and expected to tolerate constant disorder because adults refuse to provide structure.

If you already have multiple dogs living in kennels or crates and expect a puppy to be thrown into your kennel or crate room and aren’t prepared to give that puppy the attention, training and dedicated work it requires, I’m not placing a dog with you.

And while we’re at it if you look at my dogs and think you’re going to recreate that overnight with an 8-week-old puppy, you are not the buyer for this breed.

No, the puppy does not come with basic obedience.
No, the puppy is not house-trained.
No, the puppy is not a finished dog.
It is an 8-week-old puppy.

You are buying potential. You are buying genetics. You are buying years of work ahead of you.

If you want instant results, this is not for you.
If you want a shortcut, this is not for you.
If you are already asking what the puppy “comes with” in terms of training, you’ve already misunderstood what you’re getting into.
I am not running a puppy store.
I am not here to make people feel good.
I am not here to hand out dogs to whoever wants one badly enough.

I am here to protect the dogs I bring into this world.
So yes, I reject a lot of people.
And no, I don’t feel bad about it.

Not even a little.
I would rather hurt your feelings today than ruin a dog’s life tomorrow.

I would rather be called rude, gatekeeping, arrogant, or difficult than place a dog in the wrong home.
Because once that dog leaves me, it lives with the consequences, not you, not me.

The dog.

Always the dog.
So if I say no, the answer is no.
No debate. No negotiation. No apology. No puppy.

-Mickey Stillwell

We are so proud of SAR team Stephen and K9 Talitha (Ivan x Ursa) for their exemplary performance in the recent safe rescue of a lost child.
K9 Talitha is one of few deployable search and rescue dobermans currently working in the United States, and her region is so lucky to have her ❤️

Huge congrats to Noqui and owner/trainer/handler Carol on their new CD Title!!

Noqui is Benchmarks Radiant Noquisi BH-VT CGC CGCA CGCU BCAT BN CD (Trigger x Zelda)

Baby Dante (Doug x Maggie) 10 months old, showing off his amazing progress and beautiful condition with owner/handler Casey!!

Dante got his chance to dance at the @mchardack seminar and did his first baby sends! Really seeing him coming into his own and super happy to get compliments on his work and drive from a multi PSA3 holder I’m super excited to see how far Dante can go and I feel lucky that I can go on this journey with him 🧡 Lovely video by @kismetk9media Collar from @iroxgear Thank you for hosting this seminar @finesse_k9 #bitesports#doberman#workingdog#workingdoberman#biteydog

Huge congrats to Arrow and owner/handler Jody on achieving their PSA PDC, and took High PDC!!!

This is a very special milestone- so few Dobermans have earned a PDC, and Arrow will always hold a place in our hearts ❤️ born and raised here, and the last son of our incomparable Duma

Benchmark’s N’Something Wicked WAC AS-BT PSA PDC 🥇

Congratulations to Team Bosko!!! 10 qualifying runs, placing in every Q, and adding 2 Detective legs (total to date 18 legs) along with 8 excellent runs (all towards Elite certification) including a High in Trial!

Bosko is AKC MJR PTD UKC-NNCH ACH SCH MCH EV UCD GRCH ROM RMC Benchmark's Flying Dutchman ORT TKI FDC WAC RL1 RI RM EliteCH FCAT ACT1J ACT1 PCDX CGCA CGCU ATT GO BH-VT SWME GN NDD SWD BFL1 owner trained and handled by Silke S, and is out of our F litter (Baron x Piper)

Happy birthday to our R litter!!! These spicy guys are 3 today 🥹
Lettie and Ruby will get a special birthday treat for being the best girls ❤️

The R litter is from our (Trigger x Zelda) breeding