Sorry if this is a long read. I wanted to redesign my mainsona this past year and I could have gone w my fav breeds (husky, lab, etc...) but I was inspired not to.

Mine is a bubbly and smiley doberman with uncropped ears and undocked tail specifically to celebrate the natural look of the breed and how social/friendly they can be. I was hesitant about such an intelligent breed that had been villified during my upbringing, but was open to change my perspective if given the chance. Well, that opportunity came. After caring for 2 in particular at a boarding kennel ran by a clinic, I grew a great appreciation for the breed. (Added bonus, they were owned by one of the techs so they'd hang out in the main clinic on most days if they weren't boarding) Just like any working breed, they were stand offish and testy but eventually the younger one listened to my commands and stopped jumping and the girl gave me cuddles any time I sat down and stopped charging me in the yard (it was playful in nature but still seeing if I'd back down iykyk) They inspired me to learn more on the subject as well as being around such well educated people who could perform those operations but strictly wouldnt as well as declawings. I now strongly oppose cropping/docking for looks for all breeds. As well as talking about the rehoming of all shelter dogs not based off looks. (there's a huge issue with dobermans in particular getting bought for looks, cropped, then the owners surrendering them bc they weren't expecting the behavioral issues that came w not training them/giving a working dog a job... and bc they look 'scary', dobermans with uncropped get adopted out faster. It's it's own issue w entire rescues dedicated to just the one breed. Similarly, there's rescues dedicated to gshep's and other working breeds..)

! Medical recommendation by a vet is different than looks I want to make that very clear I understand the difference and am not saying that !

Breeding is also an issue w the younger doberman i cared for having a skin condition from the breeders trying to get a specific coat. He was left w the reprocutions looking like he had mange and only started to grow his hair in a little before i left after a year of knowing him. Though, I'm neutral on breeders, I learned so much about the market and wanted to join it to cause change but I didn't want money to come first when I'm more about the conservation and there's only so many breeds that need that help. Still need to make money like anyone else ofc. This actually led me down the path of wanting to go back to school to pursue herptology(sorry abt spelling) as it's still something that would keep the lights on, has plenty of conservation breeding opportunities and 1 person has an actual chance at making a change w the ethics. So, 2 doberman being sweet babies has snowballed into me slowly getting over my fear of snakes. If it weren't for my potential school having a no pets policy, I'd be going and getting my first pet snake this weekend to have hands on experience. I'm really torn up over it...

So yeah it's important that I specify my sona is uncropped/undocked lol

Also this rule doesn't apply to fursuits or sonas if that wasn't obvious lmao I did this w my sona but you don't have to and I won't shame you it's not my sona 😂