Zara Reigns Supreme

When my husband asked what my dream dog was, my immediate answer was a Doberman. He agreed that they were an incredible breed and we set out on a mission to find one. It wasn’t easy, but then fate shined upon us and I found Bobby K. 

A kind soul in Chicago area selling the last two pups of a litter he sired with his boy Zeus and I instantly fell in love!  Zara was the only female of the litter, and many following, and Bobby will to this day remind me of how special she was.

Special for sure!  She was the most incredible dog, and she will forever live on in our hearts. When we bred Zara, we mistakingly left her with the stud family to give her time to mate multiple times as he was a good distance from us. During that time Zara unfortunately obtained a cut in her paw, a cut that allowed in the fungus Blastomycosis. For more about this, please see my Blastomysis page - and if you’re a dog owner, please do read it!

Zara was able to safely deliver her litter of puppies, and they remained healthy and unaffected. We kept one of the girls, and the rest all found amazing homes who adore them to which we are incredibly grateful!  While I often teased my husband that I had said I wanted a Doberman, not a horse (well not in the house at least!), I would do it all again in a heartbeat! Zara weighed in over 120# taking after her fathers European build.

After a long battle with this horrible fungus, we lost the fight. Our poor girl was suffering and it was time to say our goodbyes.  Broken hearted we made the choice to relieve her of her suffering and let her go.  We hope to see you again in Heaven one day, our sweet sweet girl. 

We had our first Doberman litter in October of 2021, a cross between Zara and Vlad (a show dog import from Romania). We can’t keep a puppy I kept telling myself, but I couldn’t help it…I fell in love!  I fell in love with the little black female I had given a purple collar, as did of course my husband and children.  We loved all the puppies, and saying goodbye certainly brought tears, but this one - she was not going anywhere!

Luna obtained her mom’s stubborn mindset, and her dad’s show girl prance. Luna (thankfully hahaha) took her father’s build and is more petite and slender than her mother was. She is certainly more high strung than her mother was as well. and more “guard dog”.  Her mother wanted to be friends with everyone she met, while Luna is more hesitant and wants to ensure her family is safe before she will accept you as her friend.

Mind you it did not help than months after the puppies were born we went into Covid lockdown, so Luna did not receive the puppy classes or the socialization that her mother did. That does not stop her from being an amazing dog though! She carries her mothers legacy and bloodlines with pride and beauty!

You may notice in the photos that while Lunas ears were cropped, they do not stand. I will not lie to you, posting wars is HARD!  It is not for the weak, and it takes an immense amount of time and dedication.  Time and dedication I did not have with a few month old baby, and the inability to find a tape or glue that did not cause a horrible reaction to our poor girls ears. 

Luna will be our next Dam, likely in 2025.

As you know we lost our sweetheart Zara way too young, so when I saw that her father had sired what is most likely his final litter I was so tempted!  Then reality sunk in and I knew I shouldn’t financially or otherwise get a puppy right now, so I passed on the litter.  Well it must have been fate that at 7 weeks there were still puppies available and the dams owner reached out to me again, offering us an offer we couldn’t refuse! Not for what I knew was an incredible paring of dogs and what should become an amazing girl!  We spent a Friday and made the 5.5 hour trip each way we driving to Michigan and back to pick up this sweet girl and I knew the moment I held her that I made the right choice, this sweet girl will steal your heart in a second if you give her the chance! I can’t wait to watch her grow, as I know she won’t fit in our laps for long!!!