Alina

For me she was "the pick of the litter"!

Long before my 18th birthday it was a fact for me, I would make myself a present...a Dobermann. Sure I grew up with these kind of dogs...but I wanted to pick one myself. Said-Done, after I had picked a breeder..the day the litter was born was like Easter,Christmas and Santa`s Day...all in one! ;) A litter of 8, 4 boys and 4 girls...two of them should stay with the breeder...and all the boys were spoken for already..so there were another two girls to pick out one for me.

When I met Alina the first time she was lying on a couch...right after lunch,with a huge tummy...she did not even lift the head to have a look at me ;) and to be honest.. I wasnt that keen on her either. For sure it was not Love at first sight. But after the breeder had a long chat with me and got to know that I wanted to work with the dog, she was sure...me and Alina that would be a "Dream Team". At this time that really felt strange to me. How should a breeder know in which direction a little dog just a couple of weeks old would develop in the future...well I was about to be teached a lesson. ;)

Her breeders actually wanted to keep Alina...but as it turned out Alina was more than strong willed..and even as she was just a couple of weeks old she was fighting with her mother all of the time...she just did not back down. So they knew keeping her in the house would not be an option. But they wanted a new home for her where people would spend a lot of time and work with her...as they stated "this will be a good dog".

So Alina`s and my destiny was sealed..and I took her home with me ;)

I did never regret to take her home with me. To have listened to the advice of her breeder was one of the best things I ever did! She was an absolute fabolous dog...as a companion, friend and working dog!

During her life she was an outstanding example of her breed..and she cured so much people regarding a "Dobermann Phobia" that I cant count them anymore. Often I heard the sentence "If I would knew that every Dobermann would be like Alina-I would get one tomorrow".Don`t get me wrong, Alina was not an easy dog...she was a handfull of work for me. And she teached me much more than just one lesson! But the bond that was between us was strong,surely because we were out and about together all of the time...and this bond was with Alina and me all of her life.

Alina was a picture of a Dobermann, sporty, muscles all over and healthy. Even when she was 12 years old, people thought she would have been about 5 or 6. When she died aged 13 she left a huge gap in my life.. she had a life well lived, and it made it a little bit easier for us that she left us on an summer walk during a break lying in the sun....she had a short nap and died.

Alina will always be a part of my life!