"Hi Joy,

Luxor (from Hazels' 8.8.08 litter) has been keeping our hands full for the last several months. I've been meaning to get in touch with you a while back, but everytime something came up and so here we are, so I apologize for falling off the face of the planet ;)

Alex and I hope that all has been well with you, and send our congratulation on the new beautiful litter- the pictures are adorable. When is Hazel due?

Luxor is doing very well and everyone he meets always wants to know where we got him, and compliments him on his looks. We've had his ears cropped in October, and had to post them for a total of 5 days before they stood on their own (!!!). He is truly a pleasure to have around- so energetic, loving, gentle, and stubborn (even though I call him dominant-challenged: he thinks he's the boss at least where I'm concerned, but we're working on it). We've been doing obedience training since the spring, and he's improved incredibly,although he can make it tough to keep his attention for long periods of time because he's so smart and gets things very quickly, and bores of things even quicker. This inevitably leads to many fun evening for me trying to provide some entertainment. He loves people, and we've tried to socialize him pretty much from day one, and now that he's been in school, he's socializing with other large dogs- he loves running with the pack at the local HS football field.

He still loves his alone time, and has the crate in a room he surely considers as his own. He actually gets mad if we do not allow him free access to the crate when we're at home and he wants to take a nap. All in all, that crate surely is a blessing since he loves spending time in it and it helps keep him out of trouble when we're not home. Over the months he's destroyed pretty much any and all toys we've thrown at him, and being an avid (and powerful) chewer he now gets rawhide bones and strips galore. He also loves wood, just plain sticks he finds and chooses when we're walking or from the back yard. He just tends to pulverize and eat them (I hope this is normal!?), but apprently he's picky over the type of wood it is.

This actually brings me not something I've wanted to consult with you about. For the last few weeks he's become an increasingly finicky eater, not in that he doesn't eat, but he only seems to do it because he knows that we won't go for a walk until he eats. Compared with this spring, he was chowing down on that food (still Canidae all life stages) almost as though we were starving him, as soon as the bowl was put down he'd eat it all in a matter of minutes. Now he smells the food, licks it, and turns and walks away, and unless Alex or I stand over him and keep asking him to eat, he just doesn't. We've taken him to the vet, and all his tests came back normal. Are you aware of any changes in the formula of the food? Have your dogs had any changes, or is this something age related? Should we consider switching foods? Honestly, the main concern at this point is that he gets complete nutrition and keeps growing, since he's still a puppy.

You can see from the attached pictures that he has good hight, but has not yet 'filled in' as it were, and with his current eating habits I don't see how he will do so any time soon... My response is this: after observing my Dobermans for over a decade and discussing it with other Doberman owners, as well as my vet that owns a Doberman (one of ours), we all agree this is just a summer thing. They eat when the yfeel like it. I put breakfast out and it is still there at dinner. They lose a couple pounds, but mostly are just lazy in the heat. Nothing to worry about. The summer finickies! It will pass as the weather gets cooler.

Pease let me know what you think of this, and if you have any suggestions on further actions for us. I'm also attaching his photos and will send more in the next email as well.

Sincerely,
Anna"