I had recently lost my "heart" dobe to chronic hepatitis and CVI (cervical vertebral instability), a type of disc disease common in the Doberman breed. There was no room in my home or my heart for another dog at that particular time.

A friend of mine in California informed me of an 18 month old fawn colored male Doberman Pinscher. He needed to be rehomed as he was not working out as a conformation dog, but he would be a good obedience dog. I thought about him, responded to the breeder, received a packet of puppy pics, a win photo, pedigree and in my heart just couldn't do it. So, I sent everything back. But, I couldn't stop thinking about him needing his own family and something to do.

One month later I was at the airport, impatiently waiting for the crate to be unloaded. Out he popped, making immediate eye contact, wagging his nub and ready to make friends with everyone there. And that has been his personality to this day!

He was such a happy, personable boy, but didn't know anything, including how to play. I spent our first year just interacting with him and letting him know that play was a good thing. He flunked his first 2 attention classes as he had no food or toy drive, just wasn't interested. But once he caught on, he easily obtained his CD (AKC Companion Dog title) with placements and his ASCA (Australian Shepherd Club) CD again with placements.

Dune also became a therapy dog. We visit and work with rehab, hospice and psychiatric patients. Dune has an uncanny knack of working with the patients. He doesn't just look at them; he looks into them, inviting their interaction with him. His fawn coloring has helped disguise him as nobody recognizes him as a Doberman Pinscher. For those patients that "think" they are afraid of Dobermans, he dispels the myth of the mean Doberman and soon has everyone petting him.

Dobermans come in 4 color variations - black/rust, red/rust, blue/rust and fawn/rust. The colors that most recognize are the blacks and the reds. The blues and the fawns can have a coat condition called CDA (color dilution alopecia). The coat can thin dramatically and the dog can actually get bald. Dune does not have this condition and has his coat. His name does reflect his coloring, that of a sand dune.

Since Dune and I like to do obedience training and showing, we've continued to train with Cathy Niles at Competitive Dog Training and we practice at Texas Tri City Obedience Club. He has been trained through the next level of obedience — the CDX (companion dog excellent). We entered our first show one year ago and something was desperately wrong. Dune looked like a dog that had just been beaten in the ring - head hanging, shoulders hunched, hocked tucked in and barely doing the exercises. You could see that he was trying but he just couldn't do it.

X-rays showed changes at C5-6 in his neck and he was having neurological symptoms. He has some type of disc disease, probably CVI as my other Dobe had. I elected not to do myelogram and surgery and opted instead for the holistic approach. Dr. Paul Bruton in Southlake has maintained Dune almost symptoms free for the past year with acupuncture, chiropractic and gold bead implants to his neck. If you didn't know better, you would think that there is nothing wrong with him running about a field or jumping over a log, but the problem is there. So, at age 5, Dune was retired from the obedience ring, but we will enjoy doing animal assisted therapy as long as he feels like he wants to continue.

He's come a long way from California to Texas and certainly did find his own family and a very worthwhile job to do.