apart from the minor detail that a Dobermann puppy is somewhat larger than a fully grown min pin, he'd never know.

Is this just looks or personality, what traits if any are you looking for?

Handling the dog physically would be the least of your worries, believe me! I have just spent the last 10 minutes trying to stop my Slovak (temperament exactly like a Weim) leaping across the room onto the sofa...she just lept from about 6ft away, backflipped and hit the wall. Having always had Labs, I cannot tell you how much easier and less challenging they are.

It was a joke!

well the pointer is based on looks, and i have to say the OH picked it and ive only done a bit of reading. the doberman was looks at first (they just look so elegant) but i met one at ringcraft and he is the most loyal affectionate dog there! his "talking to you" is hilarious and the breeder i had my crested off used to have dobes and she said there isnt another breed like them, they seem really loyal and a full on person dog.

Oh that must have been why I was laughing, Doh !

hehe o dear well seeing as my crested is only small she can certainly be stubborn, i found her alot harder to train than the papillon, because even though she wants the treat you are going to give her she will do everything else she can think of first to get it

Dobermanns are loyal and loving but there is a lot more to them than that. My OH will tell you they are too gobby by half, not only do they have an opinion on everything and talk to you about it, they bark quite a lot too (my OH would say too much, don't underestimate the noise a full grown male can make especially if he thinks he's protecting his family). They are extremely clever and capable of thinking for themselves. They can be very stubborn, very good at acting stupid when they know exactly what they are doing. They have a fab sense of humour though. Some are extremely sensitive although none of mine are. They are generally excellent with kids though. I think they are relatively easy to train as long as you are consistent with your rules, don't give them an inch, lol but you need a sense of humour when training them. I think as long as training is fun they're up for it. They need a fair bit of exercise and will take as much as you can offer, but mine get around 2 hours a day in one walk and then they are very calm around the house, well until someone rings the doorbell then they go into full guard dog mode. Like most dogs early training and socialisation are the key, they want to please, they just need to know what it is you want from them.

My lab does that! We are training for our gold obedience test next week, which involves hand signals at a distance... he knows the full set and as soon as I show him the first signal, he tries to run through them before he's asked to as he thinks he'll get the treat more quickly, ha ha

I would have thought it was quite obvious that I wasn't being serious....