Another video of Soraya when we first got home from picking her up at the airport. She is a bit thin; something no mother who just gave birth to puppies a couple weeks earlier should be. Mothers should be in optimum health when nursing puppies. Soraya was clearly not. It's no wonder most of her litter died.
This photo was taken the day after Soraya arrived. You can see how incredibly short her nails had been cut by Steve Parsons, owner of #FamilyDobes. I cannot imagine how painful this must have been. Who could do this to a dog when she had to have cried out in pain upon every cut of the nail clippers. You can also see the tops of her feet where she had been licking for a very long time. Had she been licking due to pain? If so, how many times had her nails been cut so short? Or was it out of boredom?
Close-up of Soraya's toes.
How short they were and how much this had to have hurt. It completely explains why she was limping so badly. Steve Parsons of #FamilyDobes had told me a couple days prior to her shipment that he had trimmed her nails and cut one too short so her foot was "tender." This is far more than tender in my opinion. This is animal cruelty. What kind of person could do this to an animal? A sociopath would be my guess.
Soraya's toes 3 days after arrival. The lick calluses are very clear here. Again, notice how short the nails are.
Photo from the same day. This would be 1 week post nail cut. You can clearly see the quick and how it is now scabbed over. A couple nails even had so much tissue damage that it took months for them to become normal again. One nail still doesn't grow back quite normal at this time. When pressed about how short the nails were, Steve Parsons of #FamilyDobes changed his story to this: he trimmed her nails during her c-section on March 9th (2.5 weeks prior to arrival) so she would out during the brutal nail trim. Wait a minute! Steve had said in an email on March 25 that he cut her nails the day before and got one a little short. It seems he cannot keep his lies straight.
But Soraya is happy and recuperating. She is now a happy girl. But her difficult spay is yet to come.
During her 4 1/2 years as a foundation breeding bitch at #FamilyDobes, Soraya was confined to this crate according to a former employee. It does explain the muscle loss and tightness in her back legs.
Here is Soraya next to the crate which was her home while breeding for #FamilyDobes for 4 1/2 years.
This is how much room Soraya had for most of her 4.5 years at #FamilyDobes.
The crate Soraya was shipped in shows a lot of wear and tear from digging and ground-in dirt that could not be scrubbed out. Further evidence that this was a crate that had been used for a dog's living quarters rather than just for shipment.
Once Soraya was brought back to health after extreme neglect at #FamilyDobes, she had a very risky but necessary spay. She had developed a pyometra infection during the time we were trying desperately to restore her health and strength to undergo the surgery. Also, the day prior to her surgery, the vet found an arrhythmia during the pre-surgical exam so she was taken directly to a specialist and had an echocardiogram and electrocardiogram. Nothing was found and no arrhythmias were heard at that time. The specialist at Florida Veterinary Referral suggested moving forward with her spay the next day and removal of two mammary glads that had developed tumors. During the procedure the following day, it took her regular vet, Dr. Kirk at Estero Animal Hospital, 30 minutes to get her heart stabilized after administering anesthesia before he could begin the procedure. It was noted in her vet records from Utah that during her last c-section (at nearly 7 years of age and her 6th litter of puppies) that the vet had made an incision in one of her tubes to remove dead, mummified puppies. It was discovered during her spay that the incision in the tube had perforated and was leaking infection into her abdomen. Dr. Kirk said another 24 hours and she would have been in serious trouble. I believe Soraya's guardian angels were working overtime that day. There was only enough time to remove one mammary and the worst of the growths that had formed on her hips from having no bedding in her crate on which to sleep.
I planned to keep her airline crate for emergencies (like evacuation during a hurricane), but when I scrubbed it, the dirt was so embedded in the plastic that I couldn’t get it all out. The odor wouldn’t go away no matter how much soap I used. I couldn’t understand how it could have gotten so dirty when it was supposedly only used to ship dogs. It also had her name on the top. I found that strange. Until I read the following post on the Doberman Talk forum:
“Family
Dobes in Payson Utah owned by Steve Parsons
Suddenly it made sense why Soraya’s airline crate wouldn’t
come clean. It’s because she LIVED in
it! Apparently, whenever she wasn’t
being bred, having puppies, or going outside to go potty, she was in this very
small crate. This would explain why her
rear legs aren’t straight like they were in the picture when she was two years
old in Serbia and her rear leg muscles weren’t as strong as they should have
been. If you’ve ever seen Fedor del Nasi
or his offspring, one trait that is consistent is the muscle and power in the
rear legs. Soraya is built just like her
father, yet her muscles had deteriorated.
Very sad for this once extremely powerful girl.
Soraya at 2.5 years old before she left Betelges Kennel in Serbia and was sold and shipped to Family Dobes in Utah. She was pregnant when she arrived which, sadly, is common practice for European puppy mills when selling to American puppy mills and Back Yard Breeders.
Soraya in 2014 after 4.5 years with Family Dobes as a breeder and having made her recovery. What a terrible disservice the puppy mill did to such a beautiful, intelligent and emotional creature.
Once Soraya was healed, I ordered an electronic collar for
her as I use them for training purposes and she had a few unwanted behaviors we
needed to correct (counter surfing, excessive barking, pulling the fabric on
her dog bed). When the trainer fit her
with the collar and began to work with her, Soraya responded in a way that my
other two did not; at a very low stimulation level (this feels like a tickle or
irritation at a low level. I’ve tried it
on myself.), she became very fearful.
With gentle encouragement and coaxing, Soraya responded well but still was
fearful and reactive when the collar was used even on a low stimulation
level. Within a minute, my trainer
turned and walked back to me with Soraya and said that she had already had
improper training on an electronic collar; either at very high levels for
training (this is incorrect use) or had had a bark collar turned up high. Given that she is a barker, I suspect that
she wore a bark collar while at the kennel, being shocked severely every time
she barked or another dog barked and set off the collar. Although the breeder will swear that he
doesn’t condone the use of electronic collars, he certainly has a few horror
stories of dogs he used them on with bad results.
There were some additional behaviors that were surprising to
me. If you move your hand quickly near
her face, she flinched in a startled way and backed away quickly or ran
off. I sometimes will put a leg in front
of my other dogs to keep them from running outside when I don’t want them to do
so. When I did this with Soraya, it was
the same response as with the hand near her face only worse. She was afraid if you lifted your leg or
touched her with your foot. It made her
very fearful. I’ll let you draw your own
conclusions as to what caused this reaction in her. My other two do not respond this way at all.
After Soraya arrived, I exchanged a few emails with her breeder and he knows exactly where I stand on the issue of her treatment while in his care. To this day, I have never seen a video of his entire kennel, which consists of a single-wide trailer. Only videos of the area where the puppies are being nursed. NEVER the entire interior of the kennel. According to his website, he has about 11 adult dogs living in the trailer, mostly females who probably don’t get along with each other very well. So, in my opinion, it gives validation to what the employee said about all the dogs living in airline crates. How else could you house 11 adult dogs plus have room for nursing mothers and their puppies in a single wide trailer? The breeder said that kennel dogs shouldn’t be expected to have the pampered life that Karma and Luna have had. Oh really? Why not? Other breeders pamper their breeding dogs.
After Soraya arrived, I exchanged a few emails with her breeder and he knows exactly where I stand on the issue of her treatment while in his care. To this day, I have never seen a video of his entire kennel, which consists of a single-wide trailer. Only videos of the area where the puppies are being nursed. NEVER the entire interior of the kennel. According to his website, he has about 11 adult dogs living in the trailer, mostly females who probably don’t get along with each other very well. So, in my opinion, it gives validation to what the employee said about all the dogs living in airline crates. How else could you house 11 adult dogs plus have room for nursing mothers and their puppies in a single wide trailer? The breeder said that kennel dogs shouldn’t be expected to have the pampered life that Karma and Luna have had. Oh really? Why not? Other breeders pamper their breeding dogs.
Soraya is now very healthy, except for the fact that she has
been diagnosed with occult (meaning hidden) Dilated Cardio Myopathy. It’s hereditary so there is a great chance
she has passed it onto her puppies. She
has had another electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, 2 holter tests (which is
where they found the DCM) and countless EKGs.
She still needs another surgery and, although on anti arrhythmic drugs, it’s
still risky. The other mammary needs to
be removed due to tumors and she has teeth that need to be pulled along with a
dental cleaning because her teeth are SO bad.
Her grandmother and father, Fedor del Nasi, both died suddenly and it is
documented that her grandmother died of DCM.
Fedor’s owner/breeder never announced his cause of death, so I have to
assume it was DCM. Soraya’s cardiologist said that when a
Doberman dies suddenly, it’s DCM unless it is confirmed by a veterinarian via
necropsy that the cause of death was otherwise.
Period. She informed me that 70% -82% of Dobermans have or will have DCM. But
with all that she knows about the heart problems in Dobermans, she would still
have one in a heartbeat because the breed is just that spectacular.
Soraya is by far the most affectionate dog I’ve ever
had. She loves to cuddle and be very
close to her family. Since her arrival,
she has learned to play (taught by Karma) and doesn’t have to worry about
getting into dogs fights any longer (many scars from fights at the
kennel). She is just the happiest dog
I’ve ever seen. Her temperament is very
stable and her protective instincts run deep and true. She has had some bite work training and
enjoys any additional training that I give to her. She even plays tug with her bratty kid, Luna.
It just breaks my heart that while at the kennel, Soraya
gave so much and received so little in return.
But she isn’t the only one. Karma’s
mother, Coco (Baracuda Liborium) wasn’t as fortunate as Soraya; the breeder
told me that he euthanized her because she had a pyometra and semi-torn
ACL. Both are operable. But Coco was 8 years old and no longer able to
give the kennel puppies, so maybe he considered her need for surgery just money
wasted. It’s especially sad because Coco
was his top producer, producing 8 litters during her lifetime there. Karma looks nearly identical to her mother,
Coco. Every time someone likes Family
Dobes facebook business page, Simply The Best European Dobermans, or likes or
shares one of his pictures, or buys a dog from him, they are supporting and
promoting the abuse and neglect of a sweet dog like Soraya. Despite the enormous investment in time and
money to restore her to health, I am SO glad she has become a part of our
family. She has given much more than she
has taken. She is my heart dog. :)
Steve Parsons, owner of Family Dobes, is a Registered Sex Offender. Here is a link:
Here is the single-wide trailer that he calls his kennel. This is where Soraya lived for 4.5 years and the dirt area is where she was permitted to spend whatever time she was allowed out of her crate. Nothing to look at-just dirt and the side of the trailer.
#FamilyDobes #Simplythebesteuropeandobermans #effectivelytrainedk9s #doberman puppies #Europeandobermans #europeandobermanpuppies #dobermanpuppies #puppymills
