This site is devoted to a very special Doberman.

He is, UDC CH. Rebholzer High Intensity, FR I, B, FFB, WAC, VC, CGC, TDI; a.k.a. "Bodhi". In these pages you will learn more about him. Pictured above at 8 years of age.

Bodhi was an excellent example of a what Doberman can be. His accomplishments included being the First Male Doberman, but more importantly, to this day, the FIRST and ONLY Champion Doberman in North America to have achieved the French Ring 1 title, "FR 1" (also seen as FRing 1 or Ring 1). Bodhi's frozen semen available.

Though some Doberman owners and breeders claim to breed for and train in ringsport, to date there have been only two Dobermans in the USA, Bodhi being one of these, that have actually proven their capabilities and competed successfully and obtained both legs of the French Ring 1.

To obtain Bodhi's title we had to travel across the country to compete. First we traveled to California for a week of polishing his training from the then NARA Training Director, Jean-Jacques Jurado. From there we went to Washington state where Bodhi obtained his FR 1" followed by a trip to Connecticut 4 weeks later where he passed the Ring 1 test again thereby obtaining both "legs" of the title. This was no small feat, bearing in mind the enormous amount of traveling, new fields and new decoys.

French Ringsport requires a dog to have intense drives, courage, and physical soundness. It is more physically demanding than schutzhund. It requires intense training and proper handling. Needless to say, we are very proud of him and grateful for the training and guidance we received to obtain the title.

In order to be able to obtain this title Bodhi had to genetically possess other neccessary traits. Traits such as; strong drives, trainability, exceptionally strong nerves and proper focus were needed to carry him through the long rigorous training.

The French judges we trialed under noticed his oustanding qualities. They praised his strong (high) drives, exceptional nerves, calmness, and work ethic. They commented on how rare it is to find a Doberman that had *all* of these traits properly combined and especially with such nice conformation. In addition, the judges were equally impressed with his very social nature.

Bodhi was always very social. He was good with kids (as seen in the picture gallery under the caption, "caught playing"), and with most other dogs. At home he was a very demanding dog - very pushy, athough he never expressed this through dominant behavior. This attribute along with his curiosity, appeared child like in his behavior which was quite comical. The things he came up with to get my attention!

French Ring was Bodhi's primary training, but I wished to test his nerves, courage and drives further. Being so social, I wanted to see how he would respond in a real situation. I put him through several tests, such as "night walks" which included various sights, sounds and threats meant to challenge the dog's overall temperament and soundness. He conducted numerous searches and apprehended 'bad guys' in low lit building situations, involving more than one decoy and a variety of obstacles.

Another test Bodhi was put through was being sent on a decoy without any visible equipment. He passed this and all of the other tests superbly, going in very strong, calm and focused, as the decoys severe bruises will attest. I'd like to inject here, my gratitude to all the decoys that worked with Bodhi, especially those that did so without a complaint!

These tests could dispel anybody's belief that all Ring or sport trained dogs will not commit and follow through without seeing equipment. This is false! Many sport trained dogs have the capabilities. However, there will always be some dogs that are only confident on equipment and on their own training field and not elsewhere.

[WARNING! I do not recommend to anyone that they should attempt to test their dogs in any of these scenarios unless the decoy AND the handler are very experienced. Please do not attempt to test any dog that has not already shown to an experienced decoy or trainer that it has potential to pass the test(s), and that the decoy excels in reading a dog. Otherwise you and the dog will be dealing with the very possible negative consequences for a long time.]

Some people told me that they believe Ringsport dogs are not as strong as schutzhund trained dogs. This is false and Bodhi is one of those dogs that proved otherwise! It is my opinion from experience in both venues that it takes higher drives and courage (or for the drives to be high enough to carry the dog through the pressures) for dogs to compete in the ringsports (French ring, Mondioring, KNVP, etc) than schutzhund, but I know some people will always disagree. One particular area that ringsports certainly require more of a dog is in athleticism. Ringsports require a dog to be extremely athletic to compete in the higher levels. Watching ring dogs go over the wall, the long jump and the many obstacles in mondio and KNVP are a real site to see!

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Bodhi was retired from training at 8 years of age due to an old injury which began to bother him. Not one to stay home and do nothing, Bodhi went on to pass a TDI Therapy Dog test as well as a CGC test on September 15, 2001.

Sadly Bodhi was put to rest on March 19th, 2002, He was still energetic and didn't look his age up until the end when he came down with pneumonia, a secondary infection due to DCM. He is dearly missed and will always be in our hearts. (Even to this day I cannot bear to get another doberman, because Bodhi was so special. Also I haven't come across a another one with the traits and temperament as wonderful as his.)

Bodhi's breeder is my long time friend, Traci Mulligan of Rebholzer Dobermans, in southern, Vermont. With nearly 30 years of knowledge and experience, her mission is to produce dogs with strong, sound temperament, good health and sound bodies. Another great example of a Rebholzer Doberman would be Bodhi's full sister, Traci's constant companion, Rebholzer Live Wire, SCH III, T-3, CD, WAC.

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If you wish to find out more about French Ringsport, and/or Dobermans in general, there are numerous, informative sites you can visit. I've made a list of some of my favorites on the "Links" page.

Are you looking for a quality Doberman? To find a Doberman of such excellence can be a challenge, which is why I have also included links to the web sites of other breeders that I know are concerned with improving the breed. A few I know of personally, the others I know from chats-on-the-web. I do try to weed out those that know how to talk a good line, but really are not what they would have you believe. You should always personally research a breeder in more depth to learn if they have what you are looking for, are knowledgeable, sincere and trustworthy.

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