Fudge came to us via a rather eccentric Russian doctor, whose Doberman had had a litter of 8 pups. It took a while for Fudge to warm to us as her new family, I've spoken to other Doberman owners who have also found that unlike most puppies, Dobermans need a little time to build up a bond with you. I think that Fudge missed her first family for quite a while; she always used to react to a particular television advert when it came on, we assumed that she did this because the voice over was done in a Russian accent. This might seem far fetched, but Fudge did come from a home where everyone spoke Russian. I've always felt that while I was struggling to learn fluent Doberman, Fudge was trying equally hard to learn English. John Steinbeck in his wonderful book 'Travels with Charley', gives a beautiful description of his standard Poodle Charley. The middle-aged Charley had been acquired while Steinbeck was on holiday in France, and although he learned to obey commands in English it always took him a little time to 'translate' what was being asked of him. This resulted in Steinbeck normally speaking to his dog in French, something which caused raised eyebrows as he traveled around his native America.
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