In 1922, A. F. Hochwalt introduced American readers to a 35-to-40-pound Doberman with Airedale characteristics and a talent for dispatching vermin. His profile offers a, nowadays, peculiar view of the early breed, complicated by Hochwalt’s own history and a champion photograph already eleven years old.

In October 1927, a Washington newspaper entered the debate over cropped ears and the power of the show ring to shape public taste. Nearly a century later, the disagreement remains remarkably familiar.