For Parents & Guardians

Children, adults, and Dobermans each bring their own needs, personalities, and ways of communicating to family life. We consider those individual needs and interconnected relationships when developing our content: how family members, including the dogs, respond to one another, share positive and negative experiences, work through differences, and make room for each other.

For example, a Doberman may need space, and a child’s individual reaction then can give directional clues of what they may need to learn. The same principle applies to the Doberman giving children room, with adults playing interconnected guiding roles and bringing their own variables into the mix. Across our content, we try to consider how such interconnections may play out, so that people may derive meaning for their shared lives.

The experience of life with a Doberman can form part of the enjoyment of a story, song, or activity, with ample room to explore meaning through one’s own interpretation.

Families may come to DKC for something to enjoy together or arrive with a particular question about life with their child and Doberman. ADW’s articles provide insights for adults outside the Kids Club. Related activities within the club offer opportunities for adults and children to apply those insights together in a playful way.

Marie-Luise Smith, one of ADW’s founders and its creative director, brings curiosity, imagination, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology to the development of the Doberman Kids Club. Our approach therefore combines creating imaginative experiences with staying evidence-informed: relevant research in psychology, learning, and human–dog relationships informs our choices alongside creative and editorial judgment.

Children and their families can choose activities according to their interests and familiarity with dogs, especially Dobermans. Where an activity calls for an adult to take part alongside the child, we make that distinction clear.