Ever since I was a small child I have been obsessed with animals. I always wanted to be a Veterinarian but I decided that school was not my thing after I received my Associates Degree. My parents said I started bringing home stray animals at a very early age. I made my parents nuts because I would foster litters of kittens that were abandoned, wounded birds, stray dogs and homeless cats.  Even now as an adult in my early 30's I still can’t seem to help myself if its orphaned, wounded or stray.  They always seem to somehow come home with me until I can release them back into the wild or place them in a loving home.

1990 was the start of a lot of things for me.  I got married to my high school sweetheart, bought a house and purchased my first Doberman, “Woody” a fawn male all in the same week. It was crazy at first but my husband Keith and I loved every minute of it. I had always wanted a Doberman but that was the one dog my mother would never let me have. She had always believed they were vicious and turned on their owners but “Woody” changed her perception about Dobermans in no time at all. He showed her what a wonderful breed of dogs Dobermans were. I started my search for Doberman almost a year before I got married.  I wrote to the DPCA for information about the breed and breeders. My husband and I wanted a blue male at first, in spite of all the material I had read about their coat problems, but we ended up with a fawn instead. My husband and I purchased “Woody” as a pet from his breeder Carol Shipley. We had absolutely no interest in showing but “Woody” was over a year of age when we bought him and had already been shown so we figured we would give it a try. Our very first dog show was Westminster in February 1991. The garden was doing renovations that year and the benching area was awful but in spite of it all, I became addicted to dog showing. “Woody” went on to become “Ch Meroke’s Sandalwood V Phantom”. He was the first Champion I had ever owned and he became the foundation dog for my breeding program. Even though “Woody” was a fawn, and at that time there were very few dilution dogs in confirmation ring, he ascertained his Championship in 35 shows.

My original kennel name was Phantom but we changed it after our first litter to Kalora. We bred one Champion from that litter her name is Ch Phantom’s Tantalizer V Meroke CGC “Tequila”.  She became our first homebred Champion. Since 1990 we have bred multiple American and Canadian Champions. Our dogs have also ascertained several obedience and performance titles.  I am President of the LIDPCA, a member of the DPCA and a member of Garden State Specialty Club. I have been lucky enough to have bred to some wonderful dogs over the years and I have learned everything I know to date about Dobermans from some great people in the breed who became my mentors and my friends. Although I love all animals Dobermans are special to me. I am devoted to this breed. 

Estelle Corr

Kalora Dobermans