Doberman Breeders

Bob and Nancy Vandiver purchased their first show Doberman puppy from a well known show breeder.  She completed her championship, and became their foundation bitch. 

They have been recognized by the American Kennel Club as an AKC Breeder of Merit, a program that requires a high level of breeding responsibility, including health testing of sires and dams.

Since the early seventies, Bob and Nancy have bred 16 Doberman litters (about every one or 3 years) under the Mistel kennel name. Their breedings have been quite successful considering having produce 29 American Doberman champions (33% of puppies produced became champions,and 27%  others have won AKC championship points or earned obedience titles). 

Mistel Name

Our first Doberman litter was due on Christmas day many years ago.  We wanted a German name that celebrated the season of our first homebred Doberman puppies.  We chose "Mistel,"  the German word for Mistletoe, a seasonal favorite.  In those days we did not have progesterone testing or ultrasound for dogs.    The whelping date was a "guess" based on one of the breedings (of which there are usually two or more.)   Mother Nature decided that New Year's Eve would be a better whelping date.  The name stayed.

Top Champion Producing Dams

Grand Champion Mistel's Anything You Can Do, CD, ROM, Sch BH was the AKC Top Doberman Champion Producing Dam for the year 2014.  Another highlight of Bob and Nancy's breeding career was receiving the Doberman Pinscher Club of America's Award For Top Champion Producing Dam awarded to Champion Mistel’s Derrick Doll.

AKC Handler

Bob was an AKC licensed Doberman handler in the seventies, when AKC still regulated handlers. He applied to judge Dobermans in 1995 and is now approved by the American Kennel Club to judge all working breeds, all sporting breeds,all Non-Sporing breeds and all herding breeds, plus Best-in-Show, and all breed Junior Showmanship.

AKC Judge

Bob is an approved AKC judge. He is approved to judge all Working, Sporting, Herding, and Non_Sporting breeds as well as Best In Show.   He has judged many prestigious specialty and all breed shows all over the United States. He has  judged Westminster Kennel Club 3 times, including judging the working group in 2013 and the upcoming Herding Group in 2018..  He has judged the Doberman Pinscher Club of America National Specialty , the Doberman Pinscher Club of America Top Twenty Competition, three DPCA National host clubs, the Canadian National Doberman Specialty, the Philippine National Doberman Specialty,  the Victoria Doberman Specialty in Melbourne, Australia, the Western Australia Doberman Specialty in Perth, Australia, the Southeast England Doberman Championship show, the Brazilian National Specialty twice, the Mexican National Specialty, and the New Zealand Central District Specialty.   He has also judged all breed shows in China multiple times, Japan,, Argentina, Brazil, England, Canada, Mexico, and India.

Club Activities

Bob and Nancy have both been very active in the dog organizations. Bob was Chapter Club Secretary of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America (DPCA) for two years, and a member of the DPCA Board of Directors for an additional four years. He is past chairman of the DPCA judges education committee and current member.  He was an officer in the Carolina Dog Judges Study Group.  He was a member of the Houston, Texas Kennel Club.  Bob was also President of the Doberman Pinscher Club of Houston for three years, and held most of the club's other offices at one time. He is past President of the Greenville, South Carolina Kennel Club, and is past show chairman and cluster chairman for the Carolina Foothills Classic Dog Show Cluster (one of the largest in the southeast).

Bob and Nancy presently have two Doberman's: GCH. Mistel's Anything You Can Do, CD, ROM, Sch BH, DPCA Award of Merit, DPCA Top Twenty, GCH. Mistel's Can Can, multi-group winning top ten Doberman.

Outside Profession

Bob is a retired executive from the largest Engineering Construction Company in the US.    He is a Registered Professional Engineer, and after he moved into management he was responsible for the Design, Procurement, and Construction of very large industrial projects, typically in the $100 million range.  Nancy is a retired school teacher, having been involved in academic activities for 25 years.