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.
Since the early seventies, Bob and Nancy have bred occasional
Doberman litters (about every one or two years) under the Mistel kennel name. Their breedings have been quite successful considering they have produced only
fourteen litters of show age. To date they have had twenty American
Doberman champions and eight others that have won AKC championship points.
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 Dam
A highlight of Bob and Nancy's breeding career was receiving the Doberman Pinscher Club of America's Award For Top Champion Producing Dam . It was awarded to Champion Mistel’s Derrick Doll in 1987 for producing four champions in one year from a litter of five.
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
most all working breeds and all sporting breeds.
AKC Judge
Bob has judged many prestigious specialty and all breed shows all
over the United States. He has judged the Doberman Pinscher Club of America National Specialty ,
the Doberman Pinscher Club of America Top Twenty Competition, three DPCA
"host" clubs held in conjunction with the National Specialty, the Canadian National Doberman Specialty,
the Philippine National Dobermann Specialty, the Victoria Dobermann
Specialty in Melbourne, Australia, the Western Australia Dobermann Specialty in Perth,
Australia, the Southeast England Dobermann Championship show, the
Brazilian National Specialty, the Mexican National Specialty, and
the New Zealand Central District Specialty.
He is presently approved to judge al working breeds and all breed junior
showmanship. He is in the process of applying to judge sporting breeds.
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 presently chairman of the DPCA judges education committee.
He is 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 now show chairman and cluster chairman for the Foothills
Classic Dog Show Cluster (one of the largest in the southeast).
Bob and Nancy presently have three Doberman's: Ch. Mistel's Moxie
Merrimac, Ch. Mistel's Mia Merrimac, and Mistel's Indelible, a young
black bitch who will start her show career soon.
Outside Profession
Bob is a retired Project Director for the largest Engineering Construction Company in the US.
As a Registered Professional Engineer, he was responsible for the Design, Procurement, and Construction of very large industrial projects, typically in excess of $100 million.
Nancy is a retired school teacher, having been involved in academic activities for 25 years.
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