It's Dobermann! Swallow the Cash!

I remember reading years ago how the aristocrats among tax evaders were the sheep farmers.  They lived in the crummiest houses, maybe up on concrete blocks, and in the front yard you could see some kind of  mean-looking pooch, on a chain that looked like it might not be too tightly tethered  to the planet.  And they had the greasiest hats.

Comes now Taxmom to remind us that in her line of  work, this sort of thing may work both ways.   As it happens, clan Taxmom just lately acquired a pooch of its own: a cheerful if somewhat puppy-like terrier.   But here is Taxmom's frequent human companion to suggest that they may have missed an opportunity.  As evidence he offers an account of the origin of the Doberman Pinscher:

 Doberman Pinschers were first bred in the town of Apolda, in the German state of Thuringia around 1890, following the Franco-Prussian War by Karl Friedrich Louis Dobermann. Dobermann served in the dangerous role of local tax collector, and ran the Apolda dog pound. With access to dogs of many breeds, he aimed to create a breed that would be ideal for protecting him during his collections, which took him through many bandit-infested areas. He set out to breed a new type of dog that, in his opinion, would be the perfect combination of strength, speed, endurance, loyalty, intelligence, and ferocity.

 Ah.  Well, I'm sure we'd all agree that nobody beats a German tax collector for strength, speed, endurance, loyalty, intelligence and ferocity.   But I seem to have been misled about the identity of the inventor: I had always assumed it was Mildred Pinscher, Apolda's bankruptcy trustee.  Also said to be Dobermann's very close friend  if you get my meaning, heh heh.   I'll have to concede about the dog, but I do believe she still gets credit for inventing the chain-link fence.

BTW Taxmom's pooch tweets.  Follow him at @Gandalfterrier.