July• 2019 | 91W
hen Catherine and
Alan Svilicic decid-
ed to add a dog to
their brood, which
also consisted of 17-month-old tod-
dler Charlotte, they planned on a
small breed like their previous shih-
tzu-Maltese cross. Then they were
introduced to dobermanns by a local
boarding kennel owner and breeder
of dobermanns, Kerry Kinder – and
fell in love with their placid, ‘gentle
giant’ nature.
Kerry offered them an adult
dobermann named Khan, who had
been bred by Kerry and rescued back
from the owner that had beaten and
starved the dog.
Catherine was initially reluctant
about introducing a large adult dog
with a sad history into a family with
an active toddler.
But then something happened. As
Catherine and Alan chatted to Kerry,
the rambunctious young Charlotte
took off across the paddock – and fell
over. The couple were amazed to see
Khan race over to the toddler and
gently pick her up. Any doubt about
adopting Khan vanished as the pair
fell in love with the dobermann’s pro-Just days after being rescued from an abusive
owner by a young family, a dobermann almost
makes the ultimate sacrificetective nature. And four days later,
they would come to see just how
protective Khan would be.
It was particularly warm on
October 29, Catherine remembers. It
was a Monday and Khan had joined
the family the previous Friday. As
his quick thinking in Kerry Kinder’s
paddock had suggested, Khan had
already decided that Miss Charlotte
Svilicic was his No. 1 girl; the
committed canine had barely left her
side since arriving at his new home.
“If Khan and Charlotte were out
in the garden together and someone
walked down the street he’d stand
right at the gate, in front of her, and
just stare at them,” says Catherine.
“Dobermanns have those piggy
little eyes – so when they want to give
you the hairy eyeball, they really can.”
Khan was next to his favourite
girl on that stifling Monday when
Catherine took Charlotte into the
garden for some fresh air.
“I was just in the house doing
boring mother things and Charlotte
wanted to go outside and run around.
It was really hot, I remember that. I
remember it like it was yesterday,” she
says. “She had a pair of joggers on andBY LAURA GREAVESFROMTHE RESCUERSILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES