10/21/2025
Dr. Wilfrid Shute (Oct. 21, 1907 – Dec. 12, 1982) was a pioneering Canadian physician known for championing the use of Vitamin E to treat heart disease. He was also one of the most influential Doberman Pinscher breeders of the 20th century.
Alongside his brother Evan, Shute was among the first doctors to experiment with high doses of Vitamin E in the 1930s, well before antioxidants were widely accepted in medicine. Initially dismissed by the medical establishment, Shute’s work would later shape modern understandings of oxidative stress and cardiovascular health.
At the same time, Shute was establishing Mannerheim Kennels in Ontario. He bought a number of top-notch Dobes, from whom he bred some memorable ones. American and Canadian Champion Defender of Jan-Har was among the finest of his early purchases. Defender was a descendant of both Ch. Dictator v Glenhugel and Ch. Emperor of Marienland (both well-known show dogs in their day). Defender sired a total of 21 champions. Shute’s Ch. Damasyn the Ember was also top winner in the early 1950s (she is shown in the photo here). Mannerheim Kennels produced winners well into the 1970s, the last of which was Ch. Schauffelein’s Solar Wind, who won the 1971 Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada Specialty. He was the 47th champion for Mannerheim and Dr. Shute.
Shute’s scientific interest in Vitamin E sometimes overlapped with his canine work — he claimed to have restored a champion Doberman’s fertility and eyesight using daily doses of the vitamin. A 1953 article in MacLean’s Magazine focused on Shute’s medical research to benefit humans, but cheekily noted, “In conversation with him, the surest way to change the topic from Vitamin E is to mention dogs.”
After retiring to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the late 1970s, Shute remained a respected dog show judge. At one point, judging a Doberman specialty in Washington, D.C., Shute shocked both exhibitors and onlookers when he withheld all ribbons in the puppy classes for “lack of merit.” In “The World of Doberman Pinschers” (1986), author Anna Katherine Nicholas notes that all of the puppies Shute dismissed that day were major-pointed. “But that was Dr. Shute’s opinion of them, so that’s what the people got,” writes Nicholas. “Whether in agreement or not, one must admire a man so completely in command of the courage of his convictions, not for a moment hesitating to do as he felt was right.”
Sources:
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/care/senior_dog/older-dogs-and-the-onset-of-cataracts/
https://price-pottenger.org/research/the-fight-over-vitamin-e-not-taking-sides-says-medical-association/
https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/14/archives/doctors-make-calls-as-dog-judges-fine-dogs-seen-in-india-85yearold.html
"The World of Doberman Pinschers" (1986), by Anna Katherine Nicholas
