Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hello! OK, so I had this lovely post written out AND... my web browser crashed SO here we are with the shortened version. I have purchased a Dutch Shepherd puppy from a friend of a father of a friend who is a trainer. He is boarded and being trained by him for about two months until I can pick him up. There's still one more month left to go and he'll be about 17-18 weeks old when I pick him up (He's 13 weeks now, I bought him when he was about 9 weeks old. I fully understand I'm missing a puppy-socialization window but the trainer is filling those gaps). Atlas can be seen here (The picture is black and white. He is brindle with chocolate eyes and is darker/faded more on his left side as opposed to his right which has sharper striping):

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 9952829885

Anyway, I also have a cat and a 10 year old red and white border collie named Twister, hence the username "TwistedAtlas". In the meantime I've been looking at additional leashes, crates, toys, etc. I am more familiar with Belgian Malinois (and German Shepherds) than Dutch Shepherds but have been told their behavior is either "similar," "identical," or "has an off-switch," compared to the Belgian Malinois. Any of these results or something totally out-there is fine by me. I am ready for anything he can possibly throw at me as I've had to work with destructive and/or escape artist dog behavior before. I don't count on it with him given his current temperament but I won't dismiss the possibility either! He seems pretty laid back for now.

I have been learning about my new family member through updates, pictures, and videos. Needless to say, I'm excited and late-June can't get here soon enough. And again, hello!

Welcome!
Having a puppy that already understands the basics (or more) sounds great! Are you ready to keep his training regimen going at home with you?

Welcome ! If you are familiar with malinois then you should be fine. I had ( and still have two DS) both at the same time. The mal was more " on" than my ds but they were also for different purposes. My mal had Ring 3 training when we got him and my DS was still hanging out with the breeder/trainer in France. If you teach them to ignore everything the cat and other dog should be fine. that is what we do for the basics in Protection. We put the dog down in the middle of the room, and put a hamster in a ball and let it roll around. The dog had to watch us the whole time no matter where the hamster rolled to.

You could also watch some Michael Ellis videos to brush up on your knowledge as well so when the pup comes home you two can just slide right in together.


PS. for big subjects, I writhe them first in WOrd then copy paste here.

@TimeL_168. Of course. :3

@Dutchringgirl: Thank you ^_^

Welcome and congrats on your new pup, as most would probably agree, the crate is a good idea for these dogs. They aren't so much escape artists as they are curious to put anything into their mouth.

One principle I like to live by is I can't get mad at my dog for doing something that I set him up for failure with.

Lots of exercise and that off switch is pretty great.

Congratulations on your handsome new guy. Is he home yet?