DS not a good family pet?

[m101293]

Hello -

My wife and I are looking to make an addition to our active family in Little Rock, AR and I thought a Dutch Shepherd might be the one for us, until I read some of these posts. Just to be clear - am I to understand a Dutch Shepherd would NOT make a good addition to a loving, active household? Large fenced backyard with air conditioned attachment to our home (his/her room). Close to a lake, etc.

Thanks for providing a forum for these questions. Very helpful info!

[Dutchringgirl]

Having a DS is not about the amount of love or the fencing or how cool the house is, this is a protection dog that needs a ton of mental and physical stimulation.

What are your plans? Are you going to work the dog? Who will be home with the dog while you are at work? Kids?

[Steve Gossmeyer]

Realistically no they are not! Some COULD be... but take my 4 year old dutchie he's not a house dog! I train in for police dog type competitions 5 days a week and it's not enough... in the house he's a nut! Can they be yes some but you have to research and research and then even a low drive dog can be too much! If you have or are planning to have children I would say no get a german shepherd instead.... kids are just giant chew toys and what it takes to break them of that habit takes a professional

[Tennessee3]

What's your experience level with dogs?
What breeds?
What have you trained them to do?
Have you ever dealt with a dog that would come up the leash and bite you if you got too harsh in your corrections?
What are your plans for this dog?
What is your wife's experience with dogs?
How would you describe your perfect dog?
What's your daily schedule look like?
Is everyone in your household on board with what it might take to control this dog?
Are you certain they mean it, even if this dog turns out to be a handful?
How old are your kids? What are their personalities like? Hyper? Do they want a dog to be a snuggle buddy? Would they act without thinking?
Do your kids friends come over alot? Would they be respectful of the rules you have set concerning this dog?
What breeders are you looking at?
Do you know what KNPV is?
Do you understand that most Dutchies in the US are from KNPV lines and what exactly that means?
Do you have a good trainer you can turn to if you find yourself having problems?
And I don't mean Petco I mean a sport dog trainer who's dealt with hard working line Shepherds GSDs & Mals?
Do you have any other pets?
What preparations would you take to deal with this dog as a puppy? Crates, expens, leashed in the house etc?
Are you aware that some of these dogs will not tolerate crates well and will destroy anything short of a welded steel box with an actual bolted lock? These can cost $500 or more, are you willing to pay that?
How much activity does your active family actually do?
Do you have any nearby resources that would allow you to burn off this dogs energy? Lakes, parks, training facilities etc
If it turns out you can't control this dog on your own, what would you do?
How did you decide Dutch Shepherds sounded like a good fit for you?

All these questions would help people here give you a better picture of whether or not these dogs are right for you. I wouldn't say it's impossible to have a high drive working dog as a pet (to a point, there are dogs out there completely unfit to be in any home with kids), but if you're listing A/C as some proof you have the right environment for one it makes me extremely suspicious that you're not going to give the answers I would hope to the questions above.

[m101293]

Wow, these dogs sound dangerous. Thanks for all of the input! I guess the answer to my question is "no".

[Steve Gossmeyer]

Wow, these dogs sound dangerous. Thanks for all of the input! I guess the answer to my question is "no".

In an inexperienced home yes... my dog isn't dangerous at all but highly trained

[Tennessee3]

Wow, these dogs sound dangerous. Thanks for all of the input! I guess the answer to my question is "no".

In an inexperienced home yes... my dog isn't dangerous at all but highly trained

This place needs a like button

[DaHawaiianDS]

The jury is out on Kapena. He acted a fool when I got home at 11 pm if even quietly. My husband has given him, a 4 mo old pup a 3 mile hike and hours of play and training. Today because he fussed so I thought I'd go up with him in the crate to which he's usually well behaved and sleeping and say hi since he was awake, put him through a few calming and engaging commands and feed him a few treats. He submissive peed all over his crate. Crap, I thought, can't let him sleep on it gotta get it out and wash it. Had him in a sit stay.

Opened the door fine, as I dragged the bed out he got excitable, more commands, reward. Got it and put it on the crate, he shoved the door down, knocked me fully on my ass, tried to grab the train bag and took off terrorizing the room in a way I would assume any other puppy could not be capable of having had the day he did.

I (luckily) was brilliant enough to close all the doors leading out of the room before I opened the crate. I have an IKEA bed with a very tall headboard (almost 6 ft) and about a one foot by square gap on the bottom. It is a wide king.

I held a treat. He's gone for it every time before, Kapena go crate *bounces across my bed like a pretreen at their first slumber*. Look! He always looks. He did, he saw the treat, go crate! Command averted, screw that this is too fun!

Ruffled through all newly folded laundry, knocked the dresser over and then crawled in that 1 ft by 1 ft space and: would. Not. Come. Out. No treats, no special bribery, new toys or squeeky would get him out. I don't know how he even fit in the first place, I'm capable of trainings GSDs I've grown up around plenty of farm and hunting dogs in my life. He missed me all day long and wouldn't come out.!!!

Long story short I had some chicken guts and livers I just bought and bribed him out, grabbed him by the elbows, walked him back to the crate and he was fine after that. No crate mat tonight because he peed all over it, the livers are gone but they worked so now I need more. And I scolded my hubs because none of this would have happened if he had put the fitted sheet over the crate.

Just for a frame of reference about how high he can jump at almost 5 months, I'm 5'7 and he jostled the chain for the ceiling fan I have to reach to pull.

[DaHawaiianDS]

Keep in mind that while my husband and I don't have any small children and don't plan any kids in the future, any in the room just in this one instance could have been instantly injured. Newborns on tables, etc. He's followed my every command and before and since and while this was my mistake not his and I should have let him self calm, it could have caused serious personal injury to any child without regard (he had none) and no remorse. He did actually tank the chain from the ceiling fan which we measured at 7'4 ft. (At only almost 5 mos!). And fully knock over a large six drawer dresser having shown no excitability like this after his standard crazy hour before. We will not make the mistake again and will seek out a more suitable trainer for his breed from this point forward.

[Dutchringgirl]

Wow, these dogs sound dangerous. Thanks for all of the input! I guess the answer to my question is "no".

In an inexperienced home yes... my dog isn't dangerous at all but highly trained

Ditto. My Thalie would not hurt a fly, but she has had ( and I ) extensive training. My Sadie who is 8 now and is a super high drive crack hound, is now laying with me in a house with 4 pugs, chawawa, 2 cats, rabbit, guinea pigs, all with free roam of the house, and all have gone up to Sadie , sniffed her, walked over her paws, walked around her, and Sadie did not do a thing.

with out training, all would have been dead,

[Joxgirl]

I dropped my four month old with a trainer for boarding tonight. After meeting Rogue and spending time with her, she told us that she's a "loaded gun". She is already protective of us. She's not meant for cuteness and cuddles. But if it's what you want for your family and you have what it takes, it could be a fit. Good luck on your research to finding the right dog.