Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hello, just introducing myself and Monster. Been lurking here a while and now decided to join.
At the time of this post he's 10 weeks and so far earning his name.
We plan on some serious obedience training and maybe even compete if things go well.
Before Monster I've raised Dobermann's and my brother has a Malinois, Pyro who is showing Monster the ropes.

I don't know what else to say. Crate training went well, took 3 nights of crying for him, no sleep for me.
House breaking is going pretty good, still the odd pee in the house if I don't catch on in time. He's good on a lead and is learning to steer clear of my wheels, (manual wheelchair) after a few ouchies.

I'll keep reading here and chime in with any questions I have.

Welcome

oh so cute !!!

Awww what a cute Monster you have.

Thanks, He's twice that size now at 20lbs.
Still a Monster but learning things quick. He's got six or seven commands down pretty solid and working on a few more. Great on a lead and doing well with house training.

One thing I am having trouble with is stopping the nipping, he's pretty mouthy with myself and the kids.
The kids are toughing it out and are pretty forgiving but it does wear on them. Yesterday Monster latched on to my daughters shoe (on foot) and wouldn't let up on command or by her hand. It took a good whack to get him to release.
I know it isn't just a DS thing but anyone here have any good strategies or ideas?

When they are young, they are still learning the commands. Hitting or whacking a dog should never happen. This in turn will either brake his spirit which is never good, or make him fear you or send him into protection mode and someone ends up bit. The dog always gets the blame. Not fair.
This is not the breed to be around children unsupervised. The adult needs to be the one there who is in control. I don't know if that was the case or not. My child is around our puppy but it has to be with my husband or me. She's 9 so it's not that she's a young child.....just a child. Anyway, my advice is not to yell or hit, but give him the command to let go, or stop, or leave it....and offer him a toy he can chew. Distract him. Don't allow the child to yell and carry on. This excites the bite more. This is what these amazing dogs have in their DNA. I'm not an expert and there are others here who know way more than I do.
Good luck