Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hello from Austin, Texas! My name is Alex. My girlfriend Kim and I just picked up our first ever DS puppy. Her name is Zoey. I do know about the breed. I currently work in the oilfield but in the past I had worked at a K9 training/boarding/ daycare facility in Cincinnati Ohio where I was born and raised. I was a handler and assistant manager there and have been around all breeds of dogs. They did PSA training there and so I’ve been around a lot of malinois and Dutch shepherds so I understand what I’m getting into. I plan on putting her through some extensive training. If anyone happens to know a great trainer in the Austin area I’d love to hear suggestions. I am not looking to do any protection training we just want have some awesome obedience training. We have another 8 year old dog named Tripper. He is very easy going however sometimes she wants to nip his tail or face and he lets her know he doesn’t appreciate it. Any advice or suggestions for training would be great! She is having a little bit of trouble wining in her crate at night but it seems to be getting better every night. Hey... 0 accidents in the crate so far! Over a week! She pees on the floor if we aren’t looking but otherwise she goes outside immediately it’s awesome. Anyways I’ll share some pics and again any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Welcome to the forum. Zoey is gorgeous.

You might consider some activity beyond obedience for the future. Mental stimulation is a must to keep harmony in the house.

Hopefully, someone will chime in on a trainer recommendation in Austin.

centrop67 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 12:51 pm Welcome to the forum. Zoey is gorgeous.

You might consider some activity beyond obedience for the future. Mental stimulation is a must to keep harmony in the house.

Hopefully, someone will chime in on a trainer recommendation in Austin.

Yea I was thinking about doing some agility training or something too with obstacles etc. We like to go hiking and exploring a lot so we plan on her coming with us in the future once shes been properly vaccinated for everything and is old enough to be jumping on and off of things. Thanks for the response!

NOSEWORK!

TimL_168 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:46 pmNOSEWORK!

Oooh that would be cool too! I hadn't really given that much thought but that would be a great idea to keep her mind busy.

That type of work gets my dog a good work out. There's a lot you can do to keep it interesting, too.

Love that first picture with the splayed legs! This has been discussed on the forum in the past as "frog legs" and it is probably something that you won't see much of as she grows out of it.

haha yea its so cute when she tries to get up out of this position. She has to start kicking them back legs on the hardwood floors until she can get them back under herself and pick herself up.

borellar15 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:51 pm

TimL_168 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:46 pmNOSEWORK!

Oooh that would be cool too! I hadn't really given that much thought but that would be a great idea to keep her mind busy.

Listen to Steve, dude knows what up.

I did my first tracking session with my pup at 13 weeks if you were wondering about age. It's addictive though, fair warning

ETA she's adorable!!

Tennessee3 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 01, 2017 6:47 pm

borellar15 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:51 pm

TimL_168 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 1:46 pmNOSEWORK!

Oooh that would be cool too! I hadn't really given that much thought but that would be a great idea to keep her mind busy.

Listen to Steve, dude knows what up.

I did my first tracking session with my pup at 13 weeks if you were wondering about age. It's addictive though, fair warning

ETA she's adorable!!

Thanks! Yea that was an interesting point he made I never really thought of. What other nosework can you have them do other than tracking or obviously narcotics and stuff like that(but I'm not a cop so this would be useless to me really)... Any ideas?

Dude...anything. everything. If you're prone to losing your keys, that's a great one.
There's a national nosework program you can compete in. They only train for a few very specific scents though.

If you’ve got the time for it, Volunteer SAR (search and rescue) would be right up y’alls alley with how active y’all are.

Even if you never did actual SAR with it, it’d be cool to train for. One of y’all hikes ahead and the other follows the pup to try and find you.

Like hide and seek for adults with dogs. Dang now I want to do it LOL

Can we interrupt this message for more pics of Zoey?

She is sooooo cute!!!!

***UPDATE***

Updater on Zoey guys sorry I havent been on here in a while. Shes doing great! I wish I could share video but shes doing great on her basic commands. Shes going on 9 months now. I've got some updated pictures. She wont be doing any protection even though she loves to play tug. Shes not got the right nerves for it as shes got a bit of the fear in her genes and I don't want that to play out badly if something were to happen. Just not the right fit for it. But Shes definitely gonna be a great fit for agility or nosework! She absolutely loves to play tug of war and go swimming! Shes got a great down stay already.