New DS owner!

Post Reply
sblakely
Just Whelped
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:08 pm
Tell us about yourself: Hello! My husband and I recently added a Dutch Shepherd to our family. We have 2 children, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. We also have a 6 1/2 year old black lab named Hoover. We brought our DS him home on Sept. 8, 14. Dyson is now 6 months old how. He has settled into our family nicely. He is extremely smart!! Since this is the first time we have had a dog like Dyson, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to join this forum to learn as much as we can so we have a well trained and behaved DS!

New DS owner!

Post by sblakely »

Hello,

My husband and I brought a Dutch Shepherd into our family back in September. We have 2 children (5 1/2 & 3 1/2) and a 6 1/2 year old black lab (Hoover). Our dS, Dyson, will be 6 months old tomorrow. Overall, he is a great dog!! However, we are new to the DS breed and are trying to figure him out. A couple of things that I would like to ask for your expertise on...

1 - Dyson chews through a bone in no time flat! We have purchased every heavy duty, serious chewer rated bone and it just doesn't matter. He chews through the Kong brand as well. My daughter gave him a brand new tennis ball last night and it was destroyed in about 3 minutes. Our lab has always chewed on deer antlers and they seem to work well for Dyson. Any other suggestions??

2 - The Cage! Dyson and I had quite battle this morning! Does anyone else have issues when putting your DS in their cage. He ONLY goes in there when we leave the house. My husband works from home 3 days a week so he is only in there during the day 2 days a week. Then, here and there otherwise. He started sleeping in our bedroom on his bed on the floor like our lab does as soon as we brought him home. He does NOT go in there as punishment...ever! He gets a treat and a couple toys in there with him. I do have to lead him there with the treat and hold his collar...otherwise the chase is on! He has started biting at my hand, breaks are on at the door and the battle begins. Help!!

We are enrolling him in obedience training which will begin the end of this month. Any tips/tricks are greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!
deadrabbits
Puppy
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:08 am
Tell us about yourself: First Dutch owned. Was bought for my daughter and the family. Currently going through obedience classes. I am former military and currently working for a law enforcement agency. Have had labs most of my life and a friend introduced me to his Dutch and my family fell in love. Our current one is a female named pepper and is just now 3 months old. I would like to possibly train her for search and rescue
Location: Buckeye AZ

Re: New DS owner!

Post by deadrabbits »

Hello and welcome. For chews I like to use the antler chews both deer and elk antlers. For balls are you giving him them to just chew or is he destroying them when he is retrieving it while playing. I like the chuck-it glow in the dark balls for play time. They are strong but are not solid so it makes them harder to shred. Crate games are a good way to get him use to going in when he needs too and repetition, repetition, repetition.
Casey and pepper----- Mr H's long lost sister
sblakely
Just Whelped
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:08 pm
Tell us about yourself: Hello! My husband and I recently added a Dutch Shepherd to our family. We have 2 children, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. We also have a 6 1/2 year old black lab named Hoover. We brought our DS him home on Sept. 8, 14. Dyson is now 6 months old how. He has settled into our family nicely. He is extremely smart!! Since this is the first time we have had a dog like Dyson, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to join this forum to learn as much as we can so we have a well trained and behaved DS!

Re: New DS owner!

Post by sblakely »

Thank you for your reply!! He is supposed to only have a ball at playtime...but, this instance my daughter gave him the tennis ball without me knowing. He ran off and destroyed it. He does have one ball that is not even a dog toy that he loves. He stole it from my kids...it has these nubby things on it and has a light up blinker on the inside. He will play with it, fetch it, hold it in his mouth but, never chews it. Thanks for the suggestion on the Chuck-it ball...I'm going to look for one. He actually goes into his cage by himself during the day...he isn't in there long but he does go in on his own. Thanks again!!
User avatar
LyonsFamily
Training Dog
Posts: 947
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 3:08 am
Tell us about yourself: Odin 5 years
Elli 5 years
Location: Michigan
Contact:

Re: New DS owner!

Post by LyonsFamily »

I prefer black kong extremes. I size up (usually XL) for chewing and use the large for fetch. Odin does go through them regularly, but they last a considerable amount of time and I always inspect them and through them away when I see the first sign of damage.

We also use Antlers here and the occasional Souper size nylabone.
Stephanie
'Odin' NV PTA Odin of Another Kingdom RL1
'Elli' Drawing Our Own Constellations RL1 CGC CGCA
sblakely
Just Whelped
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:08 pm
Tell us about yourself: Hello! My husband and I recently added a Dutch Shepherd to our family. We have 2 children, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. We also have a 6 1/2 year old black lab named Hoover. We brought our DS him home on Sept. 8, 14. Dyson is now 6 months old how. He has settled into our family nicely. He is extremely smart!! Since this is the first time we have had a dog like Dyson, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to join this forum to learn as much as we can so we have a well trained and behaved DS!

Re: New DS owner!

Post by sblakely »

Great! Thanks for the suggestions!
User avatar
Owned-By-Hendrix
Training Dog
Posts: 942
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:40 am
Tell us about yourself: Dutch Shepherd Owner.

Re: New DS owner!

Post by Owned-By-Hendrix »

Antlers will be about the only thing that holds up. And Kongs. For play time with balls Chuck It's, Planet Orbee balls, Kong, and a ball from eliteK9 hold up fairly well.

Do crate games from Karen Pryor with your pup. It's essentially drills and self control with the crate - a fantastic resource for dogs that won't enter a crate. Since he's entering on his own that's good. Crate games just strengthens the comfort and willingness to enter and exit, also being more comfortable in there. If after a few weeks you're still having problems I would treat it more as an obedience drill. But only after crate games.
Kay, H, and The SO
(Pepper's Look-A-Like)
(Tyson's Soul Twin)
User avatar
Dutchringgirl
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 5692
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:05 pm
Tell us about yourself: I am a mom of 6 life forces - 2 kids and 3 dogs 1 hamster. I live in Ct. I have trained Ringsport and Agility and have 2 DS, one 15 and 7 and a Basset Hound Cookie who is 2
Location: Ct, USA

Re: New DS owner!

Post by Dutchringgirl »

I only use Elk antlers from ELKusa.com my girls love them and they last a long time. Everything else gets destryed in seconds.

I cant help with the crate as my girls love their crates and i dont have a problem but I have heard great things about "crate games."

One thing though that may help is, keep a leash on him at all times, so when you have to put him in the crate you can grab him. Also, If you know you are going out, take the leash way ahead of time and keep him with you and hold the leash so you dont have to chase him, then work on what ever he pulls, but at least you have him to start with.

Also, put him in there while you are home, he knows that going in means you will leave him and he dosnt like that. When Sadie was a pup, she would go in for nap times, or just to go in so she got used to it and it didnt mean anything. While hubby is working, Dyson should go in for a while, or while you are around the house. let him see that it dosnt mean you will leave
Lisa, Thalie CGC & Sadie, Cookie the Basset, CT
ImageImage
sblakely
Just Whelped
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:08 pm
Tell us about yourself: Hello! My husband and I recently added a Dutch Shepherd to our family. We have 2 children, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. We also have a 6 1/2 year old black lab named Hoover. We brought our DS him home on Sept. 8, 14. Dyson is now 6 months old how. He has settled into our family nicely. He is extremely smart!! Since this is the first time we have had a dog like Dyson, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to join this forum to learn as much as we can so we have a well trained and behaved DS!

Re: New DS owner!

Post by sblakely »

Thank you all so much!! We have researched crate games and today is the day! :)
dogbyte
Puppy
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 10:29 pm
Tell us about yourself: I have been owned by German Shepherd Dogs for over 20 years. I have come to the dark side with my first Dutch Shepherd. Rossi is an almost 11 month old female from Land of Oz kennel. I have a 10 year old GSD and an 8 year old.

Re: New DS owner!

Post by dogbyte »

I nuke the dogs food with water to the consistency of peanut butter..stuff med. kong extremes and freeze...great treat for crate time. Find a treat he loves and only use it for crate games.
cathy,jaden,gracie & rossi with xara, chance and zoey forever snuggled deep inside my heart
sblakely
Just Whelped
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:08 pm
Tell us about yourself: Hello! My husband and I recently added a Dutch Shepherd to our family. We have 2 children, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. We also have a 6 1/2 year old black lab named Hoover. We brought our DS him home on Sept. 8, 14. Dyson is now 6 months old how. He has settled into our family nicely. He is extremely smart!! Since this is the first time we have had a dog like Dyson, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to join this forum to learn as much as we can so we have a well trained and behaved DS!

Re: New DS owner!

Post by sblakely »

I actually put peanut butter in his kong this morning and getting him to go in the crate was a lot easier. Then when we let him out we put this kong up. I've been keeping his antlers and bones in his crate so he has to go in it if he wants them. Well...he has been going in there, laying down and chewing on them. We are starting to think it isn't the crate and he is having separation anxiety when we leave. Poor guy!
dogbyte
Puppy
Posts: 56
Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 10:29 pm
Tell us about yourself: I have been owned by German Shepherd Dogs for over 20 years. I have come to the dark side with my first Dutch Shepherd. Rossi is an almost 11 month old female from Land of Oz kennel. I have a 10 year old GSD and an 8 year old.

Re: New DS owner!

Post by dogbyte »

yeah for the crate games...but if you really think he's having separation issues, see if you can slowly build the crate time..not easy when you have to all go to work/school. Rossi was awful at first, but now is okay...but twirls OCD style when she hears me drive up....and she's 19 months. so it can take time
cathy,jaden,gracie & rossi with xara, chance and zoey forever snuggled deep inside my heart
sblakely
Just Whelped
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 14, 2015 5:08 pm
Tell us about yourself: Hello! My husband and I recently added a Dutch Shepherd to our family. We have 2 children, 5 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. We also have a 6 1/2 year old black lab named Hoover. We brought our DS him home on Sept. 8, 14. Dyson is now 6 months old how. He has settled into our family nicely. He is extremely smart!! Since this is the first time we have had a dog like Dyson, I thought it would be helpful and beneficial to join this forum to learn as much as we can so we have a well trained and behaved DS!

Re: New DS owner!

Post by sblakely »

This morning when I put his bones in his crate he came and tried to bite the back of my leg. Thankfully I moved fast and he didn't get a full bite. Then he went in on his own and was picking the bones up. I knew he was going to take them out so I just shut the door really quick. I felt bad doing that but, he was in there and I saw my chance! Sigh! It is so frustrating for me. This is the only time he has aggressive behavior. We did have a bout with it when he was eating. He would growl and almost freeze up over his bowl if you went near him. We were able to get through that thank goodness! I just pray we can get through this!
Post Reply