Thoughts on protection/family dog
Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 8:28 pm
So i have been looking into this for a while, and have decided to add a protection/family dog, right now we have 3 dogs (2 old dogs 10years+) and a puppy who has just turned 7 months, due to my personal circumstances i have been looking into protection dogs just for piece of mind more than anything,and i also like the fact that advance obedience is already achieved.
I have been trying to look for a specific answer in regards to how much exercise a dutch Shepard needs per day, but I'm getting very split answers, last thing i want to do is add a dog into my family and then it because depressed because i can not provide enough mental and physical stimulation.
I work from home, so i am more than happy to adapt my schedule to fit the needs of the dogs. they have access to the entire house, and the dog flap is always open, allowing them to access the house and garden when they wish.
Right now, i go for a 45min walk at 6am, feed my dogs and then they sleep until 10, at that point i take the 7month old for another 20-30min walk, since the 2 adult dogs easily get tired out.
Then again at 1 they all tend to play outside in the garden for 1-2hours. and then i will once again go for another walk at 6pm.
And then throughout the day, we constantly do 10-20min mini training sessions. do you think that this would also suit the needs of a dutch Shepard? i am more than willing to put in more exercise if required, as of right now I'm currently teaching the 7month old how to walk beside a bike so we can start going for nightly rides.
I have contacted a few breeders/trainers in regards to my questions but just looking for a overall view from multiple people.
Please also note that i do not take care of the 3 dogs by myself, so there is no issue there either.
I have been trying to look for a specific answer in regards to how much exercise a dutch Shepard needs per day, but I'm getting very split answers, last thing i want to do is add a dog into my family and then it because depressed because i can not provide enough mental and physical stimulation.
I work from home, so i am more than happy to adapt my schedule to fit the needs of the dogs. they have access to the entire house, and the dog flap is always open, allowing them to access the house and garden when they wish.
Right now, i go for a 45min walk at 6am, feed my dogs and then they sleep until 10, at that point i take the 7month old for another 20-30min walk, since the 2 adult dogs easily get tired out.
Then again at 1 they all tend to play outside in the garden for 1-2hours. and then i will once again go for another walk at 6pm.
And then throughout the day, we constantly do 10-20min mini training sessions. do you think that this would also suit the needs of a dutch Shepard? i am more than willing to put in more exercise if required, as of right now I'm currently teaching the 7month old how to walk beside a bike so we can start going for nightly rides.
I have contacted a few breeders/trainers in regards to my questions but just looking for a overall view from multiple people.
Please also note that i do not take care of the 3 dogs by myself, so there is no issue there either.