Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi all, new here and I discovered the forum while trying (like many other) to ID my dog. I know visual ID is almost impossible, but here's the story on this pup:

We rescued her three months ago. She was scrawny, wormy, lethargic and weak. Her and her litter mates were abandoned with their dam, which was supposedly a GSD (but we know how vets and shelters slap GSD on any shepherd rescue). I have been asking for advice throughout a few FB groups on how to help strengthen her back and hips, and it's inevitable that every time I post, people come out of the woodwork to flat out TELL me what my dog is (of course everyone's opinion is different lol.) I've heard everything from mastiff or dane mix, to pit mix, to lurcher and even whippet lol. The most common response I get though is "That's a dutch shepherd!" I personally think she looks like a GSD x Lurcher or APBT mix, but with so many people insisting she's a Dutch Shepherd, I'm here to ask the Dutchie experts, what do you all think of this pup?

Last picture was her condition when we got her, the pics of her sitting on the rock were taken today. She's about 7 months old.

In the end, it doesn't matter what breed she is, but curiosity definitely has the best of me. She's a very loving, intelligent dog with a lot of bravery. She's been evaluated as a potential protection sport dog and once we build a little more prey drive in her, that may be the route we take. Whatever she is, she definitely turned out to be an awesome rescue and I couldn't be happier with her.

(Also curious - I do want to DNA test her, and Embark has seemed like the way to go, but I keep seeing mention that Embark doesn't have Dutch Shepherd in their catalogue, is that true? Should I go with Wisdom Panel instead?)

FB post with some videos~

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_ ... 0515226551

Im going to say yes, she is a DS. The floppy ear shot throws me but that could just be thin cartilage in her ears.
Hill work is the best for the back end. Go on hikes, up and down, uneven terrain will strengthen her up. she is 7 months old and had a crappy start so don't rush her. she didn't get the good nutrients she needed in the important pup time. If you can feed her raw, that would be the best for her to get her strong as well, but if you cant, thats okay too. She looks good and happy in the other pictures, so you are on the right track.. Have fun with her!

Dutchringgirl wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2019 11:40 am Im going to say yes, she is a DS. The floppy ear shot throws me but that could just be thin cartilage in her ears.
Hill work is the best for the back end. Go on hikes, up and down, uneven terrain will strengthen her up. she is 7 months old and had a crappy start so don't rush her. she didn't get the good nutrients she needed in the important pup time. If you can feed her raw, that would be the best for her to get her strong as well, but if you cant, thats okay too. She looks good and happy in the other pictures, so you are on the right track.. Have fun with her!

I'm so much more curious now, lol. I've had experience being around GSDs and Dutchies bred for scent and bite work, and she's definitely more mellow than most I've seen, but the stronger she gets, the more drive she has.

We've started hill work, stairs, cookie stretches, 2 leg stretches and crawling. She also does light flirt pole work to help build her prey drive. She's very intelligent, a bit goofy and so long as I'm with her, she's outgoing (courageous, but also cautious until I tell her it's okay to go play or meet a new dog/person). She's got incredible public manners, is crate trained but can be loose, and she jumps at the door handle when she needs to go out (self taught behavior). Really got lucky with her.

Hopefully a raw diet will be sustainable in the future, but we don't have the freezer space or budget right now. Our dogs are on Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20. At the least, I may begin adding fish oil and other supplements. Her ears did flop awful in the beginning, and we've been using breathe right strips and massaging the base of her ears to help the cartilage strengthen XD They're almost up completely on their own now.

My Sadie has a bunch of self taught behaviors she uses to communicate with me. Its very funny. Go to dogfoodadvisor.com and find another food. Purina is the crappiest of crap.

as far as making her ears stand, nothing works. Sadie had super floppy ears as a pup and I did everything and nothing worked, they will stand on their own as she gets better nutrience.

She sounds like a good dog.

That's a shame :/ I've been hearing great things about the Sport variety from owners with active dogs. We were feeding Fromm, but our dogs seemed to lose weight and have duller coats on it which was surprising. I'll give that site a look, thank you ^^

For her ears, we usually leave them on their own and only add the strips when they start to flop really badly. It just helps keep the ear in position so the cartilage doesn't develop a crease. Definitely a handy trick without having to do full rollers and tape.

She's adorable.

On the personality front, we thought Bramble was pretty laid back when we got her from the shelter...she sort of is, she also is what the trainer calls "high drive". Since she gained weight and strength she's become more intense. Still a sweetheart, but intense.

My uneducated vote she looks DS to me.

Mine had a floppy ear from the time I got him from the shelter at 4 months till about 6 months. I gave him milk every day in the morning cause that's what I had in the refrigerator, as well as cottage cheese apart from regular dogfood floppy ear is as pointy now as an antenna at 4 years old.They say its correlated with teething that after that is harder to get it up. I dont know whether it's TRUE or not, just give the dog nutritious food and he will reach his full potential.

Been a while since I came here to update, but we did do a DNA test on Sky. She came back as 50% German Shepherd, 50% Presa Canario. She's really filled out and turned into an awesome dog. And she has a new baby sister - a Dutch ^^

Awesome!

They are so cute together.

What personality differences do you see between the two?

Goodness, I thought I had replied to this on mobile, but I guess it never went through X)

Asha is 6.5 months old now. We moved into a house that we're renting so the dogs have a yard to go out in. We're currently training in PSA and I seriously couldn't have asked for a better dog, especially for a first time Dutch owner. She's energetic, but very well behaved at home and in public. Aloof, but social. When it's time to work though, she's a different dog.

I'd say the biggest difference between her and Sky, is she's more courageous and has zero self preservation. While Sky is generally a more nervy, cautious dog, Asha would probably jump off a cliff for a piece of kibble.

I post regularly on Instagram @brush.and.brindle for new pics

Can you post a few pictures on here ?

Beautiful pups! I see so many similarities with our little girl! But her Wisdom results came back with no Dutch...? But who really knows? She's a great dog and we love every quirk of hers.

Miss Mercy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 07, 2020 12:34 pm Beautiful pups! I see so many similarities with our little girl! But her Wisdom results came back with no Dutch...? But who really knows? She's a great dog and we love every quirk of hers.

I saw your welcome post and she looks an awful lot like Sky did as a pup. I'd bet she's some type of GSD x bully mix with those big jowels and squared jaw.

Her DNA results came back 50% Malinois all from one family side, 12.5% lab, 12.5% Pointing Griffon (which is a Dutch breed...) and 25% asian/guard/herd which could include bully, more shepherd, and maybe even husky....
I'd actually be interested in doing another brand possibly.

Those are some other pretty quirky breeds......not any you would think that would get tied up to a Malinois. Malinois and Dutch also are regularly bred together and the color could be either or.

Yes, I felt that a little strange too. To have a pure bred get matched with what seems to be quite a mutt. I can kind of understand how , the way the DNA tests are done, that Malinois could be there in place of Dutch as they have the same characteristics other than Dutch always being brindle. And in that 25% was herd breed which would probably add more shepherd of some kind..
I may just splurge for another test and try Embark. Although it doesn't truly matter either..