Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
I have been blessed with a beautiful 5mnth old Dutch puppy named Raven. She is the most sweetest baby she also has a new 8yr old Westie sister named Terra who Raven seems to not like very much......yet. We're working on getting socialized and planning on starting puppy training in the next week. We've only had her for a full day.....so we're really new to each other but I figured I would start off on our best paw and find some people who have been there and done that to help guide me and my girls through some pit falls. The plan is for her to eventually train in personal protection as well as a few other classes. Right now we are just really getting to know each other and keep the peace...... So any tips or advise would really be appreciated.
Thanks!
Tai, mom of Terra ( 8yr old F. Westie) and Raven (9mnth old F. Dutch)
Tell us about yourself: I am in New York State. Got my first DS about 14 years ago (more or less as a rescue- lost her in Nov.). After years of GSD's, and a few dogs of other breeds (Rotti/Beauceron/Ger. Shorthaired Pointer/ Yorkie and my current Jack Russell) I now have another DS, 4mo female, no name yet, tho I have a few in mind. Also have a horse-old quarter horse mare-32. Can't wait for all the snow to get gone! Spring is coming too slow this year!
Hello! And welcome to the forum.
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Congrats on your new puppy! Did you adopt her or purchase her from a breeder? Socialization is a very big deal with these guys, so its great that you have already identified that! They have been bred for a very long time to vent their frustrations through their mouths, so lack of confidence and socialization can lead to some pretty dangerous fear based behavior. Classes will be GREAT!
Have you already identified a personal protection trainer? I would try to get her into their club asap as well. Let her see the people and see the game. Learning some basic foundation tug work might also be good for her confidence and teach you clear ways of communicating with her, through work.
What a great age! Congrats again. We will all be anxious to see pics and hear more stories.
Tell us about yourself: Rescued our first DS male on Dec 27, 2011. Approx 4 yrs. Rescued from NADSR. His name is Odin. Adopted a 2nd DS from NADSR June 27, 2012. Kai - 6 months.
Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
Thank you for the warm welcome everyone! Raven will be going to puppy kindergarten the first weekend of May. She is still lunging at my Westie Terra (Who has NO FEAR what so ever with Napoleon complex btw) and it's a bit upsetting. I'm afraid to let her off the leash around her for fear she will hurt Terra. I was thinking of putting a soft mesh muzzle on her to let them play together like that until she gets used to her what do you think about that? She's great with the family very loving and sweet and mostly ignores Terra but I can tell they want to play with each other. Terra even brings Raven her ball and stuffies to play with. It's really adorable until Raven tries to snatch her face off.....My DH got her from a co-worker who has a working dog and a show dog. The working dog is descended from a police line from what I know of. Raven has pretty high prey drive and she has already started some tug work. She will be training with her Moms (personal protection dog btw) trainer soon. I'm excited for her and I know she will do well as a protector but I also want her to be a loving member of the family and not isolated when Terra is roaming around free. Someone suggested I crate and rotate? Any thoughts on that and if it's a good idea can someone tell me how to do this in detail or send me to a link. I know it's to put one in the crate while the other is out but for how long do I do this? I would really hate to do this forever and Terra is my shadow and is always with me so this will be hard on the both of us. Thanks everyone and I will try and get Raven to take a picture without looking like a devil dog and post it LOL! So far every picture that I have taken she looks very menacing.
Tai, mom of Terra ( 8yr old F. Westie) and Raven (9mnth old F. Dutch)
Tell us about yourself: I adopted a Dutch Shepherd mix (without knowing what she was) from the SPCA here in Victoria BC and am now trying to learn everything I can about this breed. My husband and I work from home most of the time so I thought it was time to get a puppy! We have his 2 boys here half the time and we wanted a nice family dog.
Sugar looks like a miniature Dutch Shepherd with floppy ears, and has every ounce of DS traits in her little body!
I hope to learn from other DS owners and share doggy experiences.
Welcome, and I hope you can sort out your two dogs getting along with each other. I'm not the one to answer your question, but there are lots of experienced people on this forum that should be able to give you some advice. I would keep her on her leash for a while in the meantime...
Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
Tell us about yourself: Dogs are my life, what can I say. GSDs primarily for nearly 50 years til bringing in my first DutchShep about 4 years ago. GSD rescue for 9 yrs, nearly 200 thru my home, rehabbed, adopted out. Been involved in AKC ob, herding, tracking, agility; Schutzhund-DVG; scent detection (HR-water)&narcotics, some patrol work. Mostly herding training at present on my little farm.
Welcome! Personally, I dont like the crate method. Some dogs exhibit very defensive acts because they are the one locked in a crate, no ability to flight so they 'fight'. I have a very passive male GSD who loves everyone. Put him in a crate and another dog walk up and he goes ballistic.
Also, what vibes are you giving to Raven when she is on a leash and Terra walks up? Do you jerk and make an issue about this? If so, then Raven would feel that tension and associate it with everytime Terra walks up.
I dont want to suggest anything but when I used to bring in a new foster, I would introduce my passive medium sized mixed breed by leaving a long line on the foster, go to a neutral place (no toys or food in sight) and basically turn the foster loose and let them sniff; me standing still and reading body language the whole time. I had the long line close enough to snatch it up if necessary.
Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
Thanks Denise I'm thinking that's a great suggestion. Yes I do believe I have been tense when holding Raven's leash as Terra approaches. Ugh! Now that it's been pointed out I feel kind of foolish. My initial reaction was to just let them be in the yard together with me watching but I listened to my husband instead and kept Raven tight to my side.......great MOMMY NEEDS TRAINING TOO! I am going to pick up a basket muzzle today and I am going to keep trying until I get this right. I know I can do it. Last night was the first time they tried to play with each other but again......DH was holding the leash this time and he kept yanking Raven away and he's kind of hardheaded.....DH not my dogs anyway I kept trying to explain to him "Keep the tension out of your arm" to no avail maybe I should pluck him in the nose and firmly say "NO! NO YANK!" LOL! sigh.....
Tai, mom of Terra ( 8yr old F. Westie) and Raven (9mnth old F. Dutch)
Tell us about yourself: We current own 1 Dutch Shepherd - ThunderHawk's Child of Lilith "Mazikeen" And we have loved and lost 3 - Vrijheid's Amie "Vada", Vrijheid's Hafwen "Letty" and Sather's High On Life "Narcotic". We train/compete in mondioring and agility.
If you have a trainer coming to your home to work with you very soon then I would just keep them apart until the trainer arrives. Then they are not rehearsing any bad behavior or getting negative associations with each other (see other dog and get yanked and yelled at so other dog must be bad). Your trainer will have a procedure that they'll want you to follow and if you agree with it you should follow it as they tell you. It may not involve a muzzle or it might but you might want to wait to buy one til you confirm that. If I remember correctly, they are not cheap.
Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
Good point Heather.....ok I will slow down and wait for the trainer and just keep them apart.....sigh. better safe than sorry. Ok so that sums it up I'm calling the trainer tonight to see what he suggest and then just wait for his visit, until then I am keeping them apart.
Tai, mom of Terra ( 8yr old F. Westie) and Raven (9mnth old F. Dutch)
Tell us about yourself: Tai, Mom of 1 year old beautiful Raven FYI she has no OFF SWITCH! And 8 year old cutie pie Terra the West Highland Terrier aka The Fun Police or Officer Grumpy Tail.
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she also has a new 8yr old Westie sister named Terra who Raven seems to not like very much......yet. We're working on getting socialized and planning on starting puppy training in the next week. We've only had her for a full day.....so we're really new to each other but I figured I would start off on our best paw and find some people who have been there and done that to help guide me and my girls through some pit falls. The plan is for her to eventually train in personal protection as well as a few other classes. Right now we are just really getting to know each other and keep the peace...... 
Judith Van Neerland Dutch Shepherds 
better safe than sorry. Ok so that sums it up I'm calling the trainer tonight to see what he suggest and then just wait for his visit, until then I am keeping them apart.