Hi - New member intro

[bshaver]

Greetings,
I am a new member. I live in Herndon, VA (Washington, D.C. metro area) and am thinking of acquiring a Dutch Shepherd puppy as my next dog. I am a 4-H dog club training leader for 8 years (a volunteer youth organization that teaches youth leadership through experiential learning, in our case, dog training), and have learned about training my dogs (all seniors now) over the years in obedience, agility, canine musical freestyle and am interested in learning more about treibball and protection sports competition. I have dabbled in trialing myself, and out of necessity learned quite a bit about solving common behavior issues. I am a big fan of clicker methodology training techniques.

I am interested to learn more about the DS breed in general, breeders, and breed lines through reading your postings and more about training with a higher drive athletic dog. From what I read, the DS breed seems like a compatible match to my training interests.

Thank you,
Brenda Shaver

[leih merigian]

Welcome, Brenda!

You seem like the kind of person a DS would like to be with, as long as there's enough activity to go along with all that mental challenge you'd obviously give .

Lots of stuff for you to sort thru here...have fun!

[bshaver]

Thanks! You are almost a neighbor being there near C-ville.

[LyonsFamily]

Yeah 4-H!!!

I did 4-H for 6 years growing up with my Beagle and later English Setters. If only I'd discovered the DS when I was 12. My beagle constantly got DQ'd in agility matches because she's so slow and that definitely wouldn't have been a problem with one of these guys.

A DS could be a wonderful fit into your life. Since you're working with a lot of children, make sure a pup either gets a ton of socialization, or get a rescue with known temperament that loves kids. My rescue DS isn't so great with kids, so he would do really badly as a 4-H demo dog.

I think it'll be great exposing the youth to a high drive dog and the capabilities they have. I remember everyone getting a Border Collie when I was a kid and they were so nutso crazy and the only ones winning. I thought I'd never have a stable dog that would be this fast. I love love love running Odin in agility, he challenges me and it's so much fun.

[Marjolein]

Welcome

[Christie M]

Welcome to the forum, and what a great intro!!

If you can, please visit the User Control Panel and also create a signature for yourself that includes your name. It helps us remember who is who

I also lead a 4H training group! I love it! When I moved to TN 4 1/2 years ago, I was surprised that they didn't offer the dog program here. It was really big in MI where I moved from, and I spend many county fairs judging it. I'm so excited that we were able to get one up and rolling! My kids had never seen a DS before, but now they are constantly asking if they can "borrow" one at training sessions to work agility or obedience with.

Thanks again for joining!

[bshaver]

Thank you! Stephanie, you are spot on regarding socialization. Being a 4-H demo dog and thus kid/family and dog friendly, finding and sustaining a stable temperament is my top goal. I would also like to be more competitive in agility and other sports so would love an all purpose athletic dog and a DS sounds right.

Sorry about missing the signature - took me a few minutes to find it hiding in plain sight. Let's see if it works this time.

That's so great you have a 4-H group, Christie. It is such a fun and rewarding volunteer experience. I started in 4-H as a parent when my daughter was 11 years old and joined our club. After a couple years I was a leader and now a leader and dog trainer too. Meanwhile my daughter became an All Star and is now just out of college and is a teacher. She still volunteers for the club and at state and district events when she can. A group of us are trying to strengthen dog programming in Virginia.

Recently I attended an instructor seminar for Wag It Games (http://www.wagitgames.com). I think Wag It Games will be fantastic for our 4-H club. We have started working on the No Need for Speed skills though I don't have all the equipment yet. It is great fun for indoor winter work and those with CGC type skills but not ready yet for agility work. (Everybody wants to play on equipment.)

I bet your 4-Hers love the Dutch Shepherds. I hope it will be interesting for them to see me train one too. lol!