New in Philly

[cblunk]

Hello all,

I have just discovered the dutchie and would like to meet one. I am years from getting my own dog, but I would like to do my homework.

Anyone else around the Philly area?

A bit of background on me:

I have had dogs around since the day I was brought home from the hospital. My Mom had Honey and Simon, Mother and Son Golden Retrievers -- almost Setter red. At 5, or so Honey had passed, so we got Oakley, another golden, MY first dog. He was crazy, loved to fetch, and BIG for golden's 80+ lbs in his prime. Simon passed a year later, and then we rescued Tar, a ~1 year old Black lab runt who was living as a farm dog at a friends. She had a habit of killing show chickens, so that's why we ended up with her. She had never been in a house before, and MAYBE had never been around another dog. But she ended up being pretty even tempered, a bit skittish, and dog aggressive other than around Oakley.

Anyway, I remember always wanting a GSD, and begging my mom to keep one that showed up at our door one day. But now my family is dog-less, and I am dreaming about when I will have the time/money/space to have a dog again. So I recently started looking at dogs again, reading online, volunteering at the local shelter etc., and instantly fell in love with the Mal Bear on CBS's Person of Interest. So one thing lead to another and I discovered the dare I say Perfect dog in the DS.

Glad to be here, and looking forward to learning/talking with other members in the forum.

-Clayton

[leih merigian]

Hi Clayton, and welcome!

So, why do you think a DS is the perfect dog for you? What kind of things do you envision yourself doing with one?

[cblunk]

I guess I've just always been interested in shepherd dogs. The rarity of the breed is also intriguing, I've never been one for having anything common (trying not to sound like a hipster). As I said in my post, I'm a LONG way off from having the time to have a dog, so I really have not thought about what kinds of activities I would do. I certainly would be interested in some sort of dog sport. I don't think I would be interested in any Bite work, unless they generally NEED some sort of outlet like that.

I have always wanted to have a dog that was impeccably trained, and it seems like the DS has an incredible desire to learn, and a lot of respect for a confident leader. I was too young or not confident enough with my previous dogs to do anything more than the basics; sit, shake, come.

Like I said, I JUST discovered the breed maybe a month ago, so I really don't know much of anything.

Hopefully I'm not rambling...

-Clayton

[LyonsFamily]

You should see if your family can get involved in transport with the North American Dutch Shepherd rescue. That's usually a good place to start with getting to know the breed.

That dog on person of interest is very well trained and it will take years to get a dog there.

If you watch the show Chicago Fire at all, there was a malinois on last week. She belongs to a friend of mine and the foster mom for my DS before I got him. Her dog is so well trained, but to compare the recent litter out of the female that was on the show is 7 months old and they are total nuts. Another friend has a male from that litter, her 2nd malinois, and she's a professional trainer. He's ripped a few of my pants when I was over visiting and recently sent her to the hospital for stitches from a game of tug.

These high drive dogs are awesome dogs to work with, but it takes a while to get there. The smartest thing I ever did was adopt a young adult. Odin was a year and a half when I got him and came with a foundation of basic obedience. He jumped right into agility training. They need an outlet. Bite work is going to be the most common one, but if you get an FCI or lower drive dog, other dog sports can be fine.

[cblunk]

Yea I'm not expecting a perfectly behaved dog from birth, but I think I will be smart/patient enough when I get a dog that I could handle the time It takes. But maybe I'm fooling myself.

I used to live outside of Chicago, north of DeKalb. How are things out in the Chi?

Other than searching google and the forum's etc, any good DS (bloodline info etc), NADSR Transport info, and dog sport resources?

-Clayton

[leih merigian]

It's not just a matter of being smart and patient, tho you'd need both of those qualities in spades with a DS. You need to be truly dedicated to raising a dog that has high drives and high energy, and also is very very smart. So, do check out dog sports (there are so many of them, just do a google search on dog sports and you'll find sites that list and describe a lot of them) and go and watch some of them to see if they're things you'd enjoy doing.

And, while you don't have to do bitework with these guys, you definitely have to provide an outlet for that drive to use the mouth (think tons of tug), and understand that until you can develop bite inhibition, you are going to be dealing with serious mouth issues . Even now, at 2.5 years old, my DS thinks biting is the funniest thing in the world, and is how she would like to joke. My working lines GSD was able to develop very strong bite inhibition and would never have thought of nipping me, EVER, but Geyser? (my DS)...it's the first thing she goes to when she's stressed, and I believe it always will be.

Yes, you can find the occasional DS that's not all that driven, but your best bet there is getting a rescue or older dog, like at least 18 months, so you know what the drives and temerament are, which is very hard to tell with a puppy, beyond certain general parameters. Or, as Stephanie suggested, get a dog from FCI lines, instead of KNPV lines. The difficulty there is that most of the DS bred in the US are from KNPV lines, which are the serious working lines.

I think it's great that you're doing research so far out from making any decisions or actually getting a dog/puppy. Just keep an open mind about it, and be very honest with yourself about what you have to offer, time and energy wise, to a dog. If you ever think you'll get to central VA, you're welcome to come and meet my girl.

[LyonsFamily]

Yea I'm not expecting a perfectly behaved dog from birth, but I think I will be smart/patient enough when I get a dog that I could handle the time It takes. But maybe I'm fooling myself.

I used to live outside of Chicago, north of DeKalb. How are things out in the Chi?

Other than searching google and the forum's etc, any good DS (bloodline info etc), NADSR Transport info, and dog sport resources?

-Clayton

Things are cold and wet and snowy here. If you ever go back to the Chicago area, you're welcome to come and sit in on some of my agility classes. Odin's debuting as my demo dog in March. What sort of dog sport resources are you looking for? I have a ton of information on agility and some things on competitive obedience.

[cblunk]

Things are cold and wet and snowy here. If you ever go back to the Chicago area, you're welcome to come and sit in on some of my agility classes. Odin's debuting as my demo dog in March. What sort of dog sport resources are you looking for? I have a ton of information on agility and some things on competitive obedience.

I'm not sure when I will be back in the area, I still have family there, but it would be summer time at the earliest. Regarding dog sports, really I only know what I have seen from watching TV, so maybe I should just find something local and go see for myself what kinds of things I am drawn to.

It's not just a matter of being smart and patient, tho you'd need both of those qualities in spades with a DS. You need to be truly dedicated to raising a dog that has high drives and high energy, and also is very very smart...

...Yes, you can find the occasional DS that's not all that driven, but your best bet there is getting a rescue or older dog, like at least 18 months...

...I think it's great that you're doing research so far out from making any decisions or actually getting a dog/puppy. Just keep an open mind about it, and be very honest with yourself about what you have to offer, time and energy wise, to a dog. If you ever think you'll get to central VA, you're welcome to come and meet my girl.

I know I WANT to be dedicated, but as you said it really is a matter of being honest about what you can provide for a dog more than just food and shelter. And I KNOW i would get a rescue...not that puppies aren't great...its just not fair (IMO) to all of the great dogs out there that are at shelters/rescues/fosters.

I'm still a student...so having a dog NOW definitely doesn't make sense, because I'm gone 8-12 hours a day during the week. I'm not sure my career choice will be a good match for having a dog, but again I have no idea what I will actually end up doing job wise. I definitely know my parents taught me how to be a responsible dog owner, so I really don't think I could see myself getting a dog for a few years yet.

Regarding a central VA visit, I'm always up for a road trip; 4.5 hours is a nice little stretch. I've still been hoping some of the Philly local people on the forum would chime in and say hello.

But thanks for the offer for sure.

-Clayton

[leih merigian]

You're welcome, Clayton.

Again, kudos to you for doing such good homework. Who knows? As you check out the dog sports (agility, flyball, dock diving, herding, tracking, K9 nosework, obedience/rally obedience/freestyle obedience, to name a few) you just may find something that really floats your boat .

[johninny]

I get to Philadelphia on occasion simply because I like it there, so would be glad to introduce you and my DS Sakima next time. [ saki, a rescue, is new to me, so it would be his 1st time to the city, though he recently had a full day tour of Haddonfield, nj ] are you right in the city like center city or university city? you can see saki at www.youtube.com/sakimadoggy

[cblunk]

@johninny

I'm about 10 miles north east of center city, a neighborhood called mount airy. Its pretty nice, close to parks and the train to go to CC.

I guess send me a PM next time you are nearby.

-Clayton

[anniewang83]

Hi Clayton,

I live in Center City Philly and I adopted Amber in the beginning of this year. When I got her, she was 12 months old, so now she's 14 months old. She's a real joy to have and we love her to death. However, she is still a handful and we must dedicate 1 hour of exercise and training to her every day. At least. On weekends, she gets a lot more. We're currently students at Wharton so our lives are a little bit more reasonable, but it'll definitely be a challenge when we move to NYC this September to start jobs in corporate America. I have always dreamed of having a GSD when I was a child so when I was doing research about dogs, I discovered the DS and became intrigued in the same way that you have. Amber is my first dog, but not my first animal training experience. I had previously helped train and tame wild mustangs at a volunteer horse rescue farm.

Right now, Amber is in boarding with her foster mom as we're about to leave for spring break next week. We'll be back in Philly (and Amber will be home too) by March 12th and we can arrange a time for you to come meet her. I know of two other DS dogs in the Philly area. Nashe is 1.5 hours east of Philly in Amish country and Ace is in Willow Grove. I have not met either of them but will definitely arrange a meeting when the weather gets a little warmer. Both Nashe and Ace were rescues from NADSR.

In the meantime, I also suggest that you read the posting, "Is a DS for us?" viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2601
and keep doing more research. Not every DS is alike. There is one more DS in the Philly area. Her name is Kai and she is a detection dog in training at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. She was bred by Asheley Winters and is a superb working dog. But Kai and Amber are very different. Kai is the equivalent of the mal on person of interest - she's reactive to everything, barks at everyone, highly protective etc. and requires a lot of professional training. She makes the perfect working dog, but not necessarily the perfect house pet. Amber is still protective (and we're working on toning that down), but she's intense when we work her and naps with us in bed too.

In full disclosure, I have been a DS owner for only 2 months so I must defer to the knowledge of those who are much more experienced than me on this forum. This forum is a tremendous resource for all of us so I'm glad that you've come here before running out to get a DS!

If you're still interested in meeting a DS, you're more than welcome to meet Amber when we come back from spring break in mid-March.

Annie

[cblunk]

@Annie,

Thanks for your reply. That would be awesome to meet Amber -- and you too. I'll be on spring break, I'm a student at Temple, the week you get back from your's. It shouldn't be hard to figure something out.

-Clayton

[anniewang83]

@Clayton
Just got back from Spring break on Monday. I assume you're on Spring break this week? Let me know when you'd like to meet up. You can private message me if you'd like.

[Dutchringgirl]

Yes, you can find the occasional DS that's not all that driven, but your best bet there is getting a rescue or older dog, like at least 18 months, so you know what the drives and temperament are, which is very hard to tell with a puppy, beyond certain general parameters.

Oh I cant agree more with that statement !!! If you are going to rescue and you have no idea about this breed, a puppy is not for you. You can come out with a super high drive dog that will drive you crazy If you dont know how to handle this breed. They are meant to work and need a job. A also agree with Leigh about the biting. At 2 Sadie loves to bite. when she is frustrated she will look for something to attack, and its usually a dog bed.