Hello from Sunny San Diego!

[aje_762]

Hi Everyone,

My name is AJ. I'm a longtime lurker on here. I do not currently own a Dutch Shepherd yet, but hope to fix that in the next few weeks. I am active duty military and my family and I live in San Diego. We are very active, the kids are bigger and it's time to get a four-legged buddy to share our adventures with.

We have been researching breeds for over a year now. I was initially smitten with the Belgian Malinois after meeting one in public. A few weeks ago we almost pulled the trigger on adopting a two year old male Malinois in Irvine but thought it would be better to start with a pup. This site and others helped steer me toward the equally amazing DS. Currently looking at a few breeders based on heavy reading on this site.

The bad: I/we have zero experience with owning true working breeds. I had two Boxers and a Rottweiler growing up, my wife had a GSD for several years. We haven't had dogs since our teenage years (we're in our early thirties). Moving around the country and often living in apartments doesn't lend itself to owning animals. Now we're in a house, stable and I'm somewhat close to retirement.

The good: We hike/camp incredibly often both as a family and my solo backpacking trips in the Sierras. We live within a 8 minute walk to a 40 mile trail network. I am able to take the pup to work on days my wife is working. I feel we have a solid support system. I have made friends with a great trainer and have been to observe our local Schuzthund club. Everyone was very supportive and took the time to explain what they were doing and why. Awesome group of people.

Fortunately we have a huge variety of dog-sports available in San Diego, we intend to try anything and everything our pup enjoys (dock-diving, flyball, Sch/IPO, nose work classes, agility, etc). I understand that this is going to be a tremendous undertaking, but I feel that we are finally ready. My liquor cabinet is standing by....

I apologize for the long post, really looking forward to learning from everyone.

[racingiron1]

Welcome aboard, and glad to hear you're going into this with your eyes open! It sounds like you've done your homework and you're in a good situation for a new pup. Lots of folks here willing to help with advice and experience. I look forward to your future updates.

[Dutchringgirl]

Welcome !1 I am so happy to hear that you have done so much research and thinking about your life and how a dog can fit it! You sound like a DS will fit right in to your life. The trainer will work with you ( he better) and the dog and help teach you and your family ( bring the family to training sessions) how to work with this type of dog.