Recommended Breeders for Future DS? Average Cost of Puppy?

[Patrick]

...I have heard that working a dog in defense when its not ready can be harmful in its development...

Some make this harder than it really is. You wouldn't send your 10 year old boy into the ring to fight Floyd Mayweather nor would you send your 4 month old pup in to "fight" a human adult.

The pup is brought along gradually and is NOT under pressure and then, when he/she is, it's also done very gradually and not all at once.

You want to build the dog's confidence by setting him/her up to win every time. What breeds confidence? SUCCESS! So you keep it simple and low-key in the beginning and let the dog win again and again and then, gradually, you up the pressure a tad and rinse and repeat. Forget all the jargon about "prey drive" and "defense drive" and "fight drive". Like I said, it's not as hard as some people try to make it out to be. They out-think themselves.

[TimL_168]

Blue's are a genetic deviance so anyone "specializing" in blues should be avoided.

What is the downside to a "blue" Dutch Shepherd? Do they not work as well as other DS?

Not at all. The concern that was mentioned was just to stay away from breeders that breed strictly "blue"DS. The reason is that the blue is a rare genetic deviation, and if I remember correctly, it's not a dominant gene. In order to maintain a bloodline of consistently producing blues, there would have to be a higher incidence of line/inbreeding, at best. Also, if a breeder is FOCUSING on producing blues, by definition, anything other criteria falls to the side.
Great, proven, hard working dogs can throw a blue. Those dogs are all equal to their standard color counterparts (I'm guessing just like a fawn DS can happen).

[Patrick]

Blue's are a genetic deviance so anyone "specializing" in blues should be avoided.

What is the downside to a "blue" Dutch Shepherd? Do they not work as well as other DS?

Not at all. The concern that was mentioned was just to stay away from breeders that breed strictly "blue"DS. The reason is that the blue is a rare genetic deviation, and if I remember correctly, it's not a dominant gene. In order to maintain a bloodline of consistently producing blues, there would have to be a higher incidence of line/inbreeding, at best. Also, if a breeder is FOCUSING on producing blues, by definition, anything other criteria falls to the side.
Great, proven, hard working dogs can throw a blue. Those dogs are all equal to their standard color counterparts (I'm guessing just like a fawn DS can happen).

Makes sense. Thanks.

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

Genetics my friend. Blues as a whole are fine and similar to other non-blue DS, but genetically blue is a mutation. Breeding for mutations means disregarding things such as health and temperament to reproduce the highest content of the sought after mutation. That also means other things begin to fade out and the mutations become more and more pronounced, you may be adding in other mutations into the gene pool that are not beneficial to the future dogs. You see it a lot in blue dobs and any other sought after color - eventually the stock becomes sickly and deformed because of the closed gene pool. Unlike in actual breeding where you're varying content and reinforcing certain things, your gene pool becomes more diverse and stronger, while breeding for one things narrows it.

[Patrick]

Genetics my friend. Blues as a whole are fine and similar to other non-blue DS, but genetically blue is a mutation. Breeding for mutations means disregarding things such as health and temperament to reproduce the highest content of the sought after mutation. That also means other things begin to fade out and the mutations become more and more pronounced, you may be adding in other mutations into the gene pool that are not beneficial to the future dogs. You see it a lot in blue dobs and any other sought after color - eventually the stock becomes sickly and deformed because of the closed gene pool. Unlike in actual breeding where you're varying content and reinforcing certain things, your gene pool becomes more diverse and stronger, while breeding for one things narrows it.

I must have had a brain-fart when I asked that question. Thanks for the follow-up.