Dutch Shepherd Forum

Took all the girls to the lake for a bit today!.

I have no problems with my DSs - Emma, Salix, Willow and Ziva. But the darn GSD always picks a fight and she is always on supervised time! I took her today....I don't know why except that at some point she has to fit in. The brindle girls LOVED the swim and Envy and I had a few discussions. But in the end, she actually ended up trying to play and she SWAM some. She's the one closest to shore in the picture and my Dutch are the heads swimming away! I love to be able to say that I had 5 adult females all together, playing, swimming and just fine. They were so tired when we got home that we all napped on the couches......which didn't go over so well with Matt since they were soaking wet

Oh, that is so much fun! I am glad they all got along. Where do you take them to swim?

That is great!!

looks like fun!

wow - that's alot of females to all get along and glad they did! That could have been one ugly mess .
Looks like they had a good time.

Mine tend to dip in the (large) ponds behind the house, But yesterday, I spotted at least two huge snakes in there, Eeeek! So until I come to my senses again (they are probably there all the time, who am I kidding) I will make the detour to keep them out of the ponds for a while. Heard about an acquaintance's (small) dog that got bitten by a water moccasin, and died as a result. The snakes were dispatched yesterday, but that was only what we could see and in one of the ponds. I love swimming the dogs, but not in my local lakes (gators) and now the pond is temporarily off limits too. I just need to relax again, I guess.

ow juc! Just the thought of a snake in water, any water, makes me shiver...rrrrrr

Water moccasins are the worst. I remember being chased by one as a child~ then it circled the dock ladder waiting on me!

But for the most part I like snakes, especially since I have moved out of cotton mouth territory!

Lauren wrote:Water moccasins are the worst. I remember being chased by one as a child~ then it circled the dock ladder waiting on me!
But for the most part I like snakes, especially since I have moved out of cotton mouth territory!

I tend to be fairly tolerant.* Last year, during the drought I left a yellow bellied watersnake alone that kept sneaking into the kennels at night, to get some (dogs) water. Maybe that was the 6 foot long one that I saw crawl out of the pond yesterday. It was about 2 inches in diameter, huge, nasty glistening beast. It was being chased by a shorter (3ft) one, not sure if it was amorous or aggressive, how can you tell? With the moccasin/cottonmouth story fresh on my mind, I did not take a chance, since I know my husband shot a water snake last year that was, literally, after one of the dogs, and we both know that that reeks of moccasin. Lucky you. None of those in NC huh? When can I come?

* Disclaimer. Any poisonous snake or those that mess with me, my dogs, or even the song birds, now that is another story. I have been known to take vigorous action.

You are a brave woman taking the whole gang out swimming. Its a battle for me to 1. keep up with Beta, and 2. keep an eye on my wandering Puddles. (she is just way too naughty). If I had 5 Beta's, I could better handle that.

Thank God there really aren't any snakes where I live. They scare the heck outta me!! I have NEVER seen one anywhere near where we live. I think it gets too cold here.

vneerland wrote:Mine tend to dip in the (large) ponds behind the house, But yesterday, I spotted at least two huge snakes in there, Eeeek! So until I come to my senses again (they are probably there all the time, who am I kidding) I will make the detour to keep them out of the ponds for a while. Heard about an acquaintance's (small) dog that got bitten by a water moccasin, and died as a result. The snakes were dispatched yesterday, but that was only what we could see and in one of the ponds. I love swimming the dogs, but not in my local lakes (gators) and now the pond is temporarily off limits too. I just need to relax again, I guess.

The lake that I take them to seems fairly clean and I haven't seen any snakes yet. I am sure they are there, but they have stayed hidden Its a pretty decent approach to the water too.

I have been very fortunate with my girls. The ones I have had the opportunity to raise have always done well together. Ziva came in with an EXTREMELY appropriate temperament with other dogs. I have to protect her from the vicious French Bulldog that runs our home....LOL, she's an opportunistic little bitch.

The GSD is a different story. I've only had her a few months and she was a 2 1/2 year old kennel dog. A very emaciated, heartworm positive, with her tail shaved off to the spine kennel dog. So she's been a project. Luckily she is sensitive enough to me that I can stop her as soon as she starts posturing. But she has proven herself to be very untrustworthy when unsupervised.

what a sad story Christie about the GSD - people are horrible. glad she's your mommy now

I bet they are all in heaven! Good job getting the girls to get along. Makes life so much easier when they can coexist.

My dogs only swim when they fall in the deep end. It's nice to see dogs that actually like to swim.

Looks like fun, Christie! One of my GSD males thinks he is a retriever and loves water, ie lake, toilet, etc... Zip, well, she is a princess when it comes to water, dont get the paws wet, tiptoe through the puddles. Hard to believe she can be so serious otherwise. Gris is okay with it, not a Lab, but she will swim.

Glad you rescued the GSD. My heart is still in GSD rescue, although it has been many years and I dont plan on returning. Thank you for your effort.

Oh, met one of your K9 handlers at a local festival who has one of your Dutchies. I brought one of the pups and he walked by, smiled and pointed. I said, it is a Dutch Shepherd. He told me he knew because he had one his dept got from someone in Cookeville, TN. He was surprised when I asked if it was you. There are only three in my area. He is from Avoyelles (a different parish/county), said he was very pleased with his K9. I got his name but wont post here. Nice young handler.

GSDNanny wrote:Oh, met one of your K9 handlers at a local festival who has one of your Dutchies. I brought one of the pups and he walked by, smiled and pointed. I said, it is a Dutch Shepherd. He told me he knew because he had one his dept got from someone in Cookeville, TN. He was surprised when I asked if it was you. There are only three in my area. He is from Avoyelles (a different parish/county), said he was very pleased with his K9. I got his name but wont post here. Nice young handler.

That makes me so happy!! That's Kenny and he has one of our baby boys, Tyson. What an awesome small world! He really is a wonderful guy, with a great family. Tyson adores his son and lets the toddler get a way with murder. But he is a serious dog for sure. I literally can't stop grinning! What a very cool, very small world.

Here's a picture of Tyson when he was younger .

Very handsome dog! Yeh what a small world, the Dutchie world is.