Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hey guys I feel like I am posting to much stuff all at once... I am in need of some advice on where to start with training that is appropriate for shepherds. My wife and I do not live on a farm but we have a dog with a strong herding and tracking drive. We live next to lots of hiking and open areas. Preferable something that isn't expensive(free) would be great. He is really smart and has taken well to sit, stay, come, lie down, and is fully house broken. He is 5 months old. Thank you!

What are you looking for? something to exercise your dog or give it a job? For a family companion, basic obedience is all you need for training, and the dog just needs to be active, nothing structured is required.

If you already have basic obedience down, you could print off Rally-O cards from UKC or AKC and arrange a small course in your yard to go through routine. You can set up a few agility obstacles to play around with too; there are plenty of free instructions online for those. They don't have to be regulation just to play around and have fun.

There's a new sport call Treibball and it involved a giant workout (swiss) ball and a soccer goal. The dog learns to herd the ball into the goal and then you build your way up to different balls. The balls are like $10 at menards or walmart and you can make a goal out of 2 cones or logs.

You can also work on tracking by laying a scent to find something. Odin loves to play hide and seek with us. You could also work on nosework stuff like finding a certain scent or item that you hide.

Of course, hiking, fetch, and swimming are all free.

if he is only 5 months, what you are doing now is great, you dont want to push his little body too much.