New to the forum & New to the breed

[Dances With Empties]

Good Day all from Canada,
Just bought my 1st Dutch Shepherd last Friday & my wife named him George. She called me a few other names when I said that I wanted another dog after our Black Lab past away a few months ago.
I've owned Catahoulas & Labradors and a Lab/Shepherd cross in the past, but have some experience with German Shepherds, as family members have owned them. I've been around dogs & have had them in our homes the entire 43 years of my existence.

George is now 9 weeks old and comes from a working line from the U.S. He appears to have a high prey drive & the best way to tire him out is rope with a work glove tied to it that he chases relentlessly until I call it quits. He was past up by a police k9 trainer & another trainer in protection dogs in favor of other more aggressive (lack of a better word!) pups in the litter of 6 or 7 before I got there. He is a fairly laid back pup in the house right now and very receptive to verbal correction. The "come", "sit" & "no" command came within minutes of him being at the house. His command for a release, stay & laying down are coming along but need work. I'm sure in a few months he'll start to challenge my commands in favor of a bird, tumble weed or other more interesting distraction...
George is a loyal follower for sure & right now constantly under foot, following me from room to room. Outside, never more than 10 yards from my side. Having major fits when I'm out of sight or when its time to kennel up for the night. His confidence is slowly growing as he gets use to his new digs & growing use to being separated from his litter. He, like my previous Lab seems to seek out the darkest place in the house to rest that is within eyesight of the wife & me. He is slowly realizing that he doesn't have to be at my feet every second of the day. LOL! Like I said before his confidence is growing.
My main goal for George is to have stable member of our family, & good watch dog on our property out in the country.

[HeatherH]

Welcome

Pictures are always great.

Heather

[Vhyran]

Welcome

[Sugars Mom]

Welcome fellow Canadian!

[Dances With Empties]

This is George P. Dog at 9 weeks.

[johninny]

George P. Dog looks adorable. I think it is great to give our companions the dignity of their family name.

[Dances With Empties]

The wife named him. I personally think giving a bigger, maybe intimidating looking to the public kind of dog a name like 'Killer' or 'Psyscho' flat out retarded. Here in Ontario they have a ridiculous Pit bull ban & it's not likely to be lifted imo. These dogs did not get banned because of the breed; that was the provincial government's knee jerk excuse! But because of some poor breeding & some even dumber owners this breed has been pretty much wiped out here. There is an attempt at repealing the ban but even if successful, I believe the insurance/ liability implications will keep their numbers very low.
I don't believe advertising your dog's breed as aggressive or somehow menacing to the area very bright.

I think I kept that statement cleaned up! I could sum it up in fewer words, but I'd get kicked out of here!

Anyhow the wife said she named him after the new prince & what the h#@l were living in loyalist territory anyhow. LOL!

[johninny]

maybe I was not clear/ maybe I was understood. I love that he is named Dog - as his ''family'' name. TraceDog was officially named with his family name; I have simply verbally appended ''Dog'' to the names of dogs since.
I had not gotten the princely connection: even better!

[Dances With Empties]

I never really worried about linage names as I never plan to show or breed my dogs. When the wife told me what she wanted to name him I thought of this guy: LOL!

http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9% ... P._Dog.png