Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi all --

In your personal experience, are Dutch Shepherds more one person dogs or are they family oriented by nature? Any major differences in this regard between males and females?

Deb Lundy (on behalf of her future DS companion)

Hi Deb, I have a male DS and he is my first DS (have always had GSD) but he is for sure a one person dog. He tolorates my family and friends but never seeks them out.

ditto what Patty said, but i find the social ones will greet and seek to be very sociable with friends or family they think are extraordinary. being family - even nuclear, live-in family - does not lead to anything more than friendly acceptance of their presence. DS are extremely discerning; they are quick to understand who ''gets'' them, who treats them with respect, who really cares about then as individuals as opposed to simply finding them amusing as pets. i have had a couple DS that have anointed 1 or 2 people as 2nd-best to me; they are still not willing to go for a walk with those almost-me's [ at least when i am around also ], but they greet these people with wild abandon, pay attention to their every move, and do not want them to leave. a spouse has to earn that respect, but i found talking to Tracedog once about my feelings instantly caused him to stop giving the cold-shoulder and start ACTING [ the operative word here and something he would often utilize as a strategy to manipulate situations ] very friendly and interested [ but completely superficial - really against TDs better judgement ].

Again,,,,,,,,,,,,,, John gave a perfect answer.

I find my girls to be one person (ME) but they are great around my kids and other people. As long as I am in the room ( if I am not, they will find me) They are fine. I have always had females, so I cant say about males. My father is the only other person who can take my girls for a walk with out me.

What is your family situation?

I only have experience with our one Dutch Shepherd we have had for 8 months. He is definitely most bonded with me but does seek out affection from my husband and kids. He meets the kids at the end of the driveway after school and sometimes stays up with my daughter if she is up late doing homework when the rest of us have gone to bed. My kids take him for walks or bike rides (while he runs), they snuggle him, play ball with him, etc. and he is great. BUT.....he gets very nervous I am told when I first leave and at first when he is home with the family without me. My daughter takes him to agility class but he will only work with her if I am not there. Otherwise, he just stares at ME sitting on the sidelines. He is very intuitive. Watches me like a hawk and reads me well. He is my not-so-little shadow. The kids sometimes ask "Why does he like Mom the best?".....b\

apropos of not much, but comes to mind by ''why does he like mom the best?'' --- when i first got Tracedog 13 1/2 years, i was rarely the person feeding him, walking him, etc. i had found him and took him home, but someone else in the household claimed him. TD appeared to view this care-giving situation as a utilitarian necessity but gave no further credence to the arrangement; with great consistency, he declared himself to be my dog regardless of what i or any other human indicated.

My observation has been similar for the pointy ear shepherds. German, Belgian, and Dutch usually seem to follow the same pattern, of course with the obstinate exceptions who want to be rebels.

"I am oriented to my person. After that comes the family. And then, with a proper introduction, I'll allow other people to be acquaintances and maybe I'll be friendly with them if they are lucky. Special consideration may be given to cute little kids and anyone sharing bacon or cookies. Statues and scarecrows are right out and will be barked at when encountered!"

I will add that I feel it may be possible that a dog that has lived with many people may have never had time to read the Dutch Shepherd Pawbook, and so might not be familiar with the Shepherd Council approved behavior.

If you count the two weeks at the Foster's home, I'm the fourth person in the first 10 months of Rorhin's experience. He was found at the pound as a puppy, adopted and then returned. So I'm not counting the people who put him in the pound in the first place, but that's two different people who did not get an appreciation-of-adorable-things gene. With the next adoption I suspect he was left alone most of the time, with very minimal interaction with people. By this I mean really not getting what the Dutch Shepherd wants as far as work, play, and companionship. After this experience he was relinquished to North American Dutch Shepherd Rescue, and spent two weeks in at the Foster's home before I went to meet him and bring him home.

As a result of all of this instability, I believe (since rescue dogs and re-homed dogs are more likely to have separation anxiety issues) this may be why Rorhin now considers it his job to make sure that each and every single person on the planet knows very clearly that he loves them very very much.

I've heard of at least one other Shepherd (Dutch?) that is similar in life experiences and breaking this long held tradition of Shepherd protocol.

Thank you all for the great responses! With my luck (and ultimately it would be a good thing) my future Dutch would attach to my husband, and I would be on the outside looking in!

Will be joining a local agility club with one of my Labs this winter -- just for fun and to teach me how to handle an agility dog. Bruin is not terribly athletic, but I think he will enjoy the one to one time and the socializing with other dogs.

Again, thanks for helping me navigate the intricacies of this wonderful breed.

Deb Lundy

Mine aren't terribly one person focused. I do all of the formal training, but they seek out my husband for anything I'm not available for. They love my parents. I think they'd follow them anywhere and they consider trips to grandma's house the best thing it the world. I highly suspect lots of cookies, cheese, and bananas are available to them there when I'm not around.

My mom also owns a woodworking business and gets most of her supplies from fallen timber and every Saturday throughout the summer Odin accompanies her on wood gathering trips in the woods and Elli has been doing that with them since we got her, so she thinks on Saturdays, she belongs to my mom.

Elli is also a big social butterfly. I think she could adapt to a large family very well and have quite a few favorites. I took her to a detection seminar a few weeks ago and after her first session, thought everyone was there to see her. Odin is very aloof with strangers and goes as far as not liking some, but he falls hard for his friends. A few months after we got him, I had some friends crash in our living room for a week for a music festival. He was introduced to them, but they weren't around much, so at night I had quite a few barriers keeping in our bedroom so we wouldn't bark at them. When I got up in the middle of the night and found that he escaped, I was worried, but then I found him curled on the couch with one of the girls.

Maybe I have some strange dogs, but mine are more core unit focused than one person and I think this breed can be highly adaptable if that's what the situation calls for. I think in most of the single person cases, that's the situation presented whether the human is more of an independant type or there a specific person doing a majority of the dog work and the DS pick up on their roles immediately. They do need consistency with rules and consequences and may pick favorites based on that.

Thanks, Stephanie --

The more I learn about these guys, the more I like them!

Deb Lundy