Dutch Shepherd Forum

My name is Staci and my husband and I recently adopted a 'washed out' Military Working Dog, DS, that is now 16 months old. He was bred at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX. Apparently he didn't 'mature' fast enough for the military and after he was released from the program, he sat in a kennel for 9 months. He has been with us for almost 3 weeks. He isn't sure what to make of our cats just yet, so we have to keep them separated, with minimal exposure and gradually increasing exposure! We are hoping he will eventually realize they are part of his pack as well. He is super smart and very energetic! Here's a photo of him taken at his foster home before we adopted him. I will upload more photos soon.

He's gorgeous!

Welcome! What a pretty boy!

My DS is still overly interested in the cat, but she kind of taunts him. Well, scratch the 'kind of' statement- she's a total jerk and teases him day in and day out.

Thank you both! My first reaction when I saw this picture was the same...'wow, what a gorgeous boy!'. He is extremely interested in the cats! One completely stays away from him because she is scared to death of him. One is very curious of him, but will only get so close and takes off running. The other one just hisses, growls, stands her ground. But he doesn't know what to do with them at all. He wants to play, but doesn't know how. He wants to run after them, but of course we don't let him (though he did get away from us one time in his first couple of days here). So integration has been a slow process. We hope over time this will improve. And by the way, both of your DS's are beautiful as well!!

Welcome to the forum!

Eric

Beautiful DS, you have a great animal there. I am wondering, how did you happen by the DS? Did you get it from NADSR? I have also heard that there is a military dog rescue group, but do not know much about it.

Thank you Daniel! I have a friend who also has a MWD and connected me to the person who helps with adoptions. She has a website, http://www.militaryworkingdogadoptions.com. It is quite a process to get one of these dogs if you go straight through the military. She helps cut through a lot of the wait time and some of the red tape.

Welcome Stacy!
Thank you for adopting one of the military's factory rejects.
If it is from their own breeding program, the pups are placed in foster families, that are required to show up for periodic evaluations back at Lackland. Once it is decided which pups will, and which will not work, they are either entered into the program or put up for adoption. Two of my studs, one now deceased, were used for the DoD's 'super dog' breeding program. One, the one who is no longer with us, was a malinois, and to the best of my knowledge only used on malinois females. My DS Nico did, of course, produce some brindles, but not recently. (that I know of)
I am not sure how your pup could have been left in a kennel for 9 months, since they are supposed to be fostered until adoption time, but if so, I am extra glad that he found his way to you. Good luck with him and we look forward to hearing about his exploits.

Thank you Judith! The person who helped us adopt him told us he was 'rejected' in February of this year, which would have made him 6 months old at the time, and his handler couldn't stand seeing him sitting in a kennel like that so he adopted him. His boxer wouldn't get along with Hhinch (our DS, his military given name), so he went to a foster home for a week when she called us. So maybe none of us really know the true story behind him. We have considered calling his handler, his original adopter, to get the full story on him. We actually have been trying to get a retired MWD for awhile now, first a malinois, then a GS, but neither panned out for us. So instead, we got a young, vibrant DS! I have no idea why the military didn't want him, but he really is a great dog, very sweet and smart. We feel very lucky to have him!!

welcome!