Dutch Shepherd Forum

I saw an interview with a handler at a military training center the other day. He said he was the 5th handler, and would have been the final try, for the dog. He said the dog had bitten/went after the prior handlers. He said as soon as they were introduced they just "clicked". The dog went from aggression and refusal to balance and obedience. Which made me think.

With all but two of my dogs, the dog seemed to pick me (all shelter dogs). One of the dogs was from a rescue, and turned out to be more of a dogs dog. Bramble is the other one that's a little different. She is really a family dog. She seemed to connect with all of us and seems to have bonded with all of us. Admittedly, I've not really sought a dog for a "purpose" other than being a pet. BTW all camels seem to hate me on sight.

So, did you pick your dog or did your dog pick you? And if you didn't get to pick your dog, how did you know you'd click?

Interesting topic!

My wife and I have no kids, and we had to put our two dogs down within 3 months of each other. Coming home to an empty house started to get real depressing - worse than the grief of having to put them down in the 1st place.

Radar appeared in my first search of the county shelter. His shelter name was Goofy, and I knew (don't ask me how) I had to meet this "Shepherd Mix." The tough part was not being able to take him home the same day. They forced us to wait until he was neutered, which was scheduled for two more days.

I am pretty sure I was not ready for Radar, but I was determined to make myself ready. So here we are.

The animal ALWAYS picks the human. Animals, like kids, are here to teach us about love an life .

Sadie picked me, because she knew I would give her a good home and take good care of her. When Christine, from NADSR told me there were two puppies left, I saw a picture of them, of course they looked alike, so I told Christine to pick one. Sadie has Double Hip dysplasia and is a super high drive high anxiety dog. I believe no way would she have lasted in any other home but mine and she knew that.

I always pick the breed first and then the pup within the breed. I would agree that we as humans are attracted to the dog because they fill many holes and teach us many things. Certain breeds fill the void for some more so than other breeds. The Dutch Shepherd has taught me a lot.

we are attracted to a breed/dog because they draw us to them

I haven't really considered bred when I look for a dog. I went to the shelter hoping for a Cairn Terrierish dog, came home with a Dalmatian...went to the shelter to get a Dalmatianish dog, came home with Bramble. Who I thought was some sort of Treeing Hound or Catahoula hound with weird ears

I can definitely see where knowing the bred would help be prepared. Were you able to have that immediate "click"?

You have to be mentally prepared and ready for a new pup or dog in your life and for all the challenges. It has to start there. In my case I got everything I could want in a dog. Let’s face it though. Some are aloof and hard headed etc. Going to a shelter and looking at grown dogs helps determine the type your going to get. We also have the ability to shape our dogs in many ways. If you put time into your dog , you will be rewarded with a loyal companion.

We definitely picked Zoey. We were shown a couple of pictures of the pups and we picked her because of how dark she was(not a good way to chose a working dog pup). But we chose her anyways. Met the guy in San Antonio without the other pups there anyways and left home with her. From then on she decided she was ours tho. She followed us closely everywhere we went even off leash. I remember I used to walk up to the sprouts grocery store to get a bottle of wine(it was connected to the apartment complex we lived in at the time. She would just follow right behind me. I would even walk in the store with her as they allowed me to and she would just follow me around every isle I went down. I can’t believe how lucky we got... definitely not any kind of way I would advise anyone to chose a working breed of pup but we took a chance. She’s awesome. She’s not the strongest dog nerve wise but she’s already surpassed our expectations by more than I ever imagined she would.

Here’s an old photo:

I’ve chosen a couple and had 2 chosen for me by the breeder. The breeder knew what I was looking for in a pup and was able to provide that.
The ones I chose were from Labrador Retriever litters and the ones chosen for me were a Malinois puppy and Jag: my Dutchie pup.
I have always gotten puppies so that any and all mistakes are my own fault

We first saw Rocket with his sibling on a cold evening. I watched him for a while as he noticed every movement and noise around us. He climbed out and curled up inside my wife's coat so it was initially his motivation. Once settled in and responding with unatural intelligence he totally quit responding and started rejecting after a month. I thought he was still sick, but he was fairly much recovered by then. When he decided to take command, topped with fighting over food it came down to a real fight between us. I got solidly bit and he got slapped around pretty hard. I'm glad he was still young. After he cooled down I gave him a snack and we stared at each other for a while.
I think it was then that he actually chose me.
Now I can't get away from him and you would have thought I had left for three days instead of three hours.
He's a great dog, ever faithful, watchful, on guard and a loved member of our family.

I have three of these dogs, so it's like a little wolf pack. My first Dutch Shepherd, Riddick- is definitely my dog. He's a big dog for this breed, he can be a handful. Corrections don't phase him much. He's very strong willed, extremely over protective of the property to a point that I will not let anyone else handle him even though he's very well trained. However I got him as puppy and he bonded with me the most but he likes my wife just the same though for some reason with her- he acts more like a puppy despite being over eight years old. Asia my second Dutch Shepherd, I got her when she was around two years old- she is very much bonded with me, I'm her person, and she is very jealous of me around my other dogs. Asia is also the regulator of the pack, she's extremely dominant. My last dog Zoe, the Malinois we got as a puppy but she is definitely my wife's dog and because that dog was the youngest- is a bit submissive in the pack order. So I have to watch them closely when they are playing out in the yard to avoid any confrontations. I let my wife handle the Malinois while the two Dutchies are mine. The joys of KNPV dog ownership and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Rogue picked us. When we went out to chose a puppy, another pup was crawling all over me. She was in my face and I would have chosen her. Rogue wandered over and calmly got our attention. She played a bit then wandered off nearby to lay down.
Since I had been preparing myself and us for this breed, my husband was happy to chose the more mello girl. Since I was getting the dog of my dreams I let him choose.
Well in reality, she chose us letting us know she was the choice for us.

Its always the animal doing the picking. Their energy flows naturally, they don't have all of the crap running around in their heads that we do. They just know who they want to be with.

Its always the animal doing the picking. Their energy flows naturally, they don't have all of the crap running around in their heads that we do. They just know who they want to be with.

Dutchringgirl wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:07 pm Its always the animal doing the picking. Their energy flows naturally, they don't have all of the crap running around in their heads that we do. They just know who they want to be with.

They also don’t have preconceived ideas about humans. That alone should be reason enough to be treated with love and respect from the person who takes a animal to be in their care.

Joxgirl wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:08 pm

Dutchringgirl wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:07 pm Its always the animal doing the picking. Their energy flows naturally, they don't have all of the crap running around in their heads that we do. They just know who they want to be with.

They also don’t have preconceived ideas about humans. That alone should be reason enough to be treated with love and respect from the person who takes a animal to be in their care.

right, they just love.

borellar15 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:08 pm We definitely picked Zoey. We were shown a couple of pictures of the pups and we picked her because of how dark she was(not a good way to chose a working dog pup). But we chose her anyways....
we took a chance. She’s awesome. She’s not the strongest dog nerve wise but she’s already surpassed our expectations by more than I ever imagined she would.

Here’s an old photo:

That’s a sweet story. Thank you for sharing.

We viewed all the puppies at six weeks old. I think there was eight, a no of them already had deposits taken. From memory there was only two or three left. My youngest son was basically given the choice and he chose the one that came over to him which is the one we ended up with. Strangely the one that came over to him was one of the two that was left. Given the choice again I wouldn't change the choice as she is turning into quite a special dog ho us and very intelligent. Jay