Dutch Shepherd Forum

Show airs on January 8, 2020 at 9pm.

Last not on Live PD, they said it was a competition between professional (military/police) K-9s and privately owned K-9s.

How many Dutch Shepherds do you think will compete?

The preview seemed Mal and Dutch heavy

I watched the show last night, and I have to say that I am rather disappointed.

** Spoiler Alert ** for those who may have DVR'd it.

Despite, the disappointment, I will continue to watch. However, I do have several critiques...

First of all is the carnival atmosphere for what I expected (or hoped) would be a little more serious. WTF was the deal with the trainer eating broccoli stalks in the stands? Come on A&E, that was just downright dumb and had nothing to do with the competition. Are ABC and A&E affiliated? Basing the presentation on the old Wipeout show from ABC was annoying - to say the least.

The challenging nature of the courses themselves were probably the only positives I saw on the show - that and the dogs themselves. Each course exposed some weaknesses in the dogs and/or the handlers, but the winner was able to overcome them efficiently - Falco (Mal) was amazing.

Of course I was rooting for Duco (The Dutch Shepherd), but I think him and his handler were more nervous in the spotlight than incapable of doing the challenges. It looked a lot like Duco was exhausted in the first obstacle course, and that really surprised me. It takes a heck of a lot more to exhaust Radar for sure.

Speaking of Duco. I hope he doesn't have any pending narcotics alert cases. If I was a defense attorney, I'd be showing his scent course run in the trial. I think the professional LEOs would take some care in exposing potential scent problems of their K9s like this.

For as good as Falco was, Dax (GSD) was right there with him. In fact, if he had outed on first command, it's likely he would have won the final course and the competition. Which brings me to another problem: Falco was way better in the first two courses, but Dax could have won the whole thing with just the final course.

What about the civilian dog Maker (Border Collie)? I believe that he was awesome in the two agility courses, but was pretty bad in the scent course. I am not sure how well any of the civilian dogs will fare in this having to do scenting. I also saw in previews of upcoming shows that there is what looks like a french bulldog - how the heck is that dog getting over a 5' wall?

Finally, I don't think the exposure of the Mal and DS capabilities to the public without heavy warning is a good idea. Falco's appearance on Live PD after the show is on point. His handler warned the show's host that petting him was a bad idea.

Anyway, that is all just MY opinion. What is yours?

I thought Duco's issues were a team issue and not his nose. The comment about everything flowing down the leash seemed to be true. I saw their work in the Boneyard as more rushing against the clock instead of the normal care and time in the field. Let's face it, in a crowd like that it had to be nerve racking....and Dax and Falco's handlers, and the dogs, have had more time the spotlight.

I didn't get the broccoli thing either. At first, I thought they'd say something about dog nutrition. It was really strange.

I did wish they spent more time on the dogs, but maybe they will fine tune.

I was also disappointed. I know many of the dogs that will be featured on the show through social media. It felt like wipeout to me. Falco was awesome and Duco was a huge disappointment he looked exhausted right away. Maybe since he is SWAT he doesn’t have to do nose work. What the hell was the broccoli? That was incredibly stupid. In editing I would have cut that crap out makes it look d-list when it has so much potential.

I watched it last night. My major disappointment (other than the stupid broccoli thing) I felt that it would have been better if all the dogs could have done all the courses. I did not like the elimination after each course. I wanted to see all dogs do all courses.
I didn't think Maker was so bad in the scent course - his handler was not reading him well at all. Probably nerves (handler). Those of you that trial with your dogs can easily understand.. Its tough. I am guessing nerves played a big part in Duco also. I certainly hope his detection skills are better than the course we watched.

Ok, Duke was just too cute. He definitely would have won the cute competition while "swimming" as his handler carried him across.

I haven't seen last night's episode yet (fell asleep).

Oh darn, and I just spoiled it!

I still think the competition format of elimination (and no reward for doing well in a single event) suck. I think this is a juxtaposition of reality requiring slow methodical work versus a "timed" event. Time being the most important factor in the competition, but in real life slow and steady catches the bad guy.

For the most part, all the dogs are doing well. It seems to be the handlers making the most mistakes (at least in my amateur mind).

I am looking forward to the next episode.

I too wish all the dogs got to compete in each event for a score.

That said, I've learned from the show. I thought Bramble needed to have her alert moulded into "something" else. But she takes the same position that Bear did in the "office". I also realize that my expectations of her are unrealistic. I unrealistically expect to say the command, Bramble obey....and we go one about our day. But even these highly trained dogs need multiple commands.

To be clear, I didn't see this as a Bramble problem but as me "doing it wrong". But if these professionals have to correct and redirect, then it's not just me ;

I thought they did better tonight focusing on the dogs.

I do think it's interesting how the handlers' expectations impede the dogs working. At times the handlers seem to judge what the dog should scent, versus giving the dog freedom to sniff. Some even focus so strongly on part of the "room" where a human would search, the team doesn't make it around to search the whole area. It almost seems to be more of a test of the human handlers and not the dog....

....and definitely something I should keep in mind if ever the worst case comes and Bramble has to find my son.

It’s obvious that these are not “ America’s top dogs “

I don't know. I think I'm a Falco fan girl.

The show should be called America's top K9 "Team". It highlights the importance of the dog and handler relationship very well.

I will be watching last night's episode tonight. 9pm is past my bedtime

I watched the latest episode last night.

I am highly disappointed in the Dutch Shepherd "handlers" so far.

It's obvious not the dog when we're talking DS

Another episode of poor scent work. Whether it's handler or dog, it was a poor representation of what is used as "probable cause" in real life cases.

I hope the decoy was wearing a cup

I also wondered about the cinnamon scent. Maybe it is because I'm not exposed, but isn't cinnamon a more concentrated scent than narcotics?

I enjoyed the latest episode. Mattis is an awesome dog.

Of course I might have liked it because some of the dogs went their own way. At least Bramble's recall is good enough that even the white squirrel doesn't distract her.

Just watched the latest episode.

No DS this week?

Mattis is a badass, but I'm hoping it was just the lights. I saw some cloudiness in his eyes.

I'm still having a problem with the scent event.

I saw that too and assumed it was just a reflection.

I thought they did a better job explaining the scent test this week and why it is so challenging. Again, though, it seemed like a few handlers were inadvertently pulled the dogs off the scent item assuming it was too small.