Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi everyone, thanks for letting me join the group. My name is Frank and I have 2 children, 12 and 14. My wife and I have made our children and the outdoors our priority. I work in law enforcement, previously uniformed but now a detective. My wife and I have always had 2 dogs until March when our rescued Pit Bull mix passed. We still have a 10 yr old yellow English Lab and just recently rescued a mixed puppy 6 weeks ago-Duke. Embark DNA just told us he is 50% Dutch Shepherd and a the rest is a mix of English Shepherd, German Shepherd, and Cane Corso.

Duke is 18 weeks now and insanely smart. He has intense reactive fear to any strangers but is a very affectionate and playful puppy with my kids. We are just finishing up his new puppy class And his reactivity is getting better but still has a ways to go. While I am an experienced dog owner, I have never had any Shepherd dog, let alone a DS. ANY advice on how to make him less paranoid of all strangers would be much appreciated.

Attached are a few photos for your attention.

Handsome critter!

As with most things, baby steps and controlled exposure is where I'd start.

You can also use the search feature here to look for relevant older questions and responses on the topic.

I've seen a lot of people giving their dogs sedatives lately and I'm not sure how I feel about it. From a training perspective, I don't like it. But, from a human mental health perspective and assuming that canid brains function similarly, it could be a helpful tool to get the dog to a point where it's learned it doesn't need to be nervous.

I've always been a proponent of nosework. If you can get the dog engaged in that, you can gradually move the dog into searching in environments that would be stressful to the dog if it's mind wasn't occupied.

Best of luck!

Hello all
My name is koloina and Im a new members. I'd like to know more about it? In fact, I got two gods like what you have. But he passed away.

Thanks