Rescued pup might be DS

[Asha]

Hi, my name is Emily. We just adopted a puppy who was abandoned with 3 others on our country road. The vet was pretty uncertain of her breed and guessed at German Shepherd mix. I've been looking at dog pics all week and believe her to be Dutch Shepherd mix and figured you folks could help me figure it out. She's EXTREMELY smart. Already knows sit, come, her name and getting pretty good at stay. She's about 9 weeks old and weighs 11. 2 pounds as of today, she was the smallest of the pups and had some pretty bad worms but has put on 4 pounds in the past 10 days. Brindle coat, one ear almost up and the other is usually pushed back. Here's some pics. Thanks to all of u for any info.

[HeatherH]

She looks an awful like my DS when he was that age. People always ask me what he's mixed with I have to tell them it a breed of their own. Most people haven't heard of them.

She's cute.

Heather

[Asha]

Thank you for you response, I saw a bunch of other people viewed the post and didn't comment (please comment, it's terribly frustrating not having any advice on what this pup might be, some people say pitbull which freaks my parents out!!) Anyway!, how big was your DS at 9 weeks? And how big is it now? Thanks again, I really appreciate it

[Sugars Mom]

Its hard to say with just those pics, but sounds like could very well be a DS. Super cute!

[Stacy_R]

some people say pitbull which freaks my parents out!!

I can't tell you how many people said to me that Tyson had to be part pit. When I asked why, it was always because of the brindle coat. For some reason, to many people, brindle = pit bull. I had 2 people who know A LOT about dogs and dog breeds tell me that they thought he was part pit because of his "blocky head." HUH?? I think that because of his brindle coat, they saw things that weren't there. Your boy very well could be DS or DS mix, but I will leave that call to the experts here.

Whatever he is, he is stinking cute!

[HeatherH]

I think my profile pic was when he was around 9 weeks. He wighs around 65-75 pounds. He's longer then he is tall. He's just over a a year. I do have other pics on here ( "Dutch enjoying life") If you want to look.
He has the same dark chocolate brindle.
Read up on them or look at other messages on here it will give you more of an idea cause there are people have been on this sight a lot longer than me.
You may read that this breed is a working dog and they are suited for that but mine is just a pet and don't have any problems travelling with me. He catches on quick and would rather be with us rather than mess around with other dogs and get into trouble. Training and repetitiveness is the key. Do not assume this dog is dumb, maybe bored but never dumb.
I get more wolf, coyote, Leon mastiff mx, Catahoula not pit

Hope that helps.

[Asha]

Yeah, she is definitely the smartest 9 week old dog I have ever been around. The more I read other peoples posts on the forum the more I'm convinced that she's at least DS mix (I doubt if she's pure breed because she and 3 other pups were abandoned). Thanks for the info and the tips

[johninny]

I got a new DS puppy 4 weeks ago. there is a photo of him [TRACER] on his 10-week birthday entered in the nap time contest. he weighed 13.8 LB a couple days later, so let's say he was 13 lb at 10 weeks; probably was 11-12 lb range at 9 weeks. 5 days short of his 3-month bday, there is a photo of him in the ''pick me'' contest [ 1st photo ]. then at 3 months and 2 days, he weighed 24 lb. now, we are at 3 months and 9 days and I bet he is close to 30lb. [ !!! ]. at the same age, another puppy - TexXander [ Xander ] - arrived may 16th weighing 20lb, but he was skin and bones. now at 6 months old or a little less, he weighs 48 lb. I think in 10 months, he will wind up at 70/72 lb. on the other hand, I have the feeling that Tracer will be a minimum of 72 lb and may reach toward 80lb. [ I hope no more than that ! I have never had one exceed 72# ].

your pup focuses on you [ obvious in pics ], is very smart, and looks the role at this point. I would not rule out that you have a full DS. one question on this point is do the siblings look equally DS-like? if not, you have a DS-mix [ probably ], but if they all look so DS, then it is very likely that you have a full-blown DS.

all my DS have been males, so I am not sure the median weight of a DS female, but I assume [ guess ] that it may be 60 to 65, but a broader range than the typical male. maybe others will comment on expected weight possibilities of a female DS

[Asha]

Thank you for all the info, I saw Tracer (and voted for him!!) in the nap photos. He definitely looks like Asha. She weighs about 11.5 lbs and is pretty close to just turning 10 weeks. SO hopefully she'll get big (my husband is terrified she's going to be small and thinks she might be part rat terrier). As for the other pups, they all look alike, the females were dark brindle and the male was gold and brown. And they were all extremely smart and attentive. Asha doesn't even need to be on a leash when we walk, although I put her on one just in case, she walks directly beside me and constantly looks up at my face. The more I read about DS the more I'm convinced that this is her primary breed. It would be amazing if she was full DS, I just can't imagine someone abandoning 4 dogs that could bring in some pretty good money. But you never know.

[johninny]

you will probably know soon enough if ALL the visuals match up, but given the consistency of look among the puppies and the behavior you describe, it seems pretty certain to me that you have a full-breed DS. if not full-bred, there would almost certainly be more variation of characteristics among the siblings.

[Asha]

WOW! Well I guess I have a LOT of work to do! I've only ever had mutts from the pound, although they were all really great dogs, easily trained and great on a leash. But I can tell she's different. She doesn't just whine at the door when she wants out, she jumps up beside me and licks my face and makes me play with her until I let her out. While cute, and rather impressive, it's kinda annoying at 6 a.m.! HAHA, I love her so much!

[johninny]

at least you got one with a good, built-in warning system. my middle puppy had one, but my newest pup is not so reliable. but at this age and another couple months, they simply cannot hold their bladder [ I.e., i not a matter of training], so a built-in or trained-in warning system is a godsend. at 6 months, the ability to control bladder should be kicking in fairly well, so then, as you know, it is a matter of whether they have ''gotten it''.

[Dances With Empties]

My male is ten weeks & aprox. 25 lbs. Everyone says he going to be a big guy judging by his paws... Both the sire & the dam are big dogs though. The mother being a very tall as well; I suspect this guy will be at least 25" at the shoulders when fully grown. As for weight, who knows? 75-85 lbs. maybe?...
Looks like a pretty good representation of a D.S. to me, although I'm far from an expert...

[LyonsFamily]

It would be amazing if she was full DS, I just can't imagine someone abandoning 4 dogs that could bring in some pretty good money. But you never know.

You'd be surprised at the number of backyard breeders that think these dogs would bring in good money but they don't. It takes a lot of work and the right dogs to bring in the higher price tags. Odin was found wandering the streets with his sister at 4 months old and was most likely dumped by the breeder. Check out animal control in Miami Dade, there are so many dumped on the streets there.

I did transport for a bunch of female malinois in Ohio that were bred by a woman that thought she could get a couple thousand from police officers for breeding her two dogs together. Her two dogs were actually from good kennels and decent lines, but she knew nothing about the breed and had no program to attract puppy buyers.

She couldn't even give them away for free on craigslist. 1 male she gave away for free ended up dumped at the shelter (my friend has him now in a great sport home) and 4 females showed up over time. She was convinced that even with them at the shelter, police officers would be called and they would all become detection dogs.

[racingiron1]

I met a guy at the dog park the other day who is a former dog trainer in the Marines. He had a full DS puppy that he picked up at a shelter. He said several other litter mates were there at the same time. Makes me sad, but at least that one seems to have made it to a great home.

[johninny]

and to continue this illustrative but very sad train of thought, my own Sakima was dumped along with a litter-mate brother in a TN kill ''shelter'' by their own breeder when they were about 5 months [ or less ] old. my own Tracedog, the most astounding dog I could ever imagine, was purposefully dumped on the streets of manhattan at c.6months. lots of MAL babies have been dumped in TX recently.

[Asha]

WOW, this totally makes you sick. We live in Pennsylvania and right before the pups were found we had that terrible northeast heat wave. I figured that may have been a factor for their abandonment. Also they were all really wormy, so I thought maybe the owner didn't want to have anything to do with cleaning up the problem. Well they gave away some pretty amazing pups. I know where 2 of the other pups went and they are good homes, so I guess we all lucked out! I've never loved a pup like this before! I am totally obsessed with her and vice versa. It's kinda like having a really intelligent active baby...who doesn't need a diaper change!!
A question, I know dogs don't weigh the same, and she's a female and has recently had worms, if she weighs about 12 lbs at 10 weeks will she get pretty big? I read Dances with Emptiness said their male (sorry just figuring out how to quote) is 10 weeks and 25 pounds, can there be such a difference in weight in the breed?

[johninny]

I would think your pup should be 20-24 lb in another 3 or 4 weeks. she is skinny [ almost frail ] from the worms now? she has some catching up to do maybe, but could be quite normal weight. they eat way beyond what you think they would at this age. target 40-45 lb at 6 mos, getting up above 60 probably beyond that. given her problems, it does not sound like she will be a small female, so 55 [ very low end ] to 70 should encompass most of the probabilities.

[Asha]

awesome news, thank you. We weighed her today and she's at 13.6 lbs! She looks shockingly larger than last week, legs and feet are growing like weeds!

[LyonsFamily]

Just wait for those ears to really start acting up in a few months. It's probably the most adorable thing about Shepherd puppies.

Regarding weight. My Odin is 72lbs and Elli is only 40lbs. Odin's background is unknown, but I know quite a bit about Elli's and she's pure DS for quite a while back, so yes, there can be a big difference in sizes. She had a bad start to life, received very little medical attention and had part of her intestine removed at 4 months due to it telescoping in on itself. I'm sure a lot of that contributed to her size as well.