East Texas Intro

[syzygy]

Hi, all.

I am a single fifty-ish woman living in rural East Texas with a number of dogs, cats, horses, etc. I "discovered" Dutch Shepherds about six or seven years ago when I was in the process of searching for a Malinois--just because I liked the look and personality of the breed and have always had a taste for smart, tough dogs. One day I saw a National Geographic program on working dogs (I think--faded memory now) with a nifty brindled SAR dog from California sitting next to her handler. The handler announced "This is a Dutch Shepherd" and I thought, "That's my dog." A week later I saw a DS Denver police K-9 going into the "Emergency Vets" clinic for a repair to a broken canine tooth. Wow, another brindle one, what are the chances of that? LOL! So...I researched--cool, all brindle, awesome dogs, and better than that Malinois, right? Then...after a year of devouring websites I settled on the kennel that appealed to me the most. Looked up address. Good heavens, 30 miles from my doorstep. Again--what are the chances? The rest is history. (It turns out that first dog I saw on TV was likely my first dog's aunt.)

I currently have two wonderful van Neerland Dutch Shepherds who are my pride and joy. Both will probably go into narcotics detection soon. For now, I occasionally play with them in UKC shows, just for the kicks. My older fat girl now has several *very* basic obedience degrees and a couple of CH's; the younger dog is doing great in obedience in spite of me. ( I am not a trainer, I just make it up as I go along.) While I do have dogs of few other breeds--I like hunting/coursing with borzoi and have a new bz puppy--plus a couple of rescued toy dogs--I will have a DS until the day I cross the bridge. These are my heart dogs. People always kid me about my "postage stamps," since they go with me everywhere.

A special thanks to Judith who has been my mentor and guiding light and who will never understand those "other" dogs, LOL!!!

Ellisa, Ishi and Java...plus the horses, cats, guinea, betta, and "other" dogs Touche, Koda, Hup Dog and Kiri

[vneerland]

* waving* Welcome.
And you are right about 'the other' dogs who's presence I do not understand. Let's face it! They are taking up space that could otherwise be occupied by some nice DS's. (I am a 'racist'. Our brindles are best, forget about the rest)

[leih merigian]

Welcome, Ellisa!

I am envious of your proximity to Judith!

It sounds like you've got a busy place going for you there, with all them critters .

I am awaiting the arrival of my first every DS puppy (she turned 4 weeks old yesterday) and I am hoping to fall as deeply in love with the breed as all of you already are.

Glad you found your way here...

[syzygy]

I am envious of your proximity to Judith!

It sounds like you've got a busy place going for you there, with all them critters .

I could not believe it when I finally looked up the Seven Pines Kennel address. It was like Karma. Then I could not believe it when Judith answered my (probably) rather weird e-mail that first time.

Yep, busy here, with a lot of mouths to feed, but it is never dull!

I do get teased a bit--two of my "others" are (ahem) rescued Pomeranians--first small dogs I have ever owned except my first dog (dachshund) as a child and they are VERY different. One will be heading for obedience though, for the fun of it. The other just has mindless barking for a job. The Dutch Shepherds are amazingly tolerant of the zoo. I always consider it something of a heirarchy--me and the DS on top--the "Bosses" so to speak--then the "other" dogs, the cats, and the horses + occasional poultry at the bottom. Oh, and the fish, lol. My DS girls are actually part of the "management" here . At least I have not got goats, llamas, and sheep. Yet.

You will DEFINITELY fall in love. Be forewarned. There is no other dog like a DS. I don't like the "fur-kid" mentality at all, but my girls are my best friends. I confess.

Ellisa

[k9katet]

Welcome Ellisa!

We have a variety of breeds too but the DS are my favorite. I do also like the Border Collie x JRT mix as he's got alot of naughtiness in him just like the Dutch Shepherds. I will always have at least one DS - probably more.

[leih merigian]

...Pomeranians---One will be heading for obedience though, for the fun of it. The other just has mindless barking for a job.

I think it's great you'll be doing OB with your Pom. I see them on agility fields from time to time, and they're always fun to watch (so darn cute, going over those 4" jumps!).

[syzygy]

I think it's great you'll be doing OB with your Pom. I see them on agility fields from time to time, and they're always fun to watch (so darn cute, going over those 4" jumps!).

They are *too* cute and I think they get extra points that way That is actually how I got interested--there was a lady not far from my neck of the woods who has UDX Poms. I saw one in utility and was so shocked that 1) it had a brain and 2) it went High in Trial. I had been half interested in the idea of trying out a tiny dog, just to see what the challenges were. Then one--and another--came up for rescue--a friend of mine who is an agility instructor rescued one and thought of me--and I thought, "Why not? They don't take up much space!" The one I am going to show is brilliant. A handful, but there is a brain in there a lot bigger than an English pea--all my preconceptions were wrong. Most of the Pom folks I know who do performance think their Papillons are "stupid" compared to their Poms and we used to jokingly call the Papillions "freeze-dried Border Collies," they were so good at the obedience. Other than the big hair thing--lots of work!--they have been a blast.

The funniest thing for me to watch is agility--the teeter takes a LONG time to go down with a tiny 4-pound Pomeranian perched on it.

My poor, tolerant DS girls just sigh and put up with the little monsters.

Ellisa

[vneerland]

I don't care how cute you think they are. They are taking up valuable DS space.........

[leih merigian]

...UDX Poms...

Well, blow me a way with a feather! I never would have thunk it .

[syzygy]

Well, blow me a way with a feather! I never would have thunk it .

LOL me, neither. There is a whole list devoted to the little beasts who do performance. It shocked me to find out they have a brain.

I am hoping to be at the Golden, Colorado UKC show with my younger DS girl in Rally next Sunday week. (I think it is the 25th but I don't have a calendar here.) It's hosted by the Belgian club there. Anyone else showing Rally or OB? I just need one more Q and we have our novice (RO1). I embarrass the heck out of my two DS's because it's always me that blows something, never the dogs. I get nervous out there and misread something. Maybe this time I'll do them proud. (Ha ha that won't happen.)

Ellisa

[leih merigian]

I am hoping to be at the Golden, Colorado UKC show with my younger DS girl in Rally next Sunday week.. . Anyone else showing Rally or OB? I just need one more Q and we have our novice (RO1).

I haven't done Rally yet, but Heather does with her DS. I've just done AKC obedience with my GSD, but will not be doing AKC any more with my new DS. Our main thing will be agility, and that will be USDAA.

I totally sympathize with making handler mistakes in the ring!

Good luck this weekend and make sure to report back about your newest Q and title .

[k9katet]

I've done UKC rally one weekend but I enjoyed it. I screwed up a sign both days. Luckily I was showing 2 dogs and a different one went first each day. So they both got a Q and an NQ. Vada got 100 points on her Q and HIT. Not too bad for just giving rally a try. A club I belong to is hosting a trial this weekend and I was going to enter but we're always short on workers so I'll be stressing about keeping the show running smoothly and I figured it was more fair to my dogs to let them stay home in the AC. We might try again in November or January when I'm not working the trials. I'd like to get back to AKC obedience this fall/winter. Copper earned his first CD leg a few days after he turned 13. I never thought he, a mixed breed, would be able to show in AKC in his lifetime. Vada had a 196.5 going but laid down on the sit. We only did 1 day of the show. They both have UKC CDXs and CDs in ASCA. I've found for Vada that the Schutzhund exercises mostly cover the AKC/UKC exercises through Open. A few things are different but we went in with just a bit of training and were able to pass. For Rally I think I just had to kind of teach the "other" finish.

Good luck this weekend on finishing your RO1!

[k9katet]

Here is Vada doing rally in January
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjSsIcnBqyQ

Here is Copper at the same trial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlHtXAgNVQA

[leih merigian]

Heather, I love that video of you and Vada. Nice job! Haven't seen it for a while, so it was nice to see it again.
She is so beautiful and you guys make a great team.

Has Copper always had that white face? Or, is that his old man face? Looks very cool, either way.

I envy you your club. Here in Charlottesville, it's difficult to find people to train with. I had joined the local kennel club a while back when they wanted expreienced agility people to get that going in their club. Do you think I could find anyone with whom to practice for AKC obedience? We'd done our CD, but I wanted to move on to the CDX, yet could not find people to work with (you know, for the out of sight group stays). Sigh. Left that club.

Hope you have some fun working the trial this weekend.

[syzygy]

Hi, Heather

Rally is just plain fun--I like it because there is freedom to talk to your dog in the ring instead of the robotic way we have to perform in regular obedience. I sort of did it backwards with my girls since rally is rather new to UKC--the kids already had their CD's. One has her RO 1 already. I always seem to blow a sign and it's always the last one when I am going in with a 100. I'm not good in front of people and almost blind besides. The dogs enjoy the attention though, and in spite of me--I am just a casual participant--they have come in with a first or a second for every Q plus a HIT a few weeks ago--that was a big show hosted by a regional training club full of OTCH folks with Border Collies and they just hate it when an amateur comes in and steals the prize. Those of us out here that do this for casual fun call ourselves "The Renegades." One of my girls got a Total Dog award at a show and for a while one was an All Star due to her habit of scoring well at obedience, but since I don't show often she has now dropped off that list--there are a lot of point chasers out there that keep showing in the lower levels just for the points. I'm not that serious, there are very few shows here, and it's expensive. We started our own UKC club here just for the venue, but I am Pres of that club and now that we are hosting full-size dog shows, I am too busy to participate much in the classes. AKC has added the mixed breed opportunity but I am too proud of my DS's to call them a mix, and one is not yet spayed anyway. So--it's just a couple of shows a year for me, usually.

We don't have any sort of sport opportunities in my area--the closest Schutzhund club is almost 200 miles from here and as far as I know nobody does any sort of ring sport in the area. So, it's just the traditional stuff that is available. They are adding lure coursing to the UKC repertoire soon and have a CAT which allows any breed to run--my DS kids are always a phenomenon when we go to the LGRA or ASFA races--I let them do a fun run when the trial is over and folks are always asking "What kind of dog is that?" They'll have no trouble qualifying for the CAT. Another friend is thinking of hauling the older girl to agility, if I can teach her that the jumps are *always* to be jumped--occasionally she will grab a bar and bring it back to me, Mostly though, I am planning on finishing up their narcotics training--and when that happens, most of the fun things will stop--they'll be working for their dinner then!

These dogs are such a pleasure--I don't think there is anything they can't do. (Ishi even used to put my ducks in their crate every night--no formal training at all.) No matter what I ask, they manage to figure it out and go give me their best. There is no dog like a Dutch Shepherd. They are the dog world's best-kept secret.

Ellisa and the DS girls

[leih merigian]

Ellisa,

What's a CAT? (it's probably not "a" CAT

[syzygy]

What's a CAT? (it's probably not "a" CAT

LOL it's the Coursing Aptitude Test

Unlike most lure coursing and racing venues, which are open only to sighthounds, the CAT is open to all recognized UKC breeds. My DS girls LOVE to chase plastic and I can't wait for the UKC to get their lure coursing events underway! You can title in the CAT and I think go on to higher titles like a championship of some form. It is brand new and I don't think they even have judges yet. But UKC is great about adding new places for us to spend our money.

Ellisa

[k9katet]

They had lure coursing at the Premier in MI last weekend. I think non-sighthounds can only get 1 or 2 titles and the other more advanced titles are only for sighthounds.

[k9katet]

When I was showing Vada in conformation we did not have any Total Dog shows. But now we do. Once a year anyways. This weekend. I guess I could show her in the altered class if that is eligible but I don't really care for conformation.

In Schutzhund Vada is called a mix as USA only recognized AKC papers - not UKC. And the AKC program really is for mixed and non-AKC breeds. They do encourage those purebreds that are spayed/neutered to register. If the breed gets recognized I think they will transfer your Qs/points.

Copper used to be very dark red in the face with a black muzzle. His white is old dog white. My first dog "greyed" really early too. Vada is not. Thank goodness.

[GSDNanny]

Oh my, a UDX Pom!?!? That might be the little sucker that I followed in the AKC ob ring with my GSD a number of years back. Wasnt a pretty sight as each time that little furry critter would flip that tail and bounce and sqeak, my GSD would say, 'oh mom, is that toy for me,
let me have it!! Needless to say, I did several un-noticed subtle but pointed corrections when the judge wasnt looking esp just before long stays. Whew, we made it tho! Actually I too have a couple of very small rescues, lap dogs who the big guys tolerate nicely.

Rally was a nice change from the OB ring but since I started training in herding, havent been back to OB shows.

CAT, now that sounds awfully interesting and fun. Hummmm....may have to check into that.

Denise Gatlin