Mental/Physical stimulation

[AidenLikesTea]

Hello

I was wondering if this would be enough mental/physical stimulation for a DS? We plan on getting one with a calmer temperment (tho i know their initial temperment can change as it gets older)

two 2hr-2.5 hour walks daily (might miss one day out of the week depending on schedual)

3 times a week park time (probably 2-3hrs per trip)

2-3x daily of fetch or other game

training to be a adult autism service dog (along with basic obedience)

being worked out by a very busy 3 year old boy

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

For how old of a dog? For a young pup it is way too much. This would be something more along the lines of a year and a half old dog (after growth plates are fused).

For a DS you cannot miss a walk, and if they're used to a long walk you can cut it short but be prepared with something else (more training). If you're training a lot, you may also not need as much physical exercise. Mental training, much like going to school for us, can be draining to a dog and so they don't need as much physical stimulation as normal. Keeping thing different and interesting (once they are PA trained, you probably can get away with more routine in training) during obedience and other training will be essential as they HATE monotony.

Assuming by park you mean dog park, I would also advise against the dog park. You can search the forum and read the stories about dog parks. If you mean a human park, I would make sure your off leash obedience is spot on and the prey drive is very very very low.

[AidenLikesTea]

ok that's just what i'm able to do right now. So a pup wont need that much? I guess then i'm good for having enough planned for when it's older haha. And park i meant human park or the agility center near my house. I'm too weary of dog parks, i feel like it's a disaster waiting to happen. So when it's a puppy do you suggest the walks and obidence training with like 1 or 2 fetch sessions? I just don't know how much or little this breed needs in the puppy stage. Everything i read says they need alot of physical/mental stimulation otherwise they become distructive.

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

That's good. I always try to clear up "park" since we all have different terms for it.

They do but at the same time, they are growing and their growth plates need time to close/muscle develop and strengthen/endurance to build. So take everything under advisement. They don't stop and will keep going so you need to limit them. The rough rule is 5 minutes of exercise per month of age. Most of your time in the puppy stage is chasing them around trying to prevent the Tasmanian Devils from devouring the house and training and environmental work and fun bonding. So I took the five minutes of exercise as a walking guideline. As a puppy it's more important to have a strong foundation in socialization (meaning environments and ignoring things, not forcing human interaction, though obviously learning people are fun and good is especially important for SD work) over obedience. They also can mature more slowly so that is very important to take into consideration also.

Prey drive/mouthing is another big one, especially with a small child around. These guys use their mouths for a long while so having an outlet for that is important.

No mobility work right?

[AidenLikesTea]

I actually just talked to the guy my therapist reccomended, he said that his ds have low prey drives (he has 4 of them and a cat...the cat is not dead lol) but he is aware of the small child in the house and is going to be teaching me (and the ds lol) how to handle mouthing and such. No mobility work. Mainly adult autism work and family companion

[Mark77]

Most Dutchies are not low prey drives. Mine have killed numerous birds, squirrels, and rabbits that came into the yard. Now you can get them that are a little more docile but you won't know that till they are couple years old. Don't kid yourself, these are high energy dogs and take a lot of discipline and training to get them to a level that is trustworthy in your home without being crated when you're not around. I only have one out of three that I would leave out if I was gone as he's my house protection dog and he's pretty laid back. Even lets my pet birds land on him and doesn't pay them any mind.


M

[Dutchringgirl]

can you verify that all 4 of them are pure DS, not to be a jerk but I havent seen 4 with low drives. My Thalie has a low drive but Sadie makes up for that with an insane high drive both prey and energy.

Especially getting a pup, there is no way to see what drive they have at that point.

[Mark77]

can you verify that all 4 of them are pure DS, not to be a jerk but I havent seen 4 with low drives. My Thalie has a low drive but Sadie makes up for that with an insane high drive both prey and energy.

Especially getting a pup, there is no way to see what drive they have at that point.

My Asia might be considered low drive when you see her laying around the house or making herself a permanent fixture on the furniture. However we also call her crack monkey for good reason. One minute she'll be sleeping or just laying around then suddenly gets a weird burst of energy and she's jumping from one couch to the other. This of course fires all the dogs up and things quickly become chaos which results in time outs in their crates.

[AidenLikesTea]

I guess what i meant by low drive is that the dogs he trains are small dog and child friendly. That's not to say they wont pounce a bird in the yard. Sorry i'm bad about decribing stuff

[Dutchringgirl]

Getting along with other dogs and kids is not drive. T

[Dutchringgirl]

My Asia might be considered low drive when you see her laying around the house or making herself a permanent fixture on the furniture. However we also call her crack monkey for good reason. One minute she'll be sleeping or just laying around then suddenly gets a weird burst of energy and she's jumping from one couch to the other. This of course fires all the dogs up and things quickly become chaos which results in time outs in their crates.

Thats having a good off switch. Sadie will fall asleep on the couch and as soon as I blink she is on the floor with hackles up at attention waiting for a command and as I approach the door from the living room to kitchen, she bobs and weaves like a boxer waiting to see where I go.