Is my 6 month-old puppy a dutch shepherd?

[ralbucks]

:DSangel: My puppy is a rescue. Is he a Dutch shepherd? Thanks.

[centrop67]

Thank you for rescuing.

I think it will be hard for anyone to argue against your puppy being a DS, but I am not an expert.

You're in for the ride of your life if he is.

A couple of requests:
1. Please introduce yourself in the New Member Announcement thread. Tell us a little about yourself and your plans for your new puppy.
2. Add a signature to your profile so we can keep track of who's who.

Thanks

[Dutchringgirl]

from what I see I would say Yes. Welcome and I am glad he rescued you! Can you take pictures from directly sideways and he is looking straight? I know its not easy but some straight shots would be good.

[ralbucks]

Thanks, here is a picture of him sideways.

[Dutchringgirl]

Thats a better body shot. How about his head? His body looks like a DS

[k9lexi]

You're in for the ride of your life if he is.

s

That is soon funny I was thinking the same thing but maybe starting at 6 months instead of 8 weeks will be a little less crazy

[Raven]

but maybe starting at 6 months instead of 8 weeks will be a little less crazy

No amount of finger-crossing will make this so. The crazy train just keeps steam-rollin' forward. Getting older only makes them bigger, stronger, and smarter.

Thanks for rescuing the beast.

This is one of the few dogs in this section of the forum that really looks like a DS. Not saying your baby is one, but dang....

What do you know about the dogs' past? Where was shelter located, and do you know if they picked up the dog locally, or was surrendered?

How is it around other animals and children? How long have you had the dog? If long enough to have bonded to you, how does it react to strangers or someone entering your home? How quickly does it respond to training? Energy level? ETC. Where I'm going with these types of questions is the breed will typically possess certain behavioral characteristics.

[ralbucks]

Hello, got him from a Florida animal services place, he was listed as a stray. He had been with the animal services for 10 days and had just gotten neutered 3 days before when I first saw him. Don't know why he was there, whether he is local or not. When we approached initially he kissed everybody. Still tries to kiss everybody. I got him a few months back, so when I got him one of his ears was floppy and his tail was hanging sideways, he was much smaller, maybe 3 times smaller than he is now (18lb then, he is 42lb as of yesterday). He was listed as a plotthound?! As I said he did not look like anything that I knew of when it comes to breeds, just a brindle dog. His ear came up and down in the last few months and finally stayed up maybe a month ago and never fell back. That is when I realized he was a shepherd and started doing my research. In the first few months we socialized him a lot as he was barking at other dogs to play and at kids, very jumpy. Never aggressive though. Still barks (barks are deep even for a puppy) when someone new comes to the door.Jumps very high, with all feet in the air. Gave him vaccinations, treats etc. Has nipping training going on as he does try to play with my hand every time he can. However, I discourage that every way I can think of.

[Owned-By-Hendrix]

Best educated guess would say he is a DS, if a mix a very high percentage of DS. Especially given he's from Florida where they are overrun with Mals and DS in shelters. How old is he now?

Deeper barks in a very, very, very generalized term are warning/defense barks. Does that mean that's what your dog is doing? Nah, he could have a deep "voice". You'll be able to tell soon the difference of "hey I'm here" barks, warning barks, happy barks, "I wanna chase that squirrel" barks, and just talking barks - DS seem to be very adapt at communicating verbally, though many humans may not agree with all the barking lol. But deep barks at a door are common for dogs who view a place as "home" - it's a warning to whoever is on the other side to go away. I would advise teaching him "place" and once he's good with that practice putting him in it when the doorbell rings/someone knocks at the door so you can answer without the dog forcing his way in; it also makes having people over so much easier because they aren't trying to get in with a wriggle butt dog trying to rush out to greet them.

[ralbucks]

Hello, here is a head shot of my puppy as requested by moderator. Thanks for the training advice @Owned-By-Hendrix.

[Dutchringgirl]

the way I teach mine to stay when excited is to step on the leash . Put them in a down, stand next to them and give them the stay command, step on the leash then ignore them. Practice with someone else doing something that would make them get up, someone at the door, or what ever. If they try to get up, the leash stops them, not you, and you dont say anything. Have them stay until you release them, then do a happy dance and reward.

Also practice "look". Make eye contact and say " look" and when they lock eyes, reward, practice longer and longer. Sadie picked this one up by herself. I would be at the door for them to go out, she also knows that she mus sit first, then she will look at me and the door opens.

I also do "Look' at feeding time, she is to sit, then make eye contact, I put the bowl down and she cant look away and eat until I release her.

[ralbucks]

Thank you @dutchringgirl for the training advice. I am trying to read and catch up with the previous posts about training too. Why is is that Florida rescues "are overrun with DS and Mals"? ( this is from a previous post here) .Yesterday I saw my puppy playing with other dogs ( one was a black Lab 1 year old) and the other was a mix Lab ( about same age), same height same build approximately. They were chasing my puppy around who is 6 months old. Well, it seems just like a general observation that may puppy was much faster than them (meaning they could not catch up with him). Are DS puppies much faster in general? He was so fast and so into it (he just loves playing with other dogs) that he hit his head in the wire fence (nothing serious, no marks, just bounced back both him and the fence). Did not do it again, I think he learned his lesson.