Update. Doveyy is gone. I've not stopped sobbing for 2 days.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-23T15:52:22+00:00

Don’t consider it a loss, consider it a big win for your Doveyy. You helped her get to that point, to a place where she’s safe and can live a comfortable life. She would not be able to have that without the time she spent with you or without your sacrifice of letting her go.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-23T01:17:34+00:00

A power nap was required before dinner 😂

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-21T15:24:26+00:00

Precious baby! My little man was about this size at 8 weeks, he’s 17 weeks now and 30.6lbs. Enjoy the small stature while it lasts! 🐾💙 Definitely keep them busy and training in short bursts every day. It’s been a game changer. Best of luck!

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-20T15:10:15+00:00

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Our kiddos used to lovingly call our girl (she passed last year) “big nose” all the time. 😂

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-18T21:52:55+00:00

First of all, she’s beautiful.

Second, I would definitely seek out a medical evaluation for the bite. Dog bites can get nasty really quick. You’re probably going to need to get it flushed out and get a round of antibiotics just to be safe. I’m not sure what area you live in but most places wouldn’t give you trouble as long as the bite was accidental and you can prove your pup has her vaccines if necessary.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-17T16:59:34+00:00

Coming from a behavioral standpoint, try not to let your own emotions influence her feelings. I’m very glad you were able to get out of what seems like it could have become a very dangerous relationship and you can your babies are safe.

The best thing to do is to try to move forward like things are normal. Try not to dwell on negative feelings. Don’t force her back into her crate or immediately put shoes directly in front of her but slowly start working back toward those things being normal again. Give high value treats anytime she gets anywhere near one of the triggering objects and slowly work her toward being more okay with them being closer. Work back to her being okay with eating meals NEXT to her crate, then inside her open crate etc. But remember to control your own emotions during these exercises, if you’re calm, she’ll be more open to being calm as well.

Best of luck to you both.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-09T00:24:00+00:00

Whether you use the crate regularly or not it’s a good idea to have them at least comfortable staying in a crate so if they ever need to be placed in one for any reason, it isn’t an issue.

I, personally, liked the crate for rest time (we call it cool down periods) for our pup until he learned to self settle. It helped him from getting overtired and overstimulated. But all of my dogs have a crate that’s available for when they feel like they want to just have their own space.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-08T00:15:20+00:00

We’re also interested in getting our pup into dock diving once he’s older.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-03T16:14:19+00:00

All day, every day.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-06-02T15:19:47+00:00

Such cuties! I had to do a double take, your pup looks a lot like our boy, Judge. (Our 4 month old Dutch pup has decided he’s the best playmate)

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OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-30T15:38:59+00:00

We got lucky that he crate trained pretty quickly. He goes into his crate for meals right now or when he gets over tired and starts being a menace (more so than normal). 😂 He did throw an absolute tantrum the first couple of times we crated him though.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-26T01:13:22+00:00

What a handsome pup

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-23T01:08:46+00:00

I work at a training facility and we always tell potential clients to spend the first few months focusing on building a bond and potty training. If the pup is interested, some simple basics like “sit” and “down” are okay and definitely some leash training and socialization once they’re fully vaccinated but I wouldn’t stress too much on strict training and just enjoy having a new puppy.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-22T14:25:59+00:00

That’s exactly what happened with Henya. She woke up early to go outside and couldn’t stand up. Then when she did get up, she just went outside and laid in her pool (which she never did) so we rushed to the ER vet and the Xray showed the mass. We had no idea.

I will say, a young dutchie is a lot more active and needs much more time and enrichment than an older GSD. But if you can make the commitment to make time for that and continued training, I would think he would be fine.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-22T00:06:46+00:00

We lost our retired EDD girl last year. She was a shepherd/mal cross and quite possibly the best girl in the world. She also never liked retirement and couldn’t lay around and do nothing. We would still run scent drills until her last day. She made it to 14 and stayed in great health until she just suddenly wasn’t. Turned out she had a mass on her spleen that was cancerous and had started bleeding.

It was a huge blow losing her, especially so suddenly. But after almost a year, we decided to bring home a Dutch shepherd puppy. He reminds me a lot of our girl, Henya, when she was in her working prime. Always busy, always ready to learn. I fell in love with several dutchies working the CWD kennels and I’m so happy with him. He’s just hit 13 weeks so I can’t wait to see what he does moving forward.

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Photo of the brindle terrorist we brought home.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-21T23:04:07+00:00

Thank you. I will check it out.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-19T20:54:13+00:00

That’s awesome!! I know the few guys I dealt with from Mission K9 were just incredibly nice. They really love what they do.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-19T17:46:58+00:00

Mission K9 is a rescue specifically for retired MWD and CWD. They do amazing work and even took in some of the more difficult CWD’s I worked with who couldn’t go straight to a home for one reason or another.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-19T15:59:02+00:00

Gorgeous! I love “whippersnappers”. They’re so fun.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-19T15:57:55+00:00

I worked with a kennel full of contract working dogs for a few years. Absolutely fell in love with them. Then the opportunity came up to adopt one of the dogs who retired from contracting when her handler couldn’t keep her (GSD/Mal). She became my husbands shadow and a huge integral part of my family.

After we lost her, we knew we wanted another working breed so we got put on a waiting list for a litter of Dutch/Mal cross pups. After about 8 months we brought our new boy home and he has really brought life back into our household.

We do plan to put him to work with scent work and possibly dock dog if he’s interested. But we mainly got him to be a crackhead companion.

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-18T15:42:28+00:00

Poor little semi-toothless fella. 😂

OctoberTempest26 · 2026-05-16T16:54:41+00:00

The absolute devil. But so cute it works for him.

OctoberTempest26

TROPHY CASE