Dutch Shepherd De Tiendschuur

The Dutch Shepherd

The Dutch Shepherd originated from a type of herding dog that existed in many variations in western Europe.

Western European shepherd were very versatile. Fighting with wolves was soon no longer needed, so they didn’t need to be very large, as long as they were useful for sheep shepherds.
This resulted in a dog with versatile skills. The Germans, Belgians and the Dutch each selected their own way of breeding. The results of Belgian and Dutch breeding are very similar.

The Dutch shepherd is a medium-large energetic dog. Originally the dog was a hard worker, partly on the instructions of the shepherd and partly its own initiative pushing the herds of sheep and preventing any mishaps.
Our experience is that as long as he is given ample opportunity to walk, work and/or play to lose some energy he can be a calm house dog. He learns and adapts easily to the rhythm of a household. His ability to quickly learn has its good and bad sides. He learns quickly what is and is not allowed, but at the same time what is not allowed must be tried out. It very important to be consequent in upbringing because the dog has the urge to bring up the boss and interpret the rules to his own needs.

There are three coat varieties: a short-haired, long-haired and rough-haired variety. Officially the three varieties only differ from coat, for the remainder, the appearance and the character should be the same breed standard requirements. However, since the varieties have long been bred predominantly separated, in the course of the years inevitably at least some differences arise.

The Dutch Shepherd has never been a fashion dog. Fortunately, because most varieties that have this experience have suffered. High demand for puppies of certain varieties meant breeding for money, without taking into account the typical qualities of a race. This of course led rapidly to defects.

Breeding too much too soon is not good, but too little is also not good. A race have a minimum number of breeding needed to create a healthy, lively offspring. The minimum is difficult to determine because it depends on a lot of factors.
One of the factors is how many people are willing to have their dog available for breeding. Many people want a cute dog but have little need for the care of the nest.

Since our first Dutch Shepherd (1973) our dog has especially been a great comrade and since 1977 we occasionally bred a litter.

Long-hair/shorthair cross bred.

To prevent the genetic basis of the long-haired breeding decline too much, over the years breeders have crossed blood with short-haired. The most recent cross breeding was in the sixties, in 1988 and in 2001, under supervision of the Federation of Cynology.

The progeny from such a combination long hair / short hair are all short hair coated (hereditary factor for short hair is dominant over long hair). If the next generation long hair is used again (statistically) 50% would be long-haired and 50% short-haired pups. For the third generation using long-haired, all puppies will be long-haired. The first three generations are included in the attachment of the genealogical register. From the 4th generation on the pups are registered as purebred long-haired.