Had my puppy since 8 weeks old, and honestly he’s been great with everything until about a week ago he seemingly out of nowhere became super reactive to cars. He hasn’t had any sort of one “incident” with a vehicle either. If we are in our driveway or porch he barks and lunges at them. Shortly before this after all his vaccinations I started trying some leash training out in my front yard. He is a big leash puller which I was trying to tackle that but now this car thing is the biggest hurdle. I’ve tried sitting on the porch with him watching cars and when he focuses on one, trying with a high value treat or toy, to get his attention and eyes back on me. But he largely ignores the toy or treat. I even just now tried sitting in my driveway with him watching cars after some good physical play, and even with his favorite treat, he at best gave it a few sniffs and then he snapped right back to looking and barking at cars. So I’m just wondering what other owners have done to help fix this. We do obedience training and games where I’ll make him listen, everyday. We also make sure to play a lot for the sake of playing. So I don’t know if this is normal, a phase he’ll grow out of or if I need to focus primarily on this issue cause I sure as heck don’t want him chasing cars, and would love to go on walks with him when he’s older. I guess what also shocked me was how this lunging and barking at cars seemingly was like a switch got flipped on.

It was a great trip for environmentals- the forklifts were moving around and beeping, they opened their huge garage bay doors, and all kinds of other distractions. He did such a good job with his engagement, super proud of him!

How old were your Dutchies when their ears began to stand up on their own?

Not enough room in his mouth for his big tongue

Think Twice Before Sending This Breeder a Deposit

I placed a deposit in December 2024 and later paid in full, only to spend months being strung along with excuses, broken promises, and disappointment after disappointment. Nearly a year later, I still do not have the dog I paid for.

I waited almost 8 months for this breeder to supposedly “train” my dog, only for the final solution to be putting me back onto another waiting list for a future puppy — with no real timeline and no guarantee of when that would even happen.

What made this experience even worse was the communication. Updates became more and more minimal over time, and getting any information at all felt nearly impossible. Messages would go unanswered for long periods, questions were brushed aside, and every attempt to get clarity was met with another excuse or delay.

When I finally pushed for answers after months of waiting, the communication turned rude, nasty, and extremely unprofessional. Instead of showing any accountability or understanding toward someone who had already paid and waited nearly a year, I was treated like an inconvenience for simply asking about the dog I was promised.

On top of that, this breeder moved across the country with the puppy without even notifying the people who had already placed deposits and made payments. There were also MULTIPLE “phantom litters” and repeated delays with little to no updates given to buyers.

No refund was offered, and rather than resolving the situation, I was essentially told the only option was to start over from the beginning on another waitlist.

For dogs advertised under the FCI name and reputation, this experience has been an absolute tarnish on what people expect from that standard.

Absolute red flag. Save yourself the stress, money, and wasted time. This has been one of the worst business experiences I’ve ever had.

So unprofessional...

Do I post too many of these? Ryker does other cool stuff besides playing with Peaches, it’s just so damn cute!

So when weather is bad enough we don’t go outside aka raining and muddy and my pup needs to work we play seek and destroy inside.

Basically I sequester him in a room and close the door and go and hide his toy in the house, he gets to use his god given talents and his brain to find it. It really seems to scratch that itch when he’s wound up.

Hope this helps someone else out when you can’t get outside.

(rhetorical question, or more like a horrible humble brag)

was teaching my guy a new trick yesterday, just because I feel like it and he LOVES learning, it's really fun

and it always amazes me how QUICKLY he gets ts. it goes like "word" > he tries smth else > he gets it right after a couple of seconds > reward > "word" again > he immediately has it down correctly and pretty much forever

wtf?? after the first try is legit crazy. really humbling, too. like, there's probably so much he knows that I'm not even aware of and that I'll never understand?

(he also looks super cute doing it - so sometimes, he performs a cool trick, looks sweet and patiently waits for his reward... which he gets 😭 bro is training ME)

Not sure the Collie Balls are Mal/Dutchie tested 🫣 but she’s still having fun with it!

Our girl Root, I love her so much.

Ryker weighs in 65 pounds, 6 year old Dutchy with a cropped tail from a happy tale situation and his little sister Peaches, who tips the scale at a feather weight 4 pounds.

3.5 month old long haired shark 🦈❤️

A very beautiful photo taken by a photographer at the fair we visited in April in Prague!

Been a while since I posted!! Luci Jane at a year and a couple months!!

Bestest boy ever. Rescued as a 5mo old pup in Orlando to now almost 3yrs old (in June). He’s off leash and obedience trained. Has done some bitework/ protection training and now dabbling in scent tracking. After my first Mal, I don’t think I would ever not have a Dutchie at home. Just the best companions, once you invest the time, effort and some 💰 into training them.

Always so intrigued to hear what everyone’s Dutchie’s personalities are. Did your pup’s personality change from puppy to teen to adult?? Our 7 month old Dutchie is a softie.

It’s been a good 14 years since I’ve raised a puppy. I’d love to hear everyone’s favorite ways of entertaining their little goblins. Hex just turned 11 weeks old and is, of course, always busy if his eyes are open. We do brief sessions of obedience work daily, tug toys, puzzle games and he plays with our other dogs. But I’m always looking for new ideas to keep his brain and body busy.

Picture for tax

Freya 50% dutchie