Bart, the Dutch Shepherd, is a sweet, wonderful dog, full of enthusiasm and joy but his heart is not in protection work. I use him in my lessons to defuse aggressive dogs and encourage the shy ones, a job he does very well. Bart does not make strong eye contact and would never incite a fight. He is a lover! Although I will miss him for this purpose, I don't work with him often enough to be fair and if the perfect forever home came along, I think it would be best for Bart to go to that home. To have his own "people" who walk him every day and play with him, would be very special.
Chica, also a Dutch Shepherd, is for sale as a detection dog. She is very small, only about 45 lbs and crazy athletic! I got her OFA results back today and her hips are rated GOOD and elbows NORMAL. I saw the films and was actually hoping for an "Excellent" after the vet pronounced them "better than good". She tested well as a detection dog candidate. A woman in California had expressed interest in purchasing her as a forensic detection dog and wanted Xrays taken. Well, Xrays were taken and still no response from her, thank you very much. Soooooooooooo.... anyone interested should contact me. She is UKC registered and microchipped. She is too small for what I want in my breeding program and also a little small to control the man in the way required for competitive schutzhund. She will be 3 years old on July 30th. She is crate trained and also good in the house, but will use her paws to open lever handled doors. Good with the other dogs and cats she has been around, very sociable. She is very dark, with the brindle barely visible under her black fur.I'm looking at managing the number of dogs we have. I am actively working a hand full of them but that leaves only sporadic time for the others. The old guys will stay and at their ages, we are likely to lose them in the next 3-4 years. I could never send Digit to another home, my sweet, grey boy. At age 12, he is weak in the rear end but still has the attitude and drive to come out and take some bites, or work for food happily. Ali, the token German Shepherd, with his allergies and special needs, can't go to a new home and risk relapse. And Roya, who climbs, opens doors and puts teethmarks in metal crates that put lions to shame, could not responsibly be placed elsehwere. The munsterlanders are Tom's domain. Arec and Easy are his hunting dogs and have produced a nice litter together. Ziggy (Engell Aryan) his the female he kept from the Confetti x Donar litter to become his next generation. And Donar, whom we imported from Holland, will definately remain here for his days.
Time spent aside, it is expensive to keep so many dogs. Multiply the annual heartworm tests and medications, rabies shots and the cost of purchasing the other vaccines that I administer myself, plus food and it puts a mighty dent in the budget. Jinx and her cancer treatments have been extremely expensive and are a priority. If keeping her alive was a matter of paying a fee every month, I would gladly do it. So if I can trim the numbers by four, it means more money available for Jinx. I love all my dogs and want them to have the best homes possible, where they are worked to their abilities and loved. If you think you would be that home--- and that person--- please contact me.
