To date, our little family has been pretty footloose and fancy free without a pet to hold us back from our travels and adventures. Having foraged with dogs, I was pondering if getting a dog would be a good fit for our family on a variety of levels. A dog to be a companion while hiking in the woods did have its appeal. And it played well into my triad of happiness* We had considered getting a cat as a family pet, which would be more manageable with our lifestyle, however, a loved relative of ours was highly allergic to cats and would not be able to stay with us when visiting. That was a deal breaker. Having cats while growing up, I knew that having a pet for my boys would be a healthy thing for all the normal reasons. Teach them to care for another living being, companionship, etc.. But...I've never had a dog. Let alone a dog. I should say first that I love animals and have always been drawn to them. But I knew a dog would be a much larger commitment than a cat and with our active family, I was unsure how that would work.
What kind of dog?
I began researching breeds that would be a good fit for the family as well as for my outdoor foraging desires. Everything I've read said that any dog could be trained to hunt truffles if they have a good nose. Upon more research, I started to understand that not only do they need a good nose, but an attention span and food drive to match. Those criteria whittled down the list for me significantly. During my research, I learned that some of the smaller dogs were considered "Watch dogs". Those are the small dogs you see barking at you from your neighbor's windows or cars as you walk by. I wanted a medium to large dog so when foraging, and eagle didn't take off with my mutt. It's true. Also, I liked the idea of a medium to large dog because I wanted some protection in the woods as well as a dog with endurance for mountain biking, hiking and running. And I had to face the fact that I simply liked larger dogs more than smaller ones.
On picking the breed
I've never been afraid of large dogs and been fortunate enough to have never had a bad experience with one. I have empathy for those that have and knew if I got a larger dog that I would be responsible for socializing and training it to be a safe and friendly pup. It was a commitment that I was willing to make so I started looking into what type of dogs were being used for truffle foraging. The list was long but I kept coming back to the moment I had a Marie Kondo-esque spark of joy when I saw a sable German shepherd in the parking garage at the Oregon truffle Festival. The owner was kind enough to let me pet him and I fell in love. Now I have to confess to you that I have ALWAYS loved German Shepherds. Their intelligence, nobility, beauty and drive have always caught my attention. Without going into too much detail, I did the math if you will and came up with what I thought would be a good match for our needs. A working line, female, mid-sized German Shepherd. I always loved the black ones even though black dogs have a bad reputation as intimidating. It was important that for our first pet that we had one that has as few risk factors for genetic disorders as possible. My next dog will be a rescue dog but the right course of action for my family was to get one from a breeder so we could reduce the genetic risks as much as possible. Now, to be fair, my loving husband would probably have liked a more labrador or golden retriever type dog. That man loves me.
Finding our Shep
With research done on breed and an agreement from my Husband and kids, I went forth to conquer. Except it wasn't that simple. First of all, black shepherds are not rare but also are not that common. I contacted breeders, searched through the AKC ads and scanned the web for a good puppy match for us. It took a while and a bit of patience but we finally found a puppy that met our criteria. It was a long and somewhat funny story I may share later with you. In the end, we ended up with a 9 week old black female German shepherd which we named Shiloh.
Next up...Pup-a-lupagus invasion
*Exercise, being in the woods & learning
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