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Thread: puppies

  1. #26
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    Default Re: puppies

    Quote Originally Posted by oldster View Post
    You will note that nowhere did I mention a relationship based on fear.
    Perhaps I misinterpreted it, but this is what I am referring to:

    Quote Originally Posted by oldster View Post
    All dogs need to love you, an assertive dog needs to also fear you.
    I was raised with large dogs--Great Danes, German Shepherds, a Mastiff, a Bloodhound, etc. Some of these dogs weighed more than me, and I've never felt the need to instill in them a fear of me. In my experience, love, socialization, and constant communication are way better tools. I think we basically agree, but I also think your general principle of dog ownership is better stated as, "All dogs need to love you, but an assertive dog needs to also respect you."

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  3. #27
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    Default Re: puppies

    i'm planning on doing a lot of research, I'm not entering into this lightly dont worry! i'm not some basic yuppy bitch who hasn't had any experience with animals and who just likes the idea of it and is going to wing it haha. it will probably be awhile because i wanna make sure i'm prepared

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  5. #28
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    Default Re: puppies

    We have a GSD/heeler mix and a purebred GSD. They are very, very high energy (even at 2 and 3 y/o). They need 4 walks a day, 'enrichment' toys, room in the house to wrestle, and a weekly dog park trip. They both came from the shelter and had prior issues.

    While they can be big pains in the ass because they are so smart, it also makes them very trainable. They're not stupid; they will know what you do and don't want after just a few repetitions. However, you have to stay on top of it, if you catch them starting to exhibit the wrong behavior again, you better do a refresher session before it escalates. They also do this 'honing in' thing, where once they are locked in on their target, that's it, you better have a damn good recall trained into them, or they're just going to totally ignore you and destroy whatever it is.

    They also have really, really high prey drives. It took a month before the one stopped trying to eat my cat, and they both still chase him just for 'funsies'. Luckily ours are just playing, but I have heard of many shepherds killing cats accidentally.

    As far as where you get them from... shelter dogs obviously come with some issues (one of ours had abandonment issues/anxiety, the other is leash reactive/aggressive). However, breeder dogs can easily have issues created in them as well by lax owners. When I was a kid, my parents got a 7 month old puppy from a Schutzhund bloodline; they did not socialize her properly, didn't teach her "no".... and ended up with a vicious guard dog. Wonderfully sweet and protective to family, but she bit 3 people and the UPS guy wouldn't come near the house because she would literally run into the window, barking her head off. Huge headache and liability to have my friends over.

    With you having a kid and a cat, I would probably go for a lab or a large mutt of some kind. Maybe teach them to bark at the front door to ward off burglars; any large dog bark is scary.
    "People jack off with the left hand and point with the right."

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    Default Re: puppies

    Quote Originally Posted by simone87 View Post
    if its a young puppy id have no problem getting it from a shelter, as long as it was healthy. i just wanted to go with shepherd because i want a family-friendly guard dog and i hear they are the best!
    Shepherds are the best. Smart .Very obedient after training. Loyal. Very brave and protective. I've had three. Two were purebreds and one was 1/4 Timber Wolf and 3/4 shepherd. He was the best of all. SUPER smart and he was ADOPTED for free as a puppy. The mother's owner didn't know what he had. I've seen shepherd mix puppies in shelters.

  8. #30
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    Default Re: puppies

    Apparently Audri already called for me, lol.

    I have always, always, always had GSDs. I'm absurdly fond of the bugs. As we speak, my 7 month old female is stretched out on the couch (head on the pillow and all) and my nearly-year-old male is curled up next to my feet. There are currently two other GSDs living in my family home (large farm with several acres) that belong to my father, both female, ages 3 and 8. My cam/SW name, actually, is taken from my family's oldest GSD. So, you know, bit of experience with the lumps.

    Regarding shelters versus breeders: I've gone with both. Oddly, all four GSDs currently in my immediate family are from breeders, although that's fairly unusual for us. Growing up, we had 2-3 dogs at any one time with at least two of them being mutts/rescues. In terms of which I 'preferred,' I will say that my 'soulmate' dog is the most expensive purebred I've had of them all but the close second is a lab/GSD shelter mutt. YMMV.

    But I digress--shelters and breeders each have pros and cons. Going through a breeder means that you can see the dame/sire when you look at the pup, giving you an idea of size, appearance, health, and, most importantly, temperament! A reputable breeder will be able to show vet-verification that the dog comes from a line with no health issues for several generations. Often it means getting a 2-3 month old puppy, but many breeders also sell 'older' dogs that have been returned for whatever reason or that they've taken in (#1). Unfortunately, breeders are also fairly expensive. In my neck of the woods, a solid GSD is going to run you at least $1000. All of my babes ran me $1200-$1500 each at 2-3 months of age. Older pups will be cheaper, but even older GSD purebreds are several hundred. On the flip side, shelters do not charge nearly the same fee for adoption and you're giving a deserving animal a loving home. The shelter in my home town is depressingly full of GSD mixes and, even worse, obvious purebreds of 1-2 years age. SO many people adopt GSDs with the wrong reasons and just are not prepared for how high energy they are (#2), meaning they end up in the shelter after the 'cute factor' wears off. Often these pups are high energy, hard to handle (initially), etc., because they were not trained properly as pups due to their unprepared owner or said owner used fear tactics on the pup (which do not treat the underlying causes of poor behavior). That said, GSDs have an exceptionally high learning curve and will adapt to a new owner with plenty of love, affection, and firmness (#3). Keep your eyes out on the shelters--you may well find your soulmate there! That said, if you want to go through a breeder, you're welcome to PM me for some help in choosing one.

    A bit more about the breed: GSDs are working-class herding dogs, with size enough to keep predators at bay and intelligence/loyalty enough to recognize what it was meant to protect. They are exceeding loyal (though most are close to the entire human family, they will bond with a single member more strongly). They are a perfect blend of size and agility for farm work, herding, police/military work, etc. They are intelligent and they need a job. A bored GSD is a destructive GSD. Reference #2. People generally see this list as meaning that GSDs are perfect 'protection' dogs and they certainly do have that reputation, but GSDs will only protect that which they love, respect, and bond with. Moreover, protecting you is one small part of a dog's life. You still have to feed, water, play, exercise, train, and love the crap out of these little time-sinks. They give as much as they get back, but between the potential costs (allergies? expensive special diet. accident? $100s in vet bills) and the training they require only those people are incredibly loyal in return deserve this breed.

    They're a huge time commitment, especially as puppies. Well, all puppies are work, but the bigger dogs have the potential for bigger messes (#2, again and again). It was only at around 6-7 months that I started being able to leave my female unattended in the house for several hours without accidents/chewing and my male took about 9-10 months to hit that level of maturity.

    What about GSDs and cats? My dogs were all raised with my cats and we've never had an issues. GSDs do have a high prey drive, so you need to be careful to select either a pup you can raise with any cats OR a GSD that is familiar with/friendly towards cats. I've never had an issue with my GSDs or mixes going after my cats, although we did have a cat killed years ago when a rescue (lab/australian shepherd) took her as prey, grabbed on, and snapped her neck. A breeder will be able to tell you if the pups have been near cats. A shelter may know, but often does not (although you can bring your kitty in before adoption to see how they respond in a safe environment). That said, all of our GSD rescues/mutts have slept with our cats or just ignored them. Again, YMMV.

    I'm slowly writing a novel here, so I'll sign off for a bit. Like I said earlier, PM me if you want to chat. I'm familiar with most larger breeds and can assist a bit in comparing too.

    Expanded Notes/Stories:
    #1 - Regarding GSDs returned to breeder/sent to shelter due to 'behavioral issues:' my father has just made the difficult decision to send his 3 year old purebred back to her breeder next week. She's somewhat shy, very sweet, and incredibly clever, so why? She has difficulty with the pack hierarchy and challenges any females that try to come in. As I recently moved back home, my young females fell under that category. She has attacked both, and one died last month as a result unfortunately. Once is an accident, twice is a pattern. She's perfect to keep in a one-dog household, but cannot be trusted with other dogs as she has fully matured (GSDs don't quit growing until 2-3 years of age). I realize it sounds terrible that she attacked these other dogs (and it is), but it's the reality of keeping more than one in close quarters. Behavioral issues can include aggression towards cats/other dogs/certain humans and these problems require very particular homes to address. That said, they can also include incomplete house-breaking (because the human sucked/medical issue), destruction of property (usually due to boredom), high-energy (also boredom), etc., which are all fairly minor and easy to correct within a few months.

    #2 - Shit my GSDs have done:
    * Howling on their first night home, in the crate, because they're adjusting to the new environment; no shit, either prepare to have the pup sleeping in your bed for a few days so it stays quiet, or warn your neighbors in advance.
    * Destroy everything in sight if left alone for 5 minutes, because 'curious puppy is curious', including: my kitchen floor linoleum, the carpet in my truck, the carpet in several rooms (Lord was displeased that I close the door when I went to shower one day), scratching giant dents into my dry wall, destroying curtains/blinds (because he/she really thought going through the window to get to you was clever), eating my cell phone, eating my shoes, eating the corner of the wall, eating the carpet in general, shredding entire pillows--I can really keep going for ages; 5 minutes is too long unattended for the first several months, the needy twats.
    * Peed and pooped on my carpet immediately after a 30 minute walk, because why not wait until we're home to eliminate?
    * Figured out how to open the door to the dog treats/food and eaten the entire bag. One of my dogs (NOT a GSD, believe it or not) once ate an entire pound of rainbow training treats one night and spent the next three days having liquid green shits every hour. She also ate an entire tub of vaseline the night after the training treats, resulting in bright green oil hell that smelled of death and misery coming out her ass for several days.
    * Did I mention the poop yet?
    * Etc., etc., etc.

    #3 - I'm going to very politely disagree with any mention that 'fear' is in some way a good training tool or somehow the 'response' your dog should have to you. It's flat out not and anyone who thinks otherwise is a fucking moron. Wait, sorry, that wasn't polite. I digress--GSDs are loyal, protective, highly intelligent dogs. They respond to a firm owner who sets boundaries, works with them, etc. Putting the fear of god in your dog to prevent him/her from behaving inappropriately does not treat the problem, it just makes the dog associate that behavior with you treating it poorly and avoids the behavior to avoid punishment not out of understanding. If your dog respects and loves you, it will protect you. If your dog fears you, it will eventually turn on you. GSDs are 100+ pound dogs; I know which one I'd choose. People who subscribe to the 'fear' theory are, frankly, just too damned lazy/unknowledgeable about proper training. I realize that's a bit of a rant, but I currently have an incredibly stubborn male who turns 1 next month. He had me pulling my hair out (see #2) and we ended up going to 1-on-1 training to work things out (still going, matter of fact, to work out a few more kinks). Other people have flat out said they 'wouldn't tolerate him' and would have 'gotten rid of the shit by now' to me. They regularly prescribe quick fear tactics to fix things. Lord flat out doesn't respond to yelling and he's the type of dog that would bite if someone started hitting him, but six months of training and he's really coming around. Still hates nearly anything with a penis though, the clever boy...



    Right and there's the novel! Hopeful dog owners beware--it's a struggle sometimes and definitely not for everyone, but they will give you back 10 times the loyalty and affection you put in.


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