Author Topic: german shepherds (Read 782 times)

cav58d · « **on:** December 05, 2006, 07:44:12 PM »

Any owners of this breed? As a very young child I grew up with an old sable black male (Gunter). Unfortunately he passed away when I was five, and I don't have many memories of him. Since them my family has owned Jack Russell Terriors, which is obviously night and day to a GSD. I have decided that I will be purchasing my own dog in the Spring of 07, and GSD's are at the top of my list. Do any of you own a GSD? I'd be very interested in chatting if so..

thanks

cav-

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

AWMac · « **Reply #1 on:** December 05, 2006, 08:27:08 PM »

Cav ask Silat about German Shepards...He'll give you alotta help and insight.

Mac

mrmidi · « **Reply #2 on:** December 05, 2006, 08:44:58 PM »

I'v had AKC registereg German Shepards all my life, I lost my 12 year old shepard about 2 years ago and have just decided to get another,
I got a 14 week old silver shepard now and he is a mess, thinks he's
100lbs already and my son's black lab has taken to him like he was her own.

Shepards are very loyal, protective, and one of the most intelligent
breeds of canines.
They learn very quick and at a very young age.

midi

Seraphim · « **Reply #3 on:** December 05, 2006, 08:47:17 PM »

We have a seven year old pure bred, by far they are the smartest dogs Ive seen. A great story my gf told me:
Old neighbors, who owned a bunch of chickens, moved out one day & left them behind. Th chickens would pop in & out of the yard periodically, and one day not too long later, Xena (the shepherd) trots in the house & very gently drops an egg into her hand from her mouth. She then leads her out and shows where all the chickens have laid eggs.
Free eggs!
She is also very gentle with kids, and has the most intimidating bark around, most people are afraid to step into the yard (even friends that have been around for years).
Overall, my favorite dog Ive been around.

JB88 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 05, 2006, 08:56:26 PM »

got two shepards.
not pure bread though.

one is smarter than most people i know and one is dummer than a post but lovable as hell.

best dogs ever were.

ever.

bizz · « **Reply #5 on:** December 05, 2006, 08:59:44 PM »

Cav I have two of em. One I raised from a pup and the other I got from a German Sheppherd rescue shelter. The one I raised from a pup is a great dog, protective but not aggresive, great personality but a bit stubborn. That seems to be a trait of the breed:) The one I got from rescue has some issues with seperation anxiety and can have a bit of mean streak towards other dogs.

Not to turn u off but they can be a very difficult dog to raise. Until they are about two years old you will want to shoot them on a daily basis. Jake ate one of my joysticks, several dvd's, a couple of remote controls, one couch and one love seat. I made some mistakes just out of ignorance of not knowing what to do with my first sheppherd pup. When he was about a year old I finally got him into some advance training at a place that trains a lot of working dogs. I got him on a pincher collar and got a lot of his behavor problems worked out. Now at 4 years old he is a great dog.

My advice would be to do your homework on breeders, make sure that his line has no history of hip problems. A good breeder will be able to provide some sort of paper work on the health history of his or her's dogs. Crate the dog on the first night you are home with it. It will whine and cry just try to ignore it. Last get the dog into training as soon as possible, really they are never to young to start.

Hope some of that helps. If you want to talk more shoot me a PM with your number and I can give you a call sometime.

midnight Target · « **Reply #6 on:** December 05, 2006, 09:16:58 PM »

My wife loves shephards, but they are on a list of dog breeds that will automatically raise my homeowners insurance if I own one.

RTR · « **Reply #7 on:** December 05, 2006, 09:56:47 PM »

LOL bizz..similar story here. Had one German shepherd years ago.

As a pup he ate every plant in the house (destroyed actually, not ate). Chewed up my Parade boots (the highly polished ones..I was in the airforce), completely tore off all the baseboarding in the kitchen and ate most of it.

Tossed and batted around a cast iron frying pan one day and knocked a couple of holes in my kitchen wall. I gotta tell you that dog almost didn't make it through his first year!

Once he grew up and settled down he was the best and smartest damn dog I ever had. Sadly we lost him to sickness when he was only 5 years old. Still kinda miss the big bastage.

We have a Shepherd Cross right now and he has been a great buddy. He's 11 now and just starting to show a little aging.

German Shepherds.....Great Dogs. (provided they have a good lineage...the breed has had some troubles genetically the last few years....puppy mills).

cheers,
RTR

Holden McGroin · « **Reply #8 on:** December 05, 2006, 10:00:47 PM »

My Basset Hound eats German Shepards and JRT's for lunch.

nirvana · « **Reply #9 on:** December 05, 2006, 10:37:00 PM »

My family has one, great dog. If it came down to eating or playing fetch he'd play fetch any day of the week. Very intimidating and seems to have jaws that could snap bones I've been lucky to never find out. Very loyal, always there when you get home.

bsdaddict · « **Reply #10 on:** December 05, 2006, 10:50:30 PM »

I've got 2 shepherd/akita's. they're coming up on 3 years old now, the first 2 1/4 of which they chewed like mad. was a tough, and not completely successful, effort to focus them on chewing only their toys. I still find a stray sock all chewed up from time to time, but at least they're done eating the furniture.

They're good boys though, dunno what I'd do without 'em. They gave me a good scare my first winter here in NH, if you google "frazier attitash dogs" you can read all about it...

Long story short is that they were missing for 4 days and were discovered by ski patrol hanging around the summit of my local ski hill.

Here's a pic of us leaving the ski patrol shack...

...and then a photo op just before setting off down the mountain

cav58d · « **Reply #11 on:** December 06, 2006, 11:47:42 AM »

Thanks for the replys guys! BS, i'm very happy you got your two dogs back! I've been there before, and it's the worst feeling on earth!!! The chewing sounds like it could be a major problem, but hopefully early home training mixed with profesional training can limit some of the damage. For you owners, can you talk about the difference in temperment that you have seen in males and females? Additionally, I have heard that different coat colors bring different temperments. Is that true? I would be interested in black sable.

thanks

Hawklore · « **Reply #12 on:** December 06, 2006, 02:04:17 PM »

I own a Shepherd..

http://www.germanshepherds.com

Great place to learn alot of info..

You'll spend weeks looking into stickies and searching before even posting..

Debonair · « **Reply #13 on:** December 06, 2006, 02:08:53 PM »

steffi graf, lol

evenhaim · « **Reply #14 on:** December 06, 2006, 03:16:08 PM »

i have had a pure bread shepard since i was age 0 he died not to long ago at age 15 (very long for a shepard) my dad has had 3 during his childhood- teenage years they r amazing dogs extremly loyal and kind they male amazing attack dogs to IE : dmonslayer get off my lawn or ill sick em on u