German Shepherd Owners

Just recently put a deposit down to snag me a German Shepherd Pup, was wondering if anyone else on the forum also had any full blood GSD's aswell and wanted to share any tips/tricks about them, training, raising, etc etc...




Story of how and why I got my GSD:

Welp, about 8 1/2 months ago, I caved into buying a dog with my fiance/wife/commonlawmarriagedwoman.

She's was talking about kids a lot, or getting a puppy. Obvious choice was obvious. So I told her I'd only get a dog if it was a German Shepherd, because I lurve them. Always wanted one. Looked into, and they cost an ass load of money from local breeders, f that noise. We looked at the shelters, they had some but we couldn't have them because we lived in an apartment at that time and/or because we had cats. *rant* so rather than let me have the dog where it would have a big courtyard to play in and a loving family, they decide to just let him rot there and probably get put down after X days */rant*

So, we go to an adoption place in the mall. They have a "german shepherd/heeler" mix, didn't look quite right to me, but was close enough to get me to buy. Long story short, this dog is nothing like a shepherd (let alone german), after comparing photo's and having a friend confirm, he turned out to be a Black Mouth Cur. Very cool dog, but still not what the heart wanted. Love him to death too, great great dog. Anyway, he's been getting really destructive lately when we're not home, so we've been having to crate him. Wife hates that, thinks the dog thinks its a jail cell and that we don't love him anymore. Looked up behavioral issues with the BMC breed, if they dont' have anyone to play with, they turn to chewing things. Which is common with just about any dog anyway. SO. We found some German Shepherd pupps in the classifieds from a local breeder. I got a good deal on one. Two birds 1 stone, I get my full blood GSD, and our BMC gets him a playmate


#notatrollthread

I was fortunate enough when i was a little younger and grew up with a couple around my house. It wasnt in the USA, so we trained her, Bella, to be a guard dog, we have a big house with back yard back home, so all we did was trained her to be a guard dog. She was vicious and no one would enter our yard.

Now here in this country you'll most likely get sued for a dog with habits like this. But they are very smart dogs, take your time with them, when you start training her/him, make sure you reward them.

Easy dogs to teach to sit, walk, wait, etc, walk by you with no leash, you have to reward it everytime it listens...etc..

Its not hard at all...

edit: Im planning to get another one, but maybe mixed this time with a lab or something.

And she was heavier than your average shepard, cuz we would feed her only beef meats and bones. She was such a beast, i will never forget that dog. It was tought to take her out on walks...cuz she would go bezerker..

We had a German Shepherd when I was younger, beautiful dogs. I hope to have one again when I'm on my own.

Anyway, the biggest thing with GS (will refer to it as a male for this explanation for ease) is to start the training early. They are incredibly obedient and smart dogs that love their family. As you probably know, they're used a lot with police units because they make excellent guard dogs, so they'll be wary of strangers. Make sure you introduce him to people often so that he becomes friendly when you have guests over.

Make sure you also give him attention as he'll have a bunch of energy and will want to play quite often. Ours loved to play fetch in our back yard, so a tennis ball will be an easy solution to any toy concern. Some hefty rope would be fun for him to play tug'o'war with you as well.

If you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying for him?

Just gave you a bit of information about them, but you can find PLENTY more with Google too. Here and here are some great places for information.

One thing tho, nutrition is important for these dogs, as they get old they start having problems with their back legs, and sometimes back as well. The way the breed is.

When I was 6 or 7, I came home one day to find my neighbour sitting on his porch alongside his off leash German Shepherd. I guess the dog smelt some of my fear because the moment I approached my house, he launched towards me and chased me around a car a few times. Thank god I was a fast runner....and that my dad was there to save me. Guarantee that dog wanted a piece of me. I was scared shitless of larger dogs for a while but I've warmed up to them now...

Well now that I've told you my irrelevant story....just wanted to say congrats on the addition to your household. Post pics asap!

I got bit in the thigh once by a dog...lololololol

I was like 4


Congrats on expanding your family, we got a new to us pup earlier in October, but my sister started to develop some sort of allergy. So he had to go,

Very nice. I love my German shepherd. He's much more compliant and loving than my Siberian husky. He's also more of a protector. Sweet enough to give you diabetes if he's okay with you, but once you cross him the teeth start to show and it's like the devil possesses him lol.

Incoming Multikataquoteness

JhnR said:

I was fortunate enough when i was a little younger and grew up with a couple around my house. It wasnt in the USA, so we trained her, Bella, to be a guard dog, we have a big house with back yard back home, so all we did was trained her to be a guard dog. She was vicious and no one would enter our yard.

Now here in this country you'll most likely get sued for a dog with habits like this. But they are very smart dogs, take your time with them, when you start training her/him, make sure you reward them.

Easy dogs to teach to sit, walk, wait, etc, walk by you with no leash, you have to reward it everytime it listens...etc..

Its not hard at all...

edit: Im planning to get another one, but maybe mixed this time with a lab or something.

Click to expand...

Yeah, we have the same problem with Ares our BMC. We didn't even train him to be a guard dog but that's just how they are naturally I suppose. When people come over he barks until he sees them, then if sort of checks with us, and if we're cool, he's cool, but if we seem withdrawn a bit, he'll go full guard dog mode. Cool thing is, BMC's are bred as hunting dogs, so they'll hardly ever bite someone, they're bred (so I've been told) to pin down boars, 2-3 surround the boar and pin them down while barking to alert the hunter to come over and pakow, cap the boar. So that's all he ever does, is just circle someone and growl/bark. Feel sorry for a poor neighborhood kid/random bicyclist. Both those guys weren't ready for Ares lol. He's good off leash, but if he see's someone he knows, he bolts to play. Usually really good off leash unless he see's something he's never seen before (skateboard, bicycle, etc)

Hope you do get another one, they're a beautiful breed, that's for sure!

JhnR said:

And she was heavier than your average shepard, cuz we would feed her only beef meats and bones. She was such a beast, i will never forget that dog. It was tought to take her out on walks...cuz she would go bezerker..

Click to expand...

We only feed Ares Chicken quarters, chicken necks/pig necks, ribs on special occasions, and chicken livers. Never done beef, its usually more pricey. About what age should we start his? We only found out about raw food after Ares was more than old enough to handle it, but really have no idea when to ween the new girl (yes it's a girl) off puppy food!

Jaxper said:

We had a German Shepherd when I was younger, beautiful dogs. I hope to have one again when I'm on my own.

Anyway, the biggest thing with GS (will refer to it as a male for this explanation for ease) is to start the training early. They are incredibly obedient and smart dogs that love their family. As you probably know, they're used a lot with police units because they make excellent guard dogs, so they'll be wary of strangers. Make sure you introduce him to people often so that he becomes friendly when you have guests over.

Make sure you also give him attention as he'll have a bunch of energy and will want to play quite often. Ours loved to play fetch in our back yard, so a tennis ball will be an easy solution to any toy concern. Some hefty rope would be fun for him to play tug'o'war with you as well.

If you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying for him?

Just gave you a bit of information about them, but you can find PLENTY more with Google too. Here and here are some great places for information.

Click to expand...

We definitely plan on socializing her very well, we've still got some old friends from our apartment complex that we can meet up with reguarly while she's growing so she'll be around more people/dogs than just us - And I know all about the police/guard dog/smart thing, it's one of the reasons I wanted one so bad!! I've read so many stories about how smart they are and I'm amazed.

Attention shouldn't be a problem, I'm picking her up on the 21st of dec because that's going to be a 4 day weekend for me, that shows my dedication lol - and everyday I get home it'll be play time for awhile Already got the rope for tug of war with the current dog, he's a tough one to beat...Large dog as well if you guys aren't familiar with BMC's, he's about 70lbs right now

Well, to give you an idea, some of the local breeders go up to $1500 for theirs, registered with the AKC, registered parents, etc. Some others go for 800, this one was 350, but I was able to get her for 300. The father is AKC cert'd, and the mother is too, but no papers on her, basically came down tot he breeder he got her from was lazy. He knew other people that had gotten pups from the same sire/dame that had gotten registered papers so she's a sure thing, plus I looked at the mother/father before purchasing, theres no doubt that they're full bred. Basically thats why he's selling them cheaper, they're not going to be AKC certified, but idc about that, she's not going to be a show dog. Just as long as she's super smart, obedient, and a good guard dog and comes out with good markings, I'll be happy

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out!

JhnR said:

One thing tho, nutrition is important for these dogs, as they get old they start having problems with their back legs, and sometimes back as well. The way the breed is.

Click to expand...

Nutrition won't be a problem, we do the raw food diet which is the best you can do for them! I know about the back leg problems, just comes with the territory =(

dubessa said:

When I was 6 or 7, I came home one day to find my neighbour sitting on his porch alongside his off leash German Shepherd. I guess the dog smelt some of my fear because the moment I approached my house, he launched towards me and chased me around a car a few times. Thank god I was a fast runner....and that my dad was there to save me. Guarantee that dog wanted a piece of me. I was scared shitless of larger dogs for a while but I've warmed up to them now...

Well now that I've told you my irrelevant story....just wanted to say congrats on the addition to your household. Post pics asap!

Click to expand...

Probably not fear as much as his dog probably marked your yard and him never seeing you before = bitch gtfo thats my land, gtfo now or I keel you.

Glad to see that you got out unscathed - Hope you're not like every other yokel out in the world that blames the breed rather than the owner

Thanks! I'll post pics as soon as I get her, 21st of december. Little bit of a self x-mas present

09vdubgti said:

I got bit in the thigh once by a dog...lololololol

I was like 4


Congrats on expanding your family, we got a new to us pup earlier in October, but my sister started to develop some sort of allergy. So he had to go,

Click to expand...

I get bit by a dog daily.

That sucks. I'd just tell your sister to buy some Benadryl next time

What a cool name Ares. I like it. Such great dogs, i can't wait, gotta get my life together pretty soon, so maybe soon enough when i get a house, ill get one for sure.

To go with Ares, the female GSD will be named Athena. Which goes with my cats Apollo and Artemis...Started with a trend and the wife let me stick with it

I approve of all you said in the multiquote message, and the names. :lol:

Here she is more pics soon

Sent from my MB886 using Tapatalk 2

Wow, 4 animals in an apartment? I remember in my apartment days there was always a small weight/number limit.

Since you've already got some behavioral issues with the existing dog, I would recommend some puppy training classes. Even if it's just at Petsmart. Though a good teacher at those knows that they're training the owner, not the dog.

nouse4aname said:

Wow, 4 animals in an apartment? I remember in my apartment days there was always a small weight/number limit.

Since you've already got some behavioral issues with the existing dog, I would recommend some puppy training classes. Even if it's just at Petsmart. Though a good teacher at those knows that they're training the owner, not the dog.

Click to expand...

The only issues is he chews things while we're out, I don't think training classes are going to help with that.

He already knows how to sit, stay, shake, speak, come, etc etc plus since Ares is so big we've got him trained so when he see's small kid he just lays down infront of them and waits for them to pet him and for us to say it's okay before he gets up and plays with them - we've got the training stuff down

Just can't really stop him from eating books if we're out >_<

And actually it's 5 pets, we have a third cat, I just never mentioned her because she isn't mine so her name isn't in the theme I've got going


The reason we're at the place is becaus the weight/size limit wasn't small. As of a few months ago it is though. They kept over watering the courtyard area (it's really shadey so the water doesn't dry as fast) because it's on the same timer as the other area's that are more sunny. So it got muddy. Large dogs running in mud = they're going to tear up the yard. We told them about it as it was happening and they said they'd do something, never did so there was a large patch around the base of a tree that got tore up, owner of the property came to visit, saw it, flipped out and now there's a size/weight limit. - They did create a little dog park though which was nice, but it's not as well lit at night as the courtyard is so the owners with solid black dogs lose track of them and can't stop them from running into the parking lot. They put a fence up around the sides by the road, but not the parking lot -_-

Anyway, we're moving next month or in feb, getting a house