German Shepherd Questions

I was wondering if anyone has one and can tell me about them.

I currently have a 4 year old Golden Retiever who is my baby, however she is not muct of a protector. My husband's work truck was burglarized outside our home last week and my sweet little Golden slept though it all. Since we have been talking about getting her a companion, my husband now wants to get a more of a protector breed since Haley barely barks.

My cousins had white german shepherds growing up and they were really good dogs. I was wondering what your experience has been and what they are like. Golden's are very easy going and very trainable. Are Shepherds the same? Do you think a shepherd and a golden would be a good match in terms of companionship?

I also had seen a few year back a German Shepherd that was shorter and stockier. Supposively it meant that it had German lineage. Do you know anything about that?

Do you have any other suggestions of a more protective breed that would still be a good companion for my Golden?

Also if you can recomend breeders that would be great too!
TIA

Re: German Shepherd Questions

We just purchased a German Shepard Puppy! she is only 6 weeks so not a protector yet!
we currently have two others dogs, a pitbull/shep mix and a pitbull/terrier mix...they are both great watch dogs, very loving, loyal...and let us know if something is not right....

I think that shepards make great companions to humans and other dogs...they are extremely smart and loyal dogs...and yes VERY trainable...our 6 week old puppy has already learned in the past two days to go potty outside and she is already turing her head to her name!

I would check on the AKC website for local breeders

Re: German Shepherd Questions

Yeah our golden, even though she is 80 pounds ad is incredibly sweet is afraid of her own shadow and will run instead of barking.

My biggest concern is aggression with the Shepherds. But my husband is insisting it is all in how you raise the dog. My will be starting a family soon, so I want to make sure they are good family dogs.

6 weeks and going potty outside is amazing! That is so great for you too! I am thinking they must be smart since they are police dogs.

Thanks!

Re: German Shepherd Questions

Def do some research about which dogs are good protectors.

When you are ready, look into rescuing or adopting a dog. You can do a search on petfinders.com

Good luck.

Re: German Shepherd Questions

I grew up with german shepers. They are very loyal and fiercely protective and incredibly smart. One thing that I noticed about them is that they seem to have a sense about someone. For instance, my grandfather's male was fine with a certain person until that person started having serious problems and became very threatening. Now he goes crazy when this person shows up at the house. It's as if he knows not to trust this person.

My dog as a child would 'attack' and then would immediatly stop if you asked for kisses. She was so smart.

While they are prone to hip displacia and digestive issues (let them rest after eating b/c they have longer stomachs and one of ours died from a twisted stomach), these are things that can be seen from day one if and only if you have a good breeder. DO NOT get one from a store. EVER! Do your research. I love that I grew up with them. I felt so safe taking them for walks b/c no one would ever think to bother me. They are very protective.

Re: German Shepherd Questions

I really that this is what we are looking for. The safety factor.

I really do intend to do my research. I would never go to a puppy shop either. If we do decide that this is the breed for us, I feel that I must go to a very good breeder. I do not want to chance any type of aggression due to overbreeding in the lines.

I am a golden and lab expert! We really would love to get another, and we may just go that route since we have some great breeder contacts. I just think it is worth it to explore and learn about the breed because I really do not know anything about them.

My mom just had to return an English Springer Spaniel to a rescue where she had rescued it from because it had what is known as springer rage which is due to overbreeding. She was devistated because she loved the dog, but after attacking my father 3 times with blood she had to return him. It was a shame that she was not told that he did not like males and attacked the father at his old home a couple of times as well.- I would not like to have to go through this because I know how hard it was for my mother and sister.

Thanks again for all your help. I am really enjoying learning about everyones positive experiences.

Golden's also are prone to hip displacia and digestive issues. Thank you for bringing this up. A twisted stomach is one of my greatest fears. I am so sorry you lost one due to that.

Message edited 6/29/2007 6:59:42 PM.

Re: German Shepherd Questions

I'm a firm believer that a dogs aggression comes from how its raised...for example Pitbulls have a horrible rep...why...b/c people teach them to kill...I have two pit mixes and they are the best dogs