How to Pick a German Shepherd Puppy
Dog and Puppy Training
Coco around 3 months
I wrote this to a friend a few years ago when he asked me what to look for in a German Shepherd Puppy. Here is what I wrote with some updates and names changed to protect the innocent.
We thought it would be good for our son to have a dog and I thought it would be fun. Well the surprise was how much I got attached. I used to make jokes about my sister who would always have her yellow lab with her, now I have become her… I do not do anything without the dog…
I have done A LOT of reading and learning about shepherds and dog training in general. I have spent time with local k9 training officers and involve myself in all the dog training related events I can. I used to think I knew something since my parents raised shepherds when I was a kid. After that, they owned a boarding kennels so I thought I learned something from that experience… I did have a shepherd in the early 80’s and I spent a lot of time with her but not enough training, not at all. She was good with people but dog reactive.
In regards to How to pick a German Shepherd Puppy, this is what I recommend.
First, know what you want. If you want a dog to protect you and your house, it will take a different type of GSD. For example, the shepherds that most police departments use do not come from the USA. They are NOT show dogs with AKC papers. In the last 20 years the akc has promoted dogs that look a certain way, but in general they are considered to not have the drive, character and health to do protection or police k9 patrol work. Most of these “show” dogs typically have the slanted backs and squatty rear legs.
I will not bother going into much about a good protection dog since I do not think that is what you want.
If you are looking for a good pet and a nice dog with good social skills, I think you would be fine with an AKC dog from a good breeder or better yet a rescue dog from a reputable rescue. A good rescue might allow you to foster a dog which is the best way to see what you are getting into. A few days and you will know what the dog is like. I do believe most dogs can be trained and most behaviors can be modified. But there are some dogs that just shouldn’t be with some people.
Most GSD’s will be loving, loyal and very smart. The combination of loyal and smart is what sets them apart from many other breeds. There are a couple dogs smarter (border collies) and some just as loyal (dobies) but the combination of smart and loyal means that they will use their brains to please you, not just figure out how to get out of your fenced in yard so they can take off for the day. Some of this behavior is learned I think, but there are breeds that tend to have certain traits. From what I understand Huskies will run if they are let loose… They are beautiful dogs but having to worry about them taking off is nerve racking. Dobermans and Shepherds tend to be “velcro” dogs, their primary desire is to be with YOU.
Coco about 3 yrs old
Let me tell you a little about my dog Coco, in many respects a perfect dog. We got her from the SHARE a local to South Florida GSD Rescue. They are great and we highly recommend them. They said she came from the streets of Miami. They had two puppies at the time, Coco and a shepherd lab mix. We visited the mix at a volunteer’s house. We spent about 15 minutes in the house with this cute little shepherd lab mix, during this time the dog never stopped… I mean it was running and jumping all over. We took the dog for a walk thinking that would calm her down. Even after the walk, the pup was still very full of energy. We left a little worn out with scratches from this wonderful but energetic pup. I think that pup needs a house full of active kids and adults and perhaps other dogs to keep it busy.
That same weekend another SHARE volunteer brought Coco to our house. She was about the same size as the mix (a few months/20 pounds) but had the perfect shepherd ears and look. She walked around our house and sat down at our feet. What a night and day difference… It turns out she was a little sick so that accounted for a little of her calm demeanor. However, the calmness and the ears made the choice easy. We spent more for Coco, but I know it was very much worth it.
Fast forward to present day, and she has a little more energy (too much for our cat) but is very controllable, other than the first two minutes someone comes into our house. She loves people, halloween is her favorite day because people come to see her.
She LOVES people and most dogs. Everyone in our neighborhood and their dogs love her. She is, and always has been very submissive to most dogs. She is very friendly to dogs and people at the dog parks (we go often and to different ones). She is one of the best-behaved Shepherd at the park so far (I have had others tell me this).
I have since updated my opinions about dog parks and her behavior (article to come).
She is also the best under control of the Shepherds I have seen so far. (There was this adult Dobie at the park that was incredible but that is another story). I can have her start to chase a ball and stop, and then continue on command and bring it to me. She will to all the basics, sit, stay, down, paw, spin, sit before we go through a door, or just not go through the open door. She will stay in my car with the door open without getting out until I say so. She will ring a bell to be let back in the house from the backyard. Keep in mind a good distraction (squirrel) will make her do poorly at some of this… We are still working on it all….
We taught her to carry a toy in her mouth so she can’t bark as much when she is running around it when we are swimming. We also have her carry the toy when she runs up and down the fence with our neighbor’s dog so she barks less. During the day, she only barks when she hears the neighbor dog out, because she wants to go run with them. She does occasionally bark if she hears kids or dogs barking during the day. At night, she will bark if once in a while if anyone, especcially another dog walks by our house.
The downside – She has messed in the house when she was younger and if she gets sick eating something that upsets her stomach. It seems GSD (maybe all dogs) have incredibly sensitive stomachs. She can tear a toy up in about 15 minutes. You probably know about the tougher dog toys that are available so I will not go into them. There is one toy she has, I got from one of my clients that she LOVES and has not destroyed, drowned or eaten. It still makes the same LOUD annoying squeaky noise it always has.
We have since replaced the toy (update 12/2014)
This all sounds great so far right? if that is what you are looking for you want a dog like her. On the other hand, I have had her tested for a protection drive a couple times and at this point, she is hardly a protection dog, she cowers. She will bark at people and dogs walking by our house at night but if someone broke in I don’t think she would put up much of a fight, maybe I can teach her to call 911. If I were hurt by someone I don’t know how she would react, but from my experience I don’t think she would hurt a human. I have seen her very aggressive with some larger dogs but she cowers and submits to smaller dogs.
In regards to the protection testing it is something you should do (have the dog tested), so that you KNOW how your dog will react. Don’t wait till you have an 80 lb dog and an old friend comes up to hug you to know how they will react. I saw that last weekend and it was amazing the dog didn’t bite. Please don’t think I promote stressing the dog out. The testing should NOT stress the dog. If you have an experience person they will be able to read the dog immediately and know how not to scare or stress the dog.
I have good friends with GSD, some are very people friendly dogs but might protect their vehicle, owners and house. Other friends have GSDs that have no use for people other than their owners and a few close friends of the owners. Those dogs would probably be much more protective if their owners, house or vehicle were threatened.
If you are looking for a good obedient loyal pet, what I would do is look at rescues first. See if you could foster a few GSDs to see what they are like. If you have a choice of pups, watch and interact with them at the same time and look for one of friendliest and one of the least dominant ones… Not necessarily the runt or the one sitting alone in the corner, but one that is less of a troublemaker, and less of a leader.. More submissive… and I would pick that one…