working dogs good in the house? - Page 1

just curious do many of you have dogs from working lines that make great house dogs that are calm and easy going in the house?

I have heard some gsd have to be in a kennel when not working man that would suck!


Does energy level or drive have anything to do with a gsd's ability to be good in the house?

I have 8 GSD's, 6 of them are imported Euorpean, working line dogs, titled, etc. They all come in the house and are perfectly well behaved. My male, from Holland, IPO1 is laying at my as I type. He has perfect house manners, even with the 4 cats.
I do have to rotate some of the females through the house as some of them will fight if out together. I have one very dominant female, I call her 'the mean girl" who can't be ot with any other females, but she is great when it is her turn in the house.

The first two years is hell... well it slows down after about 14 months. then they are perfect!

My high drive WL GSD is perfect in "almost" every way, regarding house manners.  Her one hang-up is my cat.  She is obsessed with him in such a way, that it is ridiculous.  She is not a danger to him, but follows him and waits near him when he is resting, and always has one eye and ear tuned into him.  It's kind of cute when she licks his face, but it's not so cute when he runs around and she wants to chase him.  If I did not own a cat, she would truly be the perfect house dog.  She also is a fearless and wonderful sport dog and LIVES for our PP training days!  I forgot to add that I have another smaller house dog, a Standard Schnauzer, also a female...only 5 months older than my GSD, and they get along famously!  They are the best of friends, the Schnauzer is the dominant one, but it is difficult to tell, they play constantly, they never fight, even over bones and antlers.  They sleep next to eachother and my GSD loves her big sister even though they were not raised together.

In my experience WL dogs make great house dogs!

Just as GSD Pack said my experiences over the years with many dogs ....  the first 2 years are "hell" .... after that they seem to be OK !    For right now I leave him out at nite when I am home,  but when gone at this point ..... he gets crated ...............  Regards ..... Greg

 We currently have 7 GSDs, 5 are WL, 2 are Highlines. Of the 5 WL, 4 are great in the house, the 5th is just too busy and makes the other dogs a bit antsy. When it is just him in the office with my husband he is fine. The 2 Highline dogs are total house dogs and have been totally reliable in the house since 8 weeks of age .
We have always had ours as house dogs, even the dogs sold to police departments. They do take a bit more supervision through the puppy/adolescent stage but totally worth it.
Here's a typical scenario from last week. My newest pup is a 10 week old WL bitch. She is doing pretty well in the house already. The other night we sat down to dinner and I went to check on Uma (the pup) to see if I should put her in a crate while we ate. When I checked her she was passed out on the master bathroom floor with my male Highline, Ron (her favorite toy). Since the master bathroom is on the same floor as the kitchen I decided to leave her be and eat dinner with the family. About halfway through dinner I hear a squealing and think that maybe she's pissed off Ron and he's given her a correction. I go running back to the bathroom and see Ron sitting on the floor perplexed and Uma is tangled up in a bra hanging on the doorknob . With intelligence and curiosity you get trouble sometimes...
I untangled her and put her in the crate and went back to dinner, sigh.
Annette

REAL  working dogs good in the house?

............................ABSOLUTELY NOT!

There are a few factors to consider before answering the question.
Are the WL pets?  Ment to have a job?  If so what kind? 
My own experience is I hear TONS of people that are very happy with thier WL in the house.  I have had several WL GSD and several Mals that I tried to have in my home.  About 5 total throughout my history with dogs.  I have not once been impressed or very happy with them in my home. 
With my SL I have been extremely happy with them as indoor dogs, BUT if I am trialing or working them they are NOT kept indoors unless crated, but most of the time they are kept in kennels until we get the title then I bring them in the house.
Hope that helps.

As others have said, perhaps a bit more work to start with but mine have all done fine in the house.  They settle down nicely on their beds and at night are lose.  The caveat is I do not leave them lose if I am not home, those times they are either crated or outside.