Search forum
Back to German Shepherd Dog
Liked top 20
ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > Dog Breeders (20 replies)
Dog Breeders by myjordash on 13 April 2012 - 15:26 |
| Do most GSD breeders house their dogs in outside runs/kennels? I am now considering purchasing ONE female German Shepherd puppy, but I wanted to find a puppy where it is raised in the home with the family/children. Every breeder I have found in my area keeps their GSD's in outdoor runs. Is this the norm? i could never keep my dog outside all day in the Florida heat so it concerns me. Would you think this is a red flag? |
by brynjulf on 13 April 2012 - 15:38 |
| It is normal to house GSD out doors. Having one dog in the house is much different than having 20 breeding dogs :) It would be very difficult to keep your females seperated etc if you did not have runs. That said most breeders rotate the dogs into the house. One puppy in the house is very normal :) I have found that most GSD do prefer to be outside as the house can be to warm. I have the door open (weather permitting) and the kids spend most of the day out on the porch rather than actually inside. They can guard better out there. |
by macrowe1 on 13 April 2012 - 17:51 |
| Mine are indoors. |
macrowe1 by magdalenasins on 13 April 2012 - 18:05 |
| A lot of breeders who don't have breeding schemes and home their females with families and only get them back to breed and whelp do have outdoor kennels. The puppies are still socialized outside and inside if the breeder knows what they are doing and takes the time to do it. In my experience I'd rather get a dog from a kennel that has a lot of outside dogs or a breeding scheme than a hobby breeder that owns two dogs and overbreeds them or a backyard breeder that will breed anything for money. *To clarify I am not saying outdoor dogs are better than indoor dogs, it's the breeder that you have to choose carefully and feel right about. |
by kitkat3478 on 13 April 2012 - 18:05 |
| Most of my dogs are in the house,and puppies are always born and raised in the house.After my pups reach 4 weeks, they are allowed out, and when weather permits,I have an open door policy-come and go as they please Most of my pups are pretty much housebroke and vaccum chasers by the time they leave. |
kitkat3478 by Ctidmore on 13 April 2012 - 20:28 |
| I have a whelping room, heat, air, doggy doors. Tapes are played of ALL kinds of noises for the puppies to get use to different sounds. Handled daily by me and then have friends come over as well as small children. As a breeder you can't have ALL the noises and types of people that your puppy/dog will encounter in their lives. So you try and create as many different situations as possible so the puppies will be balanced. My dogs have their kennel runs and are let loose when I am out with them. If you have several dogs it can be difficult to keep all inside. So to me not a red flag at all. IMO |
Ctidmore by BoCRon on 14 April 2012 - 12:25 |
| We have 8 GSDs and they are all housedogs. Not all together all day, but most of the time. The dogs we have bought in the USA were all home raised in the house, with kids, vacuums, tv playing, people about. My husband and I have been to the breeder's home and saw where the pups were and how steady the moms were and we were convinced that the pups would transition to our place quickly. I am in the southeast USA and found a few breeders who home raise their pups and whose dogs are in the house when not raising a litter. The 2 imports we got in recent memory were absolutely not conditioned to being in a house and took some re-training to get there. The one male still isn't totally what I would consider a house dog, he comes in but is not one to chill and snooze while we go about the day. |
BoCRon by myjordash on 14 April 2012 - 13:44 |
| Thank you BoCRon. I am in Florida, and would be willing to travel for the perfect dog....that I could have confidence would do great with my kids and other dogs. I don't feel comfortable purchasing a pup that I haven't seen and visited first hand. I am surprised you can admit on here you have 8, as I got blasted for having "too many dogs" with my 5 dogs. :-) Would you say your dogs are "working line" or "show line" as most people are saying that I should buy a "show line" as they will be allot less agressive, but then a few say the opposite. |
by Conspicuous on 14 April 2012 - 14:11 |
| Working line dogs are not aggressive. They have a lot of drive and energy. Someone posted a great link to help understand why they are good companions, in the right environment. People are taking issues with you having that number of dogs, because they are worried that you don't know what you're getting into and also with all those young kids, small dogs (who are intact, which comes with it's own set of problems and concerns - why haven't they been fixed??) and not really much outdoor space, they can see what problems can arise. Many people on here are breeders and I'm sure thay have seen it all with people knocking at their doors looking for pups. I also can't imagine anything more heartbreaking for a breeder than if they found out a dog they placed ended up in a less than ideal situation. They are wholly invested in the welfare of their dogs. It is their responsibility to make sure those pups end up in homes where they will thrive, and it's not one they take lightly. What worries people is the fact that you seem determined to do this anyway, despite being told that it is not sounding like an ideal situation for the dog. That said, here is some info that might help: These are the links that ggturner posted in another thread which I found very helpful: http://gracekeh.hubpages.com/hub/Working-German-Shepherds-as-Pets-and-Companions http://www.german-shepherd-us.com/german-shepherd-facts.html http://www.germanshepherdworld.net/lines.htm http://www.thegermanshepherd.org/breed-history-of-the-german-shepherd/america-vs-europe-in-breeding.html Best of luck with your decision |
Conspicuous by GSD2727 on 14 April 2012 - 14:14 |
| Some keep their dogs kenneled, some do not. I do not have kennels and my dogs live in the house 24/7 with me and my family. However, I never keep more dogs than I can comfortably keep in my house :) I prefer a breeder who has their dogs in the house at least part time, but I also prefer a smaller scale breeder and not one who has a long row of kennel dogs. But yes you can find both types of breeders. Neither is right or wrong as long as the dogs are well cared for, but it just comes down to preference. Valerie |
by myjordash on 14 April 2012 - 15:37 |
| I do not have my mind made up, I have already changed my mind about getting two pups....to possibly getting one. The one I get (if I get one) will be fixed. I am trying to get information to determine whether this breed will work for my circumstances, whether it will be a good fit for my family (2 legs and 4 legs), and whether NOW or later is a good time to even jump into this venture. My dogs are a part of my family....that is why I am doing the research to ensure it will work before getting a new member....and if GSD is not a good fit for my family I will research other breeds. Don't always assume the worst....there are good people out here just researching and looking for answers. |
by aceofspades on 14 April 2012 - 18:12 |
| Lots of people, breeders icluded, will rotate the dogs in and out, some in and some out, everyone takes turns. Also like mentioned above, some breeders have females that live in family homes who they take back for breeding and then again close to whelping time and they whelp at the breeders and the breeder raises the puppies and then the female goes back to her family after that. In these cases the dogs are often kept in very nice indoor/outdoor runs. I have three GS dogs and right now they all are inside most of the time. I am considering a 4th....but not sure if that will be this year or next and definitely NOT before I have at least four 10x10 covered runs for them....each dog has it's own run. We have 5 acres, plus our neighbour's 5 acres (they are life family), so essentially ten acres that our dogs have free run on, and I feel like I do not have enough room to properly keep my dogs until we do some major modifications to our fencing set up proper runs and kennels for them. We will start with 10x10 outdoor runs and the dogs will still all sleep inside at night, and eventually make the runs indoor/outdoor. The reason for this is mostly as a safe place for the dogs to be when we can't be with them and as a safe place to keep an in season female or the males if the in season female is loose on the property. I or my husband is almost always home....the dogs are alone less than 2 hours a day on average, most days maybe 20-30 minutes, but we travel as well and I will bring one or two dogs with me, but we have a house sitter and those times we need safe places for the dog(s) that are staying home while my husband is at work or while the house sitter is not here. It really is important to make sure that the dog(s) all have a safe place where they can go. We have always trained our kids that when a dog goes into it's crate it is saying "please don't bother me" so the kids respect that the crate is the dog's safe place. Having more than two dogs together in any situation, without taking major precautions, is not a matter of if there will be problems it is when, and this goes for pretty much any breed, but especially a dominant breed like a GSD. I for one am not saying "don't do it" but make sure you have all of the necessary precautions in place before you do it so that you avoid heartbreak. My GSDs have killed small animals, yet they are the most loving dogs ever. We have a small dog and we have not had any issues, but I can see even in playing togethr that one of the GSDs could easily get carried away and accidentally hurt or kill our little dog. They are always supervised when together. My dogs killed our rabbits when I turned my back for a mere second.....these are rabbits that they had cuddled with in the past. Our dogs have caught and killed wild rabbits, and someone around here must have had their chickens get out because last summer I found Ace in our front yard eating a chicken (let me tell you I cleaned that up fast, I was waiting for some chicken farmer to come hunt me down), and these are dogs that are enclosed on our property so the chicken found it's way into our yard somehow. These are all things you have to consider when you have a dog such as a GS. many of the people here have multiple GS's, but most of them are not combining them with multiple small children and multiple small breed dogs, who are intact, and most of the dogs around these parts are worked hard and used for sport and they get tired out daily. A bored GS is a destructive GS......I have the holes to china in my back yard to prove it....LOL. When they start getting destructive it is an indication that someone needs more time than they are getting. They also need to be mentally tired out in addition to physically tired out. They really are a high maintenance breed. If you want something big that will scare people but is relatively low maintenance, get a bullmastiff. They are shockingly low maintenance for such a large dog, but still a great deterrent for people who may consider trying to steal from you. |
aceofspades by myjordash on 14 April 2012 - 19:10 |
My neighbor/friend is going to be breeding her English Mastiff in about a year and she tells me it is the best breed in the planet....I will have to research that breed as well. Thank you for shedding more light on this subject and the reasoning behind the out door runs. I do have allot to consider.... |
by mfh27 on 14 April 2012 - 21:30 |
| Myjordash, the difference between you coming on and saying you have 8 pet dogs and BoCRon saying she has 8 dogs is that BoCRon is an experienced trainer; you on the other hand came off as a hoarder in your initial post. It was only later you clarified your situation. If you're looking for a scary looking dog that will bark, then consider livestock guard dogs. They are lower prey drive and have much more natural protective instincts. |
mfh27 by ILGSDs on 15 April 2012 - 00:08 |
| Try looking at shiloh shepherds or king shepherds that are specifically bred as family dogs, not working dogs. I think even a showline from west german bloodlines would be overwhelmed in your household. |
by aceofspades on 15 April 2012 - 00:27 |
| King shepherds are great dogs. I don't know enough about Shilos to comment. Kings have the disposition of a golden retriever but the look of a gigantic shepherd. Great family dogs that adapt well. |
by Bhaugh on 15 April 2012 - 18:25 |
| As someone who used to rescue Mastiffs ( placed my last female English Mastiff last sept) be prepared for your life to go topsy turvy. Although lazy and wonderful as an adult, they will give you a run for your money as a puppy (slow to mature mentally) Its hard to stop a 120lb puppy who says "Cat?" They are heavy droolers and can ransack a room in an hour. From what I have heard from my gals adoptive parents is that she got out of her heavy wire crate and ate the couch. Whew better them than me! A well bred SOUND puppy will make the adustment from kennel to home in short time. I would not give that much consideration if you find what you like. |
Bhaugh by SitasMom on 16 April 2012 - 01:02 |
I keep my dogs indoors.... |
by myret on 16 April 2012 - 09:04 |
| I have bought all my gsd from breeders that keep them in kennels outside and they are very nice dogs just as much as dogs raised in the house |
myret by John Kennedy on 20 April 2012 - 01:28 |
| Hello, I take my bedroom closet door off and put a kennel door in its place. Closet is 6ft by 6ft. Plenty of room to place a whelping box in and enough room for momma to hop out to get away from pups when they get to 3 weeks old. This is a lot better than having it out in the building and having to constantly walk out there to check up on them. Once the pups reach around four weeks of age (this part is a pain), they spend time out in the building and outside for about an hour or so, depending on the weather. When they get to around 6 weeks, they spend most of the day outside of the house, weather permitting. Around seven weeks, they get to play in the mud and whatever else they can get into.......lol. I do not like kids playing with pups before they are 6 weeks of age.....JMO Kind regards, John Kennedy |
John Kennedy
Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!