The Pedigree Database: German Shepherd dog

I'm just curious as to what age you kids wanted to start working with the dogs, if they ever did.

The reason I asking is I have 2 boys, ages 7 and 5. My 7 year old could care less about the dogs, and that's absloutely fine with me. My 5 year old, on the other hand, has been working the full grown Shepherds for about a year, and they listen very well. Much different with him then they are with me. He's been begging me to work the dogs other places then at home, and I feel that if something happened to catch their eye, they'd still act like a dog, possibly pulling him. What age is a good time to get him a puppy of his own? I know ultimately I will be responsible, and I have no problems with that. He is actually a very responsible little boy, feeds the cats as soon as he gets out of bed, water, helps scoop poop. Just want to know what everybody thinks, and when their kids started. Thank you so much in advance.

It depends on the dog and the child. My daughter could work my dogs in basic obedience around 5 or 6. She put a CD on a sheltie at 9 years old. She is 11 and has her 1st GSD now.

I would be concerned about the size of a 5 yeard old and a full grown GSD.

[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z110/Tbirdgrl86/Picture280.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z110/Tbirdgrl86/Picture284.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z110/Tbirdgrl86/Picture272.jpg[/IMG]

here you go, this is a 6 month old pup he works on a regular basis, and has since it was 12weeks old. He taught him how to sit and to walk on a leash.

That's why I posted. Because I'm not sure yet. What would be a good first dog for a child to have?

Well, my daughters GSD is her first dog...the sheltie was not hers, she trained it for someone else. I've seen kids my classes that can handle a large dog better than their parents...they are all individual situations. Really cute pics, though!

Great pictures Melba, best thing I saw all day.  Veronica

Melba I don't have any answers for you, my boys liked motorcycles , so do whatever you have to to nuture his love of dogs along! To cute pics.

Great pictures.  I got my first puppy at 6 years old.  I was responsible for all of it's care, feeding and walking 3 x per day at least.  Of course I had help from my parents but it sure taught me responsibility and a great love for animals.  I had that dog for 15 years, she was great.  I guess it depends on your son, from those pictures it sure seems like he is ready to take an active part in raising that puppy.

Jim

What an Absolutely  " ADORABLE "  Little boy !!!     Love the pictures. 

My daughter is 7 and she just completed a CGC, all by herself with our Female shepherds.    I think as long as you are watching and present when your little boy is training " HIS "  dog.   Then, you will be able to jump in, incase a situation arises. 

I would definately encourage him to train all he wants !! 

If he wants to go to a park or something, then maybe just put a secondary long line on the dog, but pretend you are not there.   hold on to the long line, but keep all the way to the end.  So, that when he tells the dog to sit stay or something, and there comes a big distraction, the dog is less likely to be able to get away with a negative behavior.   And by you not saying anything to the dog, then your son will be the one that impresses the dog as the leader.    He can make the corrections ,and put the dog back into a sit stay or whatever.    Mom, just be a tree !! LOL !! 

When my daughter was training for her CGC test, I would occasionally  have to help, but my daughter was giving the commands , and doing the gestures at the same time.  So, that the dog learned to be obedient to my daughter instead of just me.    I was just there to ensure that the sessions went successful. 

When going out to a place that has alot of distractions, it is best to coach your son , on what kind of social interactions you will encounter, and what to do.   For Example,   I taught my daughter what would not be good situations to be in.   I taught her not to let our dog or anyone else's dog get nose to nose.    If someone was approaching she would make her dog go into a sit.   Also,  taught her to tell other people that her dog is not allowed to greet other dogs, and do not come close.  I also told her that her dog would not be the problem, but you never know about the other person's dog, and it just isn't something I wanted her getting into the middle of.   That is not something that I would expect her to be able to handle.    Of Course I was supervising anyways.    We practiced different canine encouters at home, I had my own dog and she had hers and we practiced at home before going any where. 

Hope my Experience helps !!

enjoy these precious young ones while you can.

Smiles

How absolutely precious.  What a boy.

I agree with Jamille in that as long as you are there for back up should something occur, it's great. 

I have a 13 yr old that could care less about doing anything much with our dogs but, my soon to be 4 yr old has to be wherever they are and holding the leash.  (He likes to think he's a dog! lol)

I was in the ring showing by the age of 7 but they were Weims, not GSD's.  My mom also bought me a Terv for AKC obedience and I think I was about 10 at that time.  She still has pics of me curled up in dog crates with litters of pups when I was a toddler.  She'd probably get arrested in this day and age.  Note:  Crate doors were NOT locked.

Hi, my son is 9 years old now and has a great bond with the 3 dogs we have. All my dogs are 2.5 years and younger so Christopher had alot to do with raising them. He loves his motorcycles and horses too. I think one good reason he really took to the dogs was being on the mountain ... I never left him roam the mountain alone, even with a gun. Once he learned how the dogs form a pack around him for his own protection .. that's what hooked him. I think. He tells me stories all the time when he and his friends are scouting how the dogs circle, point, bark, warn ... once he realized dogs are your best friend, he wanted to learn more and take them places. Nemos and Sara was his first interest really, only Sara in a die hard herder, so when he's in a field she would go back and forth from the cattle/horses to him in the field all day long. Nemos is a Pit Bull and never left his side. Now he takes Nemos to Rodeo 1/2 time Tractor Pulls and wins prizes and Ribbons for fun, all he really has to do with Nemos is rig him to the harness and call his name, as of last year not a dog there could beat him. Christopher feels like a million bucks walking outta the center field with his prize and Nemos. Now we have Granduer the Malinois, and Christopher really likes her because she's a rocket ... We did take Sara to a training club in Cape May once to see how she and Christopher would do, all she really wanted to do was round up all the people in the field, she couldn't keep focused on Christopher alone she needed eye contact with every sole there repeatedly. Which to me is a good thing on the farm and mountain, in all honestly. Granduer is a much more serious dog and totally focused on Christopher and me at all times, so I know he should do much better with her with these Ring Sport trials.

Don't forget that AKC (and I bet some other organizations) has a junior handler program that can let them earn college scholarship money.  I think you're off to a good start with your son.  Maybe the next step would be taking him to a local training club (or other controlled environment) to work with the dog.  The first trip you wouldn't do any real training just get used to the environment then on the next trip when the dog and child aren't as overly excited about being there you can start doing a little training.  I work with a lot of the younger kids that bring their dogs to our club and I found out that most of the kids have better control of the dog than the parents do!  In my last basic obedience class, I had an 8 yo with his 1yo GSD.  They were great together and would have been the top team in the class except we couldn't get his dad to stay out of the way!  I really like the long line idea and I use something similar when I'm working with kids in my classes.  I generally walk just behind and to the left of the child during heeling with a light line on the dog. 

Unfortunately, that pup is not ours. That is why I was wondering if it would be a good time to get him one of his own. He has not said anything about wanting a dog, but her pesters me to no end to work mine. The dogs that I do have are much too much for him most of the time. The one is very gentle at home, and I don't know what she would do while out. IMO much too much dog. That's why I would like to start him with a puppy. I have never seen a 5year old with so much patience. I know that if his interest waned, I would have another dog, and I accept that. I don't think he is a typical child who wants something and loses interest a week later. He has been proving himself by helping with mine. He has been happily scooping poop for a little over a year, and fights his brother for the scooper. His brother happily gives in. LOL. I get so proud when I see him ordering the big dogs around, and the big dogs respect him. He's so sure that all dogs know german. LOL. Anyways, thank you all so much for your input. I'll have to think about it for a little while longer before I go and do anything. Thank you again.

I would be concerned about the size of a 5 year old and a full grown GSD. 

True statement! My 18 mo. GSD, about 70 lbs. is generally not allowed alone with my 7 year old at this particular time. My 12 yo, now, with him it's different and there are no worries from the "mom"  in me. They both know basic commands but I have to watch for dominance issues with the little guy (only about 50 lbs.). There is no question who would win and who would lose at this point of both of their developments. I  expect this will change in time.

As a matter of fact, if anyone has helpful tips for a dog who goes after sneakers (with the kid still in 'em) and appears jealous when giving out hugs, thanks for sharing. I have set him up for corrections for these behaviors but it's still not working for me.

This is what it's all about.  When we found out my daughter (then 10 yrs old) was losing her eye sight, I wanted to get her a dog that she could help train while she still had some sight left.  We were turned down by most organizations that are suppose to be there to help, because my daughter was "not disabled enough*!!!!  So I turned to my breeder, Al Gill, for help!  We got the best dog that I've ever had the pleasure of being owned by!  With her being only 10 yrs old, I was concerned about her being dedicated to the training it was going to take to make her a SD.  We purchased several good books on training your own SD, that we read to her over and over again...(my daughter, not the dog! LOL)  To my surprise, my daughter gave it her all....24/7!  And by 7mo, this dog had was doing everything that she needed to do as a SD!!!  A picture is worth a thousands words...so where ya go....

Hi Ladywolf, I've been interested in the training of service dogs and didn't find any books or website information on training service dogs anywhere.  Would you please post, or PM me the tittles, authors and source of the books, or any information that you have that can help me?  Thank you very much, I appreciate it.

Here's a pic of Autumn, 12 years old, and her new dog Effi vom Banholz (Asko von der Lutter x Cora vom Banholz)  I added the pedigree for the breeders out there like me who are addicted to that kind of thing. 

I had some awesome action shots of everyone and their dogs training in the club, but my digital Nikon camera is messing up and all the great shots were blurred.  Any pointers on what is wrong with a digital camera which is not auto focusing correctly? 

Veronica

I thought that I would add that Autumn is encouraging her dog in the protection phase of training while I anchor the line.  Autumn never showed much interest in Schutzhund training until we got Effi....love at first sight at the airport. Our club has been renting space and training indoors during the winter, hence the indoor shot.  Veronica