Why German Shepherds? - Page 1

Why did you decide to choose the German Shepherd as 'your breed'? Plenty of other breeds out there...some prettier, some work better, some aren't as annoying :), what is it about them we love so much?

Add beauty to what gsdlvr2 said and you have it.   And yes I think my working line dogs are beautiful.

I've always been partial to the large breed dogs myself personally and I have owned Rottie's, Doberman's, and an Akita in my lifetime; all of which I owned for companions but yet for somewhat of a protector.  Out of 3 Rotties, only 1 was just perfect all around with his temperment the other 2 were complete nutt jobs and very very hard to even obedience train.  My Akita was unapproachable at the age of 14 months and did not like anyone but me even though he bit me for attempting to take plastic out of his mouth he was chewing on-he had to go at that point and my doberman was probably the nicest family companions I got lucky with with the exception of the 1 Rottie.  I decided on the GSD since my husband was raised in a home with them all his life-my mother in law bred them, owned a training facility and was involved with Schutzhund for a number of years.  I always loved her dogs as a child when my parents would take me over to visit-our families were good friends.  The only down side to owning one is the dog hair but honestly I use the Oster Rake on him a few times a week and the shedding is minimal.  In all the dogs I've ever owned this has to be the most intelligent, even tempered and easy to handle breed I've ever had.  He's worth the extra dog hair.  Would never own another breed now.

When I was a little girl, I always wanted a German shepherd after seeing a movie {can't remember which one now} that had a beautiful GSD in it.  I asked my parents if I could have one and they said NO.  They hated, and still hate big dogs.  I told them when I grew up and was out on my own, I was going to have one!  Well, I grew up and moved out, but lived in a apartment with my husband for 18 years.  We finally bought a house in 2000, and I ended up with a rescue mix breed first.  3 months later, I went and bought my 1st GSD.  Her name is Princess.  2 years later, I ended up with another.  Her name is Bree.  And now I have Chaos.  I have to say, the BEST out of the 3.  He's handsome, intelligent, and loyal, and VERY lovable.

There are NONE prettier, the working lines or showlines to me!! I am not partial to the roach but not all showlines are roached...high SG/low V dogs! They are so much more loyal, intelligent, protective, always ready to go or the ones I have had, to lay at my feet and wait. I have had a Dobie,  Siberian, CollieX, mixed little mutt (she was a aweful good girl) then came the GSD and thats been it so far for me ever since!

There are none prettier, none that work better or any less annoying. It wasn't a planned - thought out decision. it was an attraction that for me started when I was 16 years old. My parents wouldn't let me have a big dog so I waited. When I was 18 I smuggled a puppy I had bought in and got away with it about an hour. You should have seen the look of horror on my mom's face when she found out I bought it and that was that. She helped me house break it and I moved out. That was 32 years ago and I love them even more. I have 5 now. Almost always have 1 or 2 with me. Just part of me,

I didn't choose it, it chose me. I actually wanted a collie, as most of the farm dogs I'd know when growing up were collies or collie mixes. Sure, I knew GSD's were great dogs, but I wasn't really thinking of getting one.

Then, one day I stopped by to visit my uncle Leonard. There was this pathetic bag of bones lying under the kitchen table. She looked to be a pure bred German Shepherd, but she  was about as thin as a dog could get ...26 " tall and 35 lbs. She was also partly blind due to pannus.

The story was, she'd belonged to their neighbour, Joe, and elderly bachelor. Joe got to the age where he could no longer look after himself, and had to go into a senior's home. My uncle had promised to look after the dog, but he didn't really want her, as it turned out she wasn't a good farm dog. She was scared of the cows, and wouldn't even protect the house against strangers. (No wonder, she'd never had a chance to bond to them enough to feel obligated to protect the place. She barked at strangers just fine for me...)

I knew Joe hadn't been looking after her very well, and I knew darn well my uncle wasn't going to waste much food on a dog he regarded as useless. I was honestly scared the dog was going to die if I left her there. There was one small problem with me taking her: I was living on the 11th floor of a high rise, which had a 'no pets' clause in the lease.

I talked it over with my friend, who also lived in an apartment and owned a GSD. He told me, "Look, they can't kick you out unless the dog is being a problem. If I were you, I'd give it a try!"

So, the next week, I took her home. When they handed me the dog food they'd been feeding her, it was crawling with insect larva. "She doesn't want to eat it," my aunt told me. Small wonder! 

She adjusted to life in the high rise very quickly, and except for her first night there, never had an accident.

I took her to the veterinary eye specialist to have the pannus treated. He gave her a steroid injection, directly into the conjunctiva of the eye. When she came back for the recheck a week later, she walked right into the exam room without a second's hesitation, and when he bent down to make a fuss over her, she licked his face.  He turned to me, and said, "You know, this is probably the only breed of dog smart enough to know we're trying to help them when we do nasty things to them like sticking needles in their eyes!" The injection worked like magic, and I kept the disease under good control with eyedrops for the rest of the time I had her. Previously, she'd been tripping over things, now she was able to chase a dark grey tennis ball in the twilight after sunset.

As soon as she knew someone cared for her (and was giving her decent food!) she began to gain weight, and eventually got up to nearly 70 lbs. In the fall, I enrolled in an obedience class, as I'd never trained a dog before, and Lili (as I named her) had never so much as had a leash on her before leaving the farm.  After 6 weeks of classes, we had a Novice level fun match. This required her to do several things which weren't included in the beginner class: figure of 8 off the leash, and a 3 minute down-stay.

There were so many entries, I hardly had room to put my feet between her and the dog next to her for the down-stay. She put her head down on her paws, and never budged for the whole 3 minutes.  Her final score was 176/200. I was SO proud of her!

When she was 8, she developed ankylosing spondylitis in her spine, along with a bacterial infection. I kept her going for over a year with medication and supplements, but finally, she could no longer walk, and I had her put down. Throughout the whole time she was struggling with the disease, she never showed she was in pain, although the vet said she had to be. I will never forget the day I'd made the decision to put her to sleep. "I'll take her for one last walk," I thought. The minute she saw the leash, she gamely struggled to her feet, wagging her tail in anticipation. I phoned the vet up and cancelled the appointment. If she was still that happy to be going for a walk, it wasn't time. Not yet.

I was so impressed by her intelligence, her loyalty, and her courage that I was completely sold on the breed after that.

Good thing, too! Because several months before Lili crossed the Rainbow Bridge, my room-mate brought home a 9 month old female GSD stray! She kept me company for the next 14 years....

I owned and professionally raced sled dogs when I was just out of college.  I ran alaskan huskies (not a registerable breed, more of a compilation of type) and had one dog named Calvin who was born with an extremely undershot jaw and one blue eye and one brown eye.  He looke a LOT like Marty Feldman (the guy with the hump who played Igor in "Young Frankenstein")  but dang that dog was awesome.  He ran right over a porcupine on a race and never even paused.  In that same stage race, he bred a female on a 3 hour mandatory stop and pee'd on every dog in the line.  He made me want to scream, laugh and cry, usually within moments of each other.  to me he became a beautiful dog.... kinda.  Simply because I loved him. 

Lisa