Things I have learned/Please share your wisdom. - Page 1

1 year and 9 months ago we started a search for our first family dog. It started with an ad in a magazine for a personal protection dog. One month later we hooked up with a breeder and she sold us our first dog. We were newbies and green. Here is what we learned. 1. Research the breeder/kennel your interested in working with. (If we had we would have seen that others had issues with the kennel we choose, the kennel no longer exists). 2. With an dog ask for the vet. records it could reveal medical problems with the dog. (Like heartworm) 3. Learn more about the breed than just from a book (such as a website like this.) Things I learned from this website: 1. We probably don't want a pp dog he would be more intense than we need and with as social as our neighborhood and we are it may not be the best choice. We know we want another young , with some previous training (Ibo had schu 3 and ipo 3 but we never had access to it because the breeder never came up to train us with him as promised). We are still newbies and still green. Our experience consists of 20 months with a sweet, smart, but very unhealthy dog. Now we begin our search again. Any knowledge you can share would be greatly appreciated. I have checked out several of the kennels from the thread "kennel's I have not been screwed by" but I feel a little gun shy. Thank you for any wisdom you can share. Tammy jo

Tammy, if you can go to different schutzhund clubs and any SV type shows in your area and get to know the people there it might be helpful in developing good contacts in the breed. I also suggest you join GSDworld.net as there are many knowledgable and reputable high line breeders and working line breeders who frequent that board too and might be able to point you in the right direction of a dog suitable for your needs that is also healthy. I think the most important thing you can do is get to know as many people in the breed as you can, because in doing so you will develop a better first hand knowledge about the breed and it's breeders which will help to seperate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

Do you still have your male dog? If so, I would recommend a female or else you will develop dominance issues. Sue gives good advice, good luck in your search.

Tammy, so many breeders/importers/brokers come and go. The average time for a GSD breeder to be active in the breed is about five (5) years, after which they no longer produce/train/sell puppies and/or dogs. And there are large kennels who have remained in business for many years even though they have made shoddy business practices. Their sheer size allowed them to stay in the business. My advice remains what it has always been: Read as much material as possible from as many sources as possible and distill this into meaningful information. When you decide what you really want, then research several breeders if this is possible. And last but certainly not least, when you make the big decision to purchase a dog, please develop some sort of personal relationship with the producer of your dog. And remember, just because a kennel owns or has produced a dog that excelled at the BSZS or BSP or similar stateside venue means not very much if the remainder of their dogs are mediocre. Some kennels use this tactic as a self-promotion tool. And lastly, for the vast majority of people, the best GSD that one can own for personal protection purposes is the one who has the correct look and will stand his ground and bark menacingly, i.e., look and act the part without ever engaging. Most of us never need the liability of owning and protecting a true personal protection dog. Best Regards and Good Luck, Bob-O

Bob and Sue said it all.....what state are you in?

I agree with advice given above. Here are my additional suggestions: make certain you use a competent vet to minimize your isk of acquiring a GSD with serious or debilitating health problems. Have screening xrays for hips, elbows, and barium swallow for mega-esophagus (elbows only if 6 months or older, as these elbow xrays are sometimes not yet diagnostic at 6-8 months). Have blood chemistries for thyroid, TLI (to screen for EPI, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency-a very common problem in the GSD in sub-clinical form especially), test for free-bleeding issues (von wildebrand and hemophilia),and a digestive panel to test for IBD (irritable bowel syndrome and other hereditary gut diseases). Acquire a GSD only from sire and dam with low rates of joint issues and no evidence of "dead tail" syndromes which are often early indicators of myopathy. And finally,acquire a GSD from sire and dam that have a reputation for being "happy dogs", sound, well balanced, at ease around strangers, other dogs and children, and can tolerate loud noises without reacting with apprehension. Try and acquire a GSD that is a happy dog, one which is calm and easy going unless there is a real threat, or unknown disturbance. If possible try and acquire a dog with a relatively short back and loin, since excessive length is accompanied with a lot of other problems such as spinal myopathy in old age and other problems. Learn as much as you can about GSD health and save up or appropriate enough funds to propoerly vet any GSD you are serious about acquiring. It may seem expensive but it will cost you a lot more in dollars and extreme heartache the long run if you acquire a GSD that turns out to have a seriously debilitating health probnlem later on.

To quote Ma Shiloh, what most people need is a .44 Magnum....water pistol!! A dog that looks the part, but (usually) will not engage. And since Ma (Tina Barber) titled her first dog in Schutzhund at the age of 16, and has trained many PP, law enforcement and Schutzhund dogs, she darn well knows what she's talking about! And, I'm lucky enough to have one! He'll stick his head over the fence, and bark so loudly at the postman that I sometimes don't get my mail. Yet, when the frost heaved my gate last winter, and he actually got out, all he did was bark, and prevent my postie from going up the steps..."No closer, lady, not without my mistress's permission!" Of course, I can see the point of having a PP dog that WILL engage when needed, but that is too much for many people to handle safely, as Bob-O has said. However, with this breed, one never knows what your dog might do if really put to the test. I've heard of many faithful, apparently docile pets that came through for their owners when the chips were down. Research your breeder. Research bloodlines. Ask about hip and elbow evaluations and vaccinations. Really obvious stuff, but I'm sure we all know of someone who neglected to do this, and wound up regretting it. Learn how to do a puppy evaluation test. Some people say this is of no value, but my puppy turned out exactly as the test predicted: social, confident, high play and prey drive, and just a real joy to have as a pet. Okay, except for the chewing...but even that could be worse. At least she doesn't try to destroy her crate, as I've heard some dogs do. (I'll never forget hearing about the '65 lb. termite'!!) Most important thing I've learned? Make sure you get the papers at the time of purchase!!! That's probably the most common complaint I've heard on this site. Second most is that the dog was not as described, or the breeder took the money, and did not send a dog, but both of these can be prevented if you go IN PERSON to see the dog, and pick it up. Personally, I would NEVER purchase a dog without meeting the breeder, seeing the parents (if on site) and evaluating the pup/dog myself before bringing it home.

Preston: "no evidence of "dead tail" syndromes which are often early indicators of myopathy" ******************************************************************************************** A dead tail is more symptomatic of cauda equina (horse's tail) than of DM.

geze Louise, you may know enough to be a vet. I agree with your point. To be accurate I should have said dead tail is often a precursor for spinal "neurapathies" which in turn lead to myopathy, or weakness and/or wasting of the muscles through diminished innervation. I believe that the verdict is still out on the actual most frequent cause of spinal neurapathy, genetics such as narrow openings in the vertebra increasing probability of spinal stenosis, or a genetic tendency to easily damaged discs which restrict innervation. I believe that excessive spinal length places undesirable additional stress on the spine near the croup. There are probably many different genetically linked causes to spinal innervation problems, beside demyleanating syndromes which are probably autoimmune responses to chemical, viral and bacterial insults. When I see a GSD with a long tail and/or a tail seeming to be dead, I usually expect some kind of innervation issue to become later apparent.

I think you two need to start a new thread on this "dead Tail" issue...A whole lot of people have never heard of this ,,,,it would be a good read and help everyone learn ...I never knew about it for many years....so one of you lead out and do that while everyone is home for the holidays and lots of people reading here......Ok???