Dog Breeders - Page 1

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? 

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. 

Mine are indoors.

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. 

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.

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

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. 

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.   

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

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