John Q Public - Page 1

More reasons for someone not getting one of my dogs.  Real conversations

" Is they free"

"My last dog got shot by the PO LECE (police)"

"Where can I get a cheap German Shepherd"

My favorite is...... what kind of dog is that?     While looking at my black and tan GSD.   

Oh you'll love this one, I was at the polls waiting in line to vote and one of the volunteers asked me how new puppies were doing and I got interupted by this woman who says "awe, what kind of puppies do you have?"  I proudly said  German Shepherds and she says....you gotta sit down for this one cause I almost lost it " Oh really, are they imported from England?

I couldn't even tell you what it took to keep a straight face while all the while thinking to myself "you've GOT to be friggin' kiddin' me...England?"  How do you get England from German Shepherd??? lol 

But I did remind myself that not everyone is interested in dogs, and GSD's  and not long ago was I even naive to not know that they can come from other parts of Europe not JUST Germany...so I said "no actually from Slovakia"  and she had this TOTALLY confused look on her face and was like "OH"!  That pretty much ended our "puppy" conversation needless to say.

the best one i have had was a young lad who asked dose working mean that its OK to take to work with me??i work on a construction site!!!

or when i have asked where they live ..... a bedsit in central london

"My friend has a big male GS and I want one that's bigger than his. Can you guarantee it will be at least 125 pounds"  Click (sound of phone being hung up)

"I want a long coat and it has to be white and at least 150 pounds." Before hanging up I said -have you heard of a Great Pyrenees?

When talking about his last dog that just died I asked from what. "He fell off the roof" Me - excuse me? "He fell off the roof" Turns out a city dweller who lived in an apartment . Building has flat roof would take the dog there to play ball - I think you can fill in the rest.

These were years ago but I learned never, never to advertise in a big city paper. It's not limited to dog's either. When advertising for part time help in a library (w/ flexible hours so you can just image the calls we got) my favorite was when asked if he had any experience working in a library the reply was -"Nope but I've been in one once".

st, except for they wouldn't know how to spell german shepherd!

I had a good one this past weekend at the canine relay for life.  Car full of pet people pull up next to me.  Couple of kids get out and looks in the back of my car and says "oh cool!  huskies!"  then the sister says no, they are wolf dogs! 

One guy came here looking at a litter of GSD pups I had for sale. Before meeting the parents and seeing the pups, he saw my long-coat solid black male GSD Boss looking up at me with his ears down. They guy, showing his smarts asks me, "Is that a Newfoundland?" I smiled politely, stepped away from my boy, and his ears perked up and he then stood his ground in an explosive fury of barking at the guy. Let's just say the guy quickly backed a few steps away, told me my boy was quite intimidating, and realised Boss indeed wasn't a Newfoundland but a GSD.  

I recieved an email a couple of years or so ago where a sincere person asked me, "Is a black German shepherd a purebred?" I kid you not. "Yes," I told them, "just as purebred as a blk/tan."  

Or the wise parent correcting the child & saying, "No, that's not a German Shepherd, honey-that's a German PO-LECE Dog," ROFL- If I had a dime for every time I've had to explain there's no separate breed called German Police I'd have a nest egg. LOL. SHEESH!

I had a kid at PetCo try to tell me I was going to need a much bigger bed because German Shepherds grow to be 150 pounds.

I have been asked more times than I can count if my dogs are Belgian Shepherds...they are black and red west german dogs.

I am constantly told how "small" my females are...at 60 and 80 pounds!

People constantly ask if my dogs are police dogs, because they German Shepherds, and know how to heel at my side.

Try explaining to someone who asks why you dont xray hips on your litter of 8 week old puppies. They think "guaranteed" means they have already been checked.

i had a vet try and break it to me gently that my LC was not a pure GSD and I should return her , because I got taken, changed Vets

what I hate the most is MOTHER's who walk a mile around my rottie with their kids dripping Ice Cream and walk over to a  GSD to pet. I wait unitl they get close enough and YELL at the MOM's. "Are you nuts! " that gsd is going to take that Ice Cream Cone away from your baby, where as the rottie will roll over for a belly rub. Why don't you ask if a dog is safe to pet, and not just assume. The GSD is a rescue, and I am out here away from everyone for a reason.

Years ago, I was in a pub with my longcoat sable bitch, Mummys Baby Ashe, and she had obviously drawn the attention of two drunks who were nodding at her and talking.  Then one approached and asked if she was a German Shepherd and I braced my patience for the usual lecture as everyone in 1970's England knows that the shorthaired ones are Alsatians and the longhaired ones are German Shepherds, but no, the drunk nodded wisely towards his mate and said "The woolly ears are the giveaway, they're the result of the Nazi breeding experiments - sheep and dogs you know"

I kid you not.

Margaret N-J