New Dog - Page 1

Hello!

I am a newbie, and have been researching the breed for a while. My plan was to get a pup, and hopefully get into schutzhund. This past weekend however, my husband came home with a rescue dog. Supposedly, he was a "reject" police dog, and the person who had him after that neglected him.
He is a beautiful sable, has a great temperment, and has already bonded well with our son. From the looks of him though, he is very young, probablly 8-9 months, no way he is over 1 year.
Because of hip and temperment concerns, I would never get a GSD from a rescue, but my husband said he felt comfortable doing this because if he was a "reject" then he would have been tested.
I am hoping that we didn't make a mistake, but this group really had no idea how to handle a shepherd. They were letting him run wild, no control and then were trying to treat train him.  They also told us he was completly unmannageable.
Anyway, now he is controlled and relaxed, but I am wondering if there are any good starting points for me with his training. Is there anyway that I could get him into schutzhund since he is older? Does anyone know of any trainers or schutzhund people in the NWFL area?
I would really appreciate any advice!

You did not mention WHAT he was "rejected" for.  That can play a HUGE factor in what he is able to do with you. BTW, he is still VERY young. Just have fun with him and bond, bond, bond. I cannot stress that enough as I am having those issues myself.

good morning AQ.  you say now he is calm and relaxed, we have no idea of his history.  the rescue is near and dear to my heart and has given my opportunity to learn.  you as a family need to decide what it is you want to do with him.  check out some clubs, have him evaluated by someone with ample experience.  just because he may not be a candidate for sport does not mean he can't be a cohesive family member.  find an OB trainer that you like.  OB classes are a great way for you to learn.  i will bet some of the most experienced folks on this board still train on at least a weekly basis, and maintain many times thru the week.  the classes are a good way to control the environment.  show progress from week to week.  then if you are lucky, you will find a group that you can continue with after you complete advanced. 
   give him a chance, the age frame that you are describing is the most difficult time for an owner.  it does get better.

Thanks for the responses. We don't have any idea what he was rejeced for. The lady at the group did not care for him, (she pref. the poodles) and so she was not very into saying anything positive about him.

We have been working with him a lot on bonding. He obviously has some puppiness, and loves to play. He seems to be in the "ackword teenager stage".

At times he does do the "I can't hear you" thing, but then again, the name he was "adopted" with might not have even been his real name. They did not know.

Obviously, if he is nothing other then a big lap dog that will be fine too. I am just wanting to at least find a trainer in the area that is used to shepherds, and their needs/personalities.

You could probably find a local club thru these links, and get some direction/advice.  Good Luck :-)  The first link is United Schutzhund Clubs, the second link is Working Dog Assoc.



http://www.germanshepherddog.com/clubs/index.htm    


http://www.gsdca-wda.org/clubs.htm    

good place to start