New to the board - a couple q's! - Page 1

  Hello everyone.  I'm new to this board, and firstly just wanted to introduce myself.  My name is Camille and I have been a GSD enthusiast for years and years.  I foster German Shepherds but have never owned another breed besides Border Collies, which I do agility with.  But I love the loyalty and the power of the GSD and am planning on getting my first pup within the next couple years or so.  I've been researching schurzhund and the breed for a couple years; I want to be educated in this before I jump right in.  When I do finally get a pup, I want a working line one that I can do schutzhund and agility with.  And I want to at least partly know what I'm doing.

 So besides saying hello, I guess what I want to know is what to look in screening breeders.  Of course, look through the parents' pedigrees and meet both dogs.  See health guarantees.  What else?

What things do you look for in a specific puppy, once you've decided on a breeder and a litter?  Which qualities in pups make the best schutzhund dogs? 

 Thanks so much!

Your questions are very general and also very specific. I would recommend that you do some searches of these pages to see if some of your questions have been addressed already. There is a great deal of diversity, opinion and knowledge here. You will be able to learn a great deal, but always carry with you a grain of salt and keep about you your good sense. 

Which qualities in pups make the best schutzhund dogs?

I do not say this with any sarcasm meant. :)

Which qualities in pups make the best schutzhund dogs?  The time, work, play and knowledge that *you* as the owner put into them.

Puppies are a crap shoot.  It takes knowing what traits *you* want to encourage in any puppy that is the trick.  Best advice is to go to local clubs, watch the training, talked to the training director about how they start a puppy and get a plan in mind for how to work with your puppy when you bring him/her home.

Some puppies have it 'out of the box' but if they are not properly encouraged and played with, it will fall apart.  Some puppies might seem less than interested but if you know how to play with them, work with them and nurture them along you can end up with a swan from an 'ugly duckling'.

Basically the only quality that matters is *you*.

Welcome, as stated earlier, your question is somewhat vague.  Picking out a pup that will be good for the sport is a roll of the dice.  There are even schools of thought on what age is good to start training.  If you are serious about doing it right.  Start with a young dog 12 to 18 months (green).  This way hips will not be an issue if prelims are provided.  With this age range you can see what kind of play, food and prey drive the dog possesses. Not many top trainers start with a pup because of the crap shoot factor.  Good luck in your search.

Kyle

 I would say that the very first thing to do is make sure both sire and dam have passed all current health tests then from there go with what the breeder tells you about the pups he/she will have an idea about what puppy would suit you best do plenty of research into the breed speak to the breeders about a year or so prior to purchase get to know the lines and i am sure you will end up with the correct dog/bitch for you.
jim h