New Here....German Shepherd Questions..... - Page 1

I am considering purchasing 2 German Shepherds (male & female) from a breeder (possibly breeding in the future).  I currently have to 2 male Yorkies (intact, which I am thinking of getting fixed), two Golden Retrievers (fixed), a Sheltie (fixed) and 3 female Yorkies (intact).  I am researching the breed and after reading the thread "dog fights" I am getting a bit worried about how the dogs will all get along.  I always thought that if i got the Shepherd as a puppy (8 or 9 weeks old) that they grew up around the other dogs that they would get along well, is this usually the case?  We do live on 1 1/2 acres, and have two homes on my property so the german shepherds will not be together all the time, but willl be together at times and in the yard, also our Yorkies are separated between the two houses (males/females).  Please let me know your opinions, I have five young children (and we are home all the time) so they will have plenty of love and attention. 

We have 5 acres, 3 kids and 4 dogs (three GSD) I refuse to add even one more dog wihtout proper kennels, runs and outbuildings to keep the same gender dogs seperated when/if needed.

Right now they all live inside with us and are inddor/outdoor dogs on their own choice.  My opinion is that many dogs and sizes is asking for trouble without taking great care before adding more dogs.  GSDs are a high drive dog, and no, just because they all grow up together does not mean you will never have an altercation, especialy in unaltered dogs, but even with altered dogs. 

ETA: you'll probably want to put your hard hat o while reading the replies you will get to your questions as well.  just a heads up.

That's a lot of dogs for so little space. This breed is high drive, needs the room and time to run, otherwise you're going to have a destructive and possibly aggressive dog on your hands. Having 8 dogs, regardless of size, on 1 1/2 acres is in my opinion not enough room, let alone adding two more dogs. And for breeding in the future, I highly suggest you look into the dogs. You need to have them health tested, hip and elbow certified, preferably titled before most will even give you a look. And buying a male and female from a breeder, I'm hoping either from different litters or you're not breeding them. My GSD gets along with other dogs for the most part, but she's super dominant and won't back down, so if you have semi-dominant dogs, be prepared for some pecking to get the status right.

Why are you considering adding more dogs? Why are you thinking about breeding?

I highly recommend you stick with what you have. 8 dogs is a lot, let alone adding two more pups that are high drive and energetic and NEED to run a good bit daily. And I highly recommend that you don't breed until you've proven that the dogs you're breeding are ideals of the breed, are in perfect health, and titled. There are way to many dogs in shelters.

8 Dogs and 5 young children seems like an awful lot. I have 7 dogs and no children and stay home and I don't have any spare time to raise 2 puppies at once.

My opinion is to not get a puppy at all but if you insist get one puppy, raise and train him or her and learn about the breed. Fights do and will happen when you have a large pack whether raised as pups or not if running together.

Also I would like to mention that *most* reputable breeders would not sell you 2 puppies at once.I wouldn't sell you a pup at all with the amount of children and pets you have already.

Well Said!

That's a lot of dogs for so little space. This breed is high drive, needs the room and time to run, otherwise you're going to have a destructive and possibly aggressive dog on your hands. Having 8 dogs, regardless of size, on 1 1/2 acres is in my opinion not enough room, let alone adding two more dogs. And for breeding in the future, I highly suggest you look into the dogs. You need to have them health tested, hip and elbow certified, preferably titled before most will even give you a look. And buying a male and female from a breeder, I'm hoping either from different litters or you're not breeding them. My GSD gets along with other dogs for the most part, but she's super dominant and won't back down, so if you have semi-dominant dogs, be prepared for some pecking to get the status right.

Why are you considering adding more dogs? Why are you thinking about breeding?

I highly recommend you stick with what you have. 8 dogs is a lot, let alone adding two more pups that are high drive and energetic and NEED to run a good bit daily. And I highly recommend that you don't breed until you've proven that the dogs you're breeding are ideals of the breed, are in perfect health, and titled. There are way to many dogs in shelters.




 

 

One thing no one's mentioned yet is that a GSD with high prey drive might consider a dog the size of a Yorkie as prey! If you DO buy two GSDs, I'd keep a very close eye on the GSDs when they are together with the Yorkies! I would definitely socialize them with the Yorkies, because if you don't they won't look at them as pack members, which will make the danger of an attack even greater.

However, I would never have that many dogs and kids all at the same time. Someone's not going to get enough attention, and that could result in big trouble.

If the 2 GSDs are puppies you would stand a much better chance of this working. IMO. If not great advice in the above posts.

And welcome to our forums and site.

Regards,
GSD

Well we have two separate houses on our property and in all honesty, the Yorkies don't enjoy being outside, nor do they need a ton of excercise, so they aren't with the other larger dogs all that much.  I consider myself to have 5 dogs (really 3 bigger dogs) and adding 1.  I am not sure if I would breed, but I am looking into a champion line dog and keeping my opions open. 

Breeding German Shepherds is a great way to make a huge pile of money shrink into a tiny pile of money!

5 dogs is still a lot of dogs to have. Unless you're a working kennel, with a fulltime commitment to the dogs, and even then I think 5 is too many for that space, regardless of how many houses are on it. Yes, I understand that a few are Yorkies, but still, 2 GSD pups are going to require lots and lots of attention and training and running. They can't just be left outside. And champion bloodlines really don't mean that much. Many breeders advertise "champion bloodlines", and what they mean is somewhere within the past 5 generations some dog got titled in something. I'm with vtgsd, I don't know of a reputable breeder who would sell multiple pups to one person, let alone to someone who has as many dogs and little space as you do. This is all just my opinion, but these dogs require some serious training and exercise programs.