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by Ibrahim on 29 October 2009 - 17:10
I have noticed that the professionals do not realise the following:
Not all participants are from countries where clubs are available.
Not all participants have breeders in their countries.
Therefore not all participants, when buying a puppy, can visit the breeder and watch the puppies, many buy on the net through pictures and what the breeder advises them.
Many ordinary guys have no access to knowledge sources such as clubs, books, videos etc. On the net there is no source, at least that I know of, gives you the necessary knowledge, you get a piece here and a piece there, and sometimes conflicting pieces.
I may confess that most of my knowledge, believe it or not, I learned from this board, but some confusion is still there and many questions remain un-answered, I will name for you a few to answer:
1. When I buy a puppy, is it necessary that I train it and why? What if I do not know how to train it? what if I have nobody to train it? Should I not raise one even if I guarantee it willl enjoy my company and has a decent life and good food. (if some one raises issue of buying a puppy or a dog many of you ask what are your plans for him or her? should there be one?, what if I want the company only?
2. When some one wants to buy a puppy, many start giving warnings, but in the end all puppies will go to their new homes, not all buyers will get the best puppy, but each one should get what he or she is looking for (added that puppies are of good health), isn't that correct?
3. I notice that some professionals accuse some breeders of looking for profit out of their puppies, isn't it natural that a breeder at least gets back some or all the expenses he incurred in raising and breeding his or her dogs, if there were no breeders we wouldn't enjoy our present dogs and puppies.
4. Some always criticize others forgetting that sometimes it confuses the silent participants, who I think benefit the most from the discussions, is this a good practice?
5. Last I would like the professionals to make an educational post on weekly basis to educate the illiterate on GSD basics, and believe me you will do us and the dogs much benefit.
Ibrahim
by hamza166 on 29 October 2009 - 18:10
by Ibrahim on 29 October 2009 - 18:10
by SitasMom on 29 October 2009 - 21:10
1. All dogs need some degree of training, walking on a leash, sit, down and stay. Being able to clip toenails, look into ears, not to poop on the floor if your planning to keep it inside.
If you want a puppy for a companion only, then those are your plans, and taking this into consideration is very important.
A companian / pet puppy might be best if its more mellow and nice. If your plan is to work the dog, then the temperment agin needs to be evaluated for the job you want to give your dog..........SchH, therapy, service, ...... They all require different temperments and drives and energy levels.
2. Yes, the warnings are to give a heads up as far as the wide variety of temperaments, drives, abilities, and energy levels that GSD's have. See answer to #1......
3. I have to agree with you on this point.
4. Probably not.
5. Now that is a great idea! We have a Gereral Articles area, wouldn't it be great if it cold be used for such a purpose!
by Ibrahim on 30 October 2009 - 05:10
What if he wants a watch dog for a property, he should then look for a puppy that has a drive to defend its territory, correct?
If one is looking for a moderate puppy, most important thing is to look at the health of parents first, here comes HD and OFA results. In regards to quality of the puppy you look at KKL of the parents plus some titles.
If one is looking for a puppy with working capabilities he looks for additional things like more advanced titles in parents, and he watches the pups to make sure they have sufficient drives etc. Or he tells the breeder his needs and breeder chooses for him the most suitable puppy in the littetr.
For a breeder he or she looks for champion parents and parents doing excellent in competitions, but not a breeder an ordinary puppy of good parents will do, right?
In regards for necessity of training, of the puppy is just a companion and will not go for titling etc, basic training of obedience is more than enough just to control the dog, and here if the dog doe not eexcell in the training is not a big deal.
by happyday on 30 October 2009 - 14:10
Ibrahim:
You don't have to be a professional trainer to teach your dog basic ob. Even for just companion ship you would need to train any animal. If you have a child of your own - could you only imagine how unmanagable he/she would be with out training. The words would be "unbearable little brat"
Dogs are dogs and will eat the food good or bad - but with lack of training they will jump on your table and eat what isn't offered as well as possibly biting the hand that fed him.
It is my personal opinion that GSD are working dogs s/l or w/l - they are intelligent dogs that need structure in their lives - without it your "companion" will make your life miserable..... That is why so many end up in shelters....
Happyday....
by Liesjers on 30 October 2009 - 14:10
by Ibrahim on 30 October 2009 - 16:10
If one has a working line dog and teaches him obedience, is that enough for the dog himself or the dog is done harm if not trained on shutzhund?
by SitasMom on 30 October 2009 - 17:10
IMO. Schutzhund is not mandatory, but a job is.
Ideally a working line dog has large quantities of drive, and a massive amount of energy. The harm comes from such a dog having nothing to do all day long. They are smart and they will find something to do and most of the time self-created jobs are dog are not what humans consider positive or useful. Excessive barking, digging, tearing up stuff, guarding without obedience, being overly aggressive......the list goes on.
Its almost always best to give a dog a job and train for it, especially a German Shepherd. Tracking, obedience, protection, Rally, Agility, playing fetch. looking for hidden toys, watching your children,,,,,there are hundreds of jobs. But obedience is the key, if, focas and a desire to please is taught along with obedience, all the better.
Teaching dogs and giving them jobs seems to relieve stress, especially with high energy, highly driven dogs. This helps with bonding and also is a way to give them exercise at the same time.
One job my Aussie was given was to collect all the dog toys and put them in a container......(from dog tricks for dummies). This kept her busy because when she was board, she would go around the house looking for toys to put away. I tried to teach her to put dirty laundry into the hamper, but ended up with dirty laundry in the toy bin and toys in the hamper.....OH well, should have left well enough alone.
She was also taught to do many trick and love to perform in front of my friends. To this day, I'm amazed how many people who don't like dogs just loved Mattie after she performed for them. Now she is old and doesn't move around so well, but she still tries to do her jobs.
Before training her, she thought her job was to heard my small children. She was a natrual heeler and would run past them and knock them over or nip at them at times breaking the skin and tearing their clothes........she thought she was being a good dog and it almost landed her in the pound. Luckily I was able to redirect her focus and energy.......
by Ibrahim on 30 October 2009 - 18:10
What you said above put many pieces together, added to what happyday and liesjers had to say few doubts and uncertainities are cleared. What I appreciate the most is the explanation you made withou adding more complications. Yes a dog needs something constructive to do, I never thought of it this way, I thought a dog should be thankful for only having a place to live in, space to play in and a plate to eat from. Yes a dog with drives should fulfill his time with a job.
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