German Shepherd Dogs

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Lightning

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I'm looking into getting a GSD and wanted to see if anyone had any preferences into breeders, kennel lines, what to look out for, what not to look out for, how to pick the perfect puppy from the litter etc etc.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Well where to start! Firstly well done for making such a wise choice and going for a GSD :p Depending on what you want the dog for, and bear in mind they are a very intelligent breed and do need to be kept busy, the first thing I would recommend is loads of research. If you have seen any dogs you like the look of try and find out their breeding. The most important thing imo is temperament, so make sure the dam (and sire if at the kennels) is outgoing and friendly. If a bitch guards her pups that is fine with me, but once away from them she should be happy to make friends. Check both parents are hip and elbow scored, and the male is tested clear of haemophilia. With hip scores I personall look for a score of low teens or below, elbows 1 or 0.
As far as picking a puppy, unless you are planning on working your dog I would avoid the one who appears to be boss of the litter, and similarly any pup who is timid and reluctant to come to you. Ideally the litter should all be equally friendly and happy for you to play with them. Once you have decided you want a pup from the litter ask the breeder if you can visit a couple of times at least to get to know the pups and make your choice, a good breeder won't object to this but will be happy you are thinking carefully about choosing a pup.
Regarding lines, breeders, there are so many that the best thing would probably be for you to mention any you have found and are considering and CC and I (and any folks on here who know the breed) can pm you and give our opinions.
Good luck.
 
Tell us what area you are in and we can make recommendations :)

MM has it all covered!

Character first, then soundness/health (ASK TO SEE CERTIFICATES/X-RAYS!), then everything else (coat type, looks, colour) is an afterthought.

With the puppy, avoid the ankle-biters at one end of the scale and the cringers at the other. Quietly confident and inquisitive is the way to go.
 
Would either of you say not to go for a dog from show lines as opposed to performance ? I'm asking because the numpty family next door to me have just bought a 4 month old GSD puppy .....I don't know much about them but he has a seriously sloping back and appears to already have big problems with his hips/back legs ? He's meant to be from a good showing line but I've never seen him go faster than a lope and I'm beginning to think he can't....
 
Well mine are all from show lines, but german lines not english, that could be the difference . I would actually suggest a first time owner of the breed avoids the pure working lines, as they can be quite challenging.:p At 4 months a lot of shepherd pups are very unsound. my Evie was horrendous moving away, hocks all over the place, I was convinced she had bad hips but she actually has a low score, and as she has matured and muscled up all the looseness has gone. Regarding never going faster than a lope, if you mean a trotting gait, then the breed is designed to move at that pace, the idea being it can keep it up all day whilst trotting rounds the flocks it is protecting. Just for nosiness, try and find out from them who they got him from?
 
I'll try - we are in Scotland if that's any help.
Thinking about it he's probably more like 6 months old now and he really does look terrible behind. Would you say he should have restricted excercise at this point or would it help him to strenghten up ?
Not that I've ever seen him go for a walk but I was wondering ......
 
I have had German showlines all my life and I've never had an unsound dog, guess I am lucky!
The German showlines are expected to be fit to compete at tracking, obedience/agility and protection as well as gaiting around the ring.

Working lines are less prevalent in this country and I would not have one as a first dog or a first GSD. They tend to be shorter in the leg, of a more square frame and some of the sex characteristics can be harder to determine (males can sometimes have very bitchy heads, females very blocky ones) and the majority of them are sable/black/bi-colour as opposed to black and gold these days, because of the influx of east German, Czech, Beligian, Netherlands bloodlines.
The high drives, if misdirected, can mean that problems like dog aggression, livestock obsession, can be hugely magnified and harder to train out, they are bred to focus, but it is important that they are taught to focus on the right things.

The long, low fast trot is the natural gait of the GSD, as MM says.
Our youngsters have always been quite gangly.
For young dogs 0-6 months I would advocate free running and short walks for socialisation, getting out and about and training. Most of the exercise at this age should be mental rather than physical.

From that age you can up the road work for firmness.

For loose dogs (and my current male was very loose when he came at six months) uphill work, road work, sand work (BEACH!) and swimming help to build firmness but only in short bursts and that is to be upped after 12 months.

Would also be interested to know where this animal came from!!!
If he is not getting any exercise at all, I am not surprised he is loose.
 
I'll try and find out where he came from but I do know he's supposed to be off good show stock. I can see him now out of the window and he is oddly quiet, I've never seen him play or run around, there are 2 other dogs outside too and he just ignores them. I've never seen him excercised, they let him out of the door a few times a day but he does nothing but wander around by himself.....
 
:( hope they haven't been sold a pup. Pardon the pun. Doesn't sound right at all for a youngster, hope he is OK. Mine are 2.5 and they are always hooning about with each other.
 
Bear was always quite quiet and not at all interested in toys until about 8 months old - now he is obsessed and just stands there staring at it, or will pick it up to try and make it move and then stare again!!

He also goes totally nuts when his sister is around and will have the odd mad moment if I take him on the school to throw toys but most of the time he's fairly chilled.

I also don't take him for walks as such because he is loose with me all day on the yard.

But I would definately recommend anything CC and MM say - they were very helpful to me when I suddenly acquired 7 4 week old GSDs!!
 
We got our GSD from Nixtev and I would highly recommend them:
http://www.nixtev.co.uk/

The lady bred primarily for temperament, hip/elbow/haemophelia tests were all carefully looked at and she was selective about possible homes. The puppies had a lot of appropriate early socialisation, e.g. first few weeks in a home with children, small dogs, etc. then out in a kennel with large dogs. Our GSD is probably the nicest and easiest dog I have ever come across. If you are looking for a pet or a bright and well balanced obedience dog I would thoroughly recommend her. I do know she shows, but I am not at all into that, so I can't really comment on the quality of her dogs as show dogs.
 
Bear sounds very chilled out :) I would expect a puppy of that age to be a bit more animated when there were two other dogs about, but maybe he gets his stimulation with human company in the house, who knows.

Booboos has described the ideal kind of place the OP should be buying from!
I know of a couple of other litters on the ground and older puppies for sale, depending on your location, Lightning.
And there is also rescue.

I know it is a bugbear of mine and I bang on about it, but please don't buy puppies from ads on free websites (Bumtree, Dumbdeal and PreShoved especially)
 
I have a GSD x Collie RSPCA frequent flyer. I adopted her 8 years ago (her third home) and she has been a great friend. She may be part collie (we assume from her shape) but she is GSD through and through!

If I were to get another GSD, I would rehome from the GSD rescue site or get a police dog that has failed to qualify.

I really dislike the sloped back types. It makes me cringe! I saw some at Crufts and their back legs were flopping all over the place. IMO a GSD should be able to clamber over a 6 foot fence with no problems.
 
The Crufts Best of Breed this year is qualified SchIII so he actually can clamber over a 6ft fence and plenty more besides. He also has the AD (20k trot alongside a bicycle, two stops for a check and then a short obedience routine at the end)

Anyone who wants is welcome to stand fieldside with me every weekend and watch showline GSDs strut their stuff. As I mentioned before, they may not hit as hard and fast as the purebred working lines but they are more than capable of doing a days work.

Don't believe all you hear and see on TV :)
 
I'm not offended, I don't usually end offended posts with smileys :)

There was just a lot of misinformation about that dog, when he is the epitome of what the GSD should be, brains, beauty and more than fit for purpose, all his health tests, all his working qualifications - when you've achieved what he had on the sporting field (the same as what police dogs are expected to do - see MM's video of the little girl handling the GSD, that's the same routine as he would have passed), no wonder he isn't happy trotting round on a slippy green carpet!
 
Before I start to post, I am not taking offence either, just have to agree with CC re the unnatural conditions at Crufts. That is the only show those dogs go to with a carpet underfoot, in fact the majority of GSD shows are held outside on grass so it was a totally new surface to them,that is why there movement goes to pot. I can vouch as to how they struggle with it as I competed there in agility with a "show dog" and she could hardly keep her feet. Good luck if you do decide to have a rescue GSD, although as Kitsune will tell you its not that easy.:(
 
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