Offensive or not, its MY BLOODY OPINION. I specifically said " I find _____ ugly" and "_____ is acceptable to me". And my opinion is not uneducated, unless of course talking to GSD owners and breeders and doing research for the last year and a half counts as "uneducated" -eye roll- I refuse to own a dog that I find hideous, regardless of whether someone else likes that look or not. Im not them. Im not you. So you think the show line dogs can be beautiful, fine, wonderful, good for you. I dont share that opinion. And I wont apologize for it. Having preferences isnt hurting anything
And those same GSD owners, two of which know me extremely well and know the kind of dog Im looking for, have told ME that working line/ddr shepherds are going to be TOO MUCH DOG FOR ME. I trust their judgement, hence, being stuck in bind as far as GSD goes. I hate the show line look, the working line temperament hates me.
So unless theres a magical in-between solution to that, Im afraid I just cannot seriously consider the GSD for myself.
I'm very glad to hear that. At least you are mature enough in that aspect, to have come to such a conclusion. I agree that a working bred German Shepherd will probably be too much for you.
Best of luck in your search! Hope you find the dog you are looking for, regardless of whether or not you fall in love with the breed.
Indeed. Even though she is half husky Lily is deadly serious about my safety. In bitework she'll play the game with the equipment, but if she could get in a dirty bite she wouldn't hesitate. She's only ever alerted on ONE person and that person is now in federal prison. She's very social and goes everywhere with me, but she is half GSD and will do her job if she has to.
Scout isn't as vigilant, but she is so much fun to do bitework with. We have a lot of fun with that. And its done more than anything else to mentally give her a "job" and good outlet for her drives, which helps her relax and enjoy life. Again very social girl and goes everywhere with me. Glad you caught this Equinox, I'd missed it!
Yes this is a biggie! My dog Scout had all kinds of undesirable behaviors in her previous home, despite that home being more ideal on paper than I was at that time, and whattaya know those magically went away when I took her. If the dog is smarter than the people who own it (and this breed IS a thinking dog with lots of drive that needs a "job" of some sort) and has no outlet for its natural drive, all sorts of problem behaviors can surface in the hands of an owner not suited to or experienced with the breed. Ditto for Sibes/Mals too actually.
Yes, exactly - I don't want a dog with high suspicion because my dog is my day to day companion first and foremost, and that means I take him everywhere I can with me. Trent is very stable, breezes through large crowds when I take him to sidewalk sales, and while he doesn't look forward to meeting new people, he's been known to fall in love with strangers once or twice
He allows people to walk through our door if someone is there to greet them, and even then if guests walk in unannounced, he'll alert bark at most. A frightening display, but with no meaning behind the action. He hardly bats an eye at people walking past our house or our car, if we're in a parking lot.
But, if he senses any genuine nervousness or fear from me, he jumps into action (and I admit to scaring easily). And not as a human or fear reactive dog would. Luckily, it's always been false alarms and a pat on the side or a "it's okay, Trent" calms him down almost immediately. He's very conscious of me even when he is acting on a perceived threat, and has displayed excellent discernment in the past.
It helps that he is 3 1/2 now and finally growing that brain of his
In dog less self aware or mentally balanced (whether due to age or maturity), or in a dog with lower thresholds and stronger suspicion or a sharper temperament, this can become something that is difficult to manage... especially if handled by the wrong person. Some traits inherent to the breed can be misinterpreted and then mishandled, or simply not recognized or dealt with at all.
Even in a lower drive, higher threshold, "pet quality" dog like Trent, it took a while for me to really know my dog and what I had (and by that, I mean a great dog and a poor personal understanding of the type I owned
). As a first time dog owner, I managed well, in my opinion, and without much effort to be honest. Just a basic understanding and the realization that my expectations weren't very informed. So if someone wanted a dog that would not display aggression, then I'd definitely recommend against German Shepherds, among many other breeds.
Thanks! Thats not a bad idea, i think you should put up some examples!
I have a few pictures I keep around to use as examples, just for these types of discussions :lol-sign:
I'll go through them and post soon.
Sucks that stuff pops up sometimes even with health testing. I think I've seen pics of him... I lurk there, lol. I've really enjoyed all her dogs that I've met. They certainly aren't ornamental lol... pretty zesty and fun.
Oh absolutely, and I don't mean to say or imply that it's the breeder's fault at all. I can see how it may have come off that way to anyone else, so just to let everyone know, I don't fault the breeder the least! I remember the Shepherd's owner posting a picture of the dog's littermate and he was just fine. And, as I said, the dog's temperament sounds just stellar.
She recently updated on a smaller GSD forum I'm a member of, with a quick picture and post.
Also I'd like to add that my 75% GSD dog is okay if something comes up and we don't get a good run in on top of regular walks and training, but the 50/50 Sibe/GSD one starts chasing her tail and having spastic husky zoomies around the house if she doesn't get her required mileage. The huskies, they must has the running.
Oh geez, I could go two weeks without training or exercising Trent and he'd still just nap his way through the day. He's so calm around the house he's flat out boring. I wish he'd do more! I love practicing indoor pictures, but all of them are just of him looking at me (points to signature).
Lily also in a vain attempt to keep working at our private lesson kept jumping on top of the kennel instead of going into it. It was hilarious, well to me anyway. I trade off between each of them in our lessons, so they both get worked. Same day Scout had a rapid fire Shepherd barking fit in the kennel because she wanted to get out and work, but it was currently Lily's turn. Again it cracked me up because I like my girls' drive to do stuff, but if that would annoy you stay away from GSD's.
A purebred Sibe or Mal would probably go "Oh look at the kitty!" and pay no attention. Or "SQUIRREL!!!!" :rofl1:
Lily and Scout sound like such a fun pair to be around! There should be some sort of PNW meet up - I've been wanting to meet katielou (I can't remember if she's in Seattle or an hour away from Seattle) and steal Abe. I'll nab your pair while I'm at it.
Always love hearing your thoughts, monkeys!