Any German Shepherd Owners? Now With Pic...

[Amyable]

Love the antlers!! Cedar looks less than pleased.

Gritsar, that's classic. We had one that slept like that, front end pointed one way and back end twisted the other way. Like doggy yoga.

 

[kfchickenlady]

Wow, such beautiful Shepherds on this thread, I have my second GSD, a silver one year old Ive had for a few months, she is the best. A little shy and worried about doing the wrong thing, maybe original owners were too harsh, IDK, but she is coming along great, and unlike my former german bred girl, this one has never shown agression towards anything, except barking at strangers. She leaves my chickens, ducks, goats, alone, but will chase the goats and horses without biting because our bratty little corgi taught her this

here is my dear Sasha:

 

[Crazyland]

She is a pretty girl.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Here is my REALLY good boy Dakota, he was a rescue. He is almost perfect, great guardian, and very loyal... (I know he is mixed not pure GSD)...

 

[jerseygirl1]

Makes no difference what they are, as long as we love them!!

 

[Willow's Meadow]

Well one thing that I have found out with owning german shepherds is that the American Line German Shepherds are much, much better with chickens, horses and other livestock. And the German Line are not as good with them. I don't know if thats the same thing with other german shepherds but it is with my'n. German Lines are bred to be police dogs, search and rescue dogs, narcotic search dogs and guard dogs. While American Line german shepherd are bred to herd sheep, guard livestock but they are good family guard dogs to. My American Line will walk around the chicken coop with the chickens and not even notice them barely......she could care less. The other one tried to eat one of my chickens but I grabbed her before she could. lol I don't know what you have.....but training and age can affect the personalities and behavior around livestock too. Other then that German Shepherds are very, very loyal dogs and great companions. They do need some space and a medium size-big backyard they don't do very good in apartments usually unless they get a lot of exercise. But they are usually very calm dogs.....their just big. lol They are also (either line) very, very good guard dogs. So make sure you socialize your puppy A LOT both out in public and at home.

Socialization with other dogs and other people for GS puppies is the best thing for them....and lots of exercise and activities. But you do have to socialize them a lot in your house instead of always out in public.....because they need to get used to people that come to your house....and they need to know that not everyone is a robber. lol Also German Shepherds are usually pullers on the leash unless they are already trained....like a lot of big dogs. I recommend using the Halti or the Gentle Leader i you are having trouble teaching your GSD how to walk on the leash....the only problem with the collar is thatit slips off their face pretty easily sometimes so you might have to have another collar an lease on your dog just in case. Another thing with German Shepherds is that they can get allergies pretty easily....both stomach, feed and skin allergies so you need to make sure that you buy good quality feed. It might me a little more exspensive but its worth it. Don't get anything like Purina or Iams.....a really good brand is Bil Jac. I feed my German Shepherds raw feed....which is a lot cheaper and very, very healthy for them. It's basically raw meat....chicken backs usually. But I buy them from a butcher I don't feed them my own chickens. And we also feed them vegtables, fruit and baked potatoes. If you have any other questions you can pm me......I've owned and raised German Shepherds for 15 years. Enjoy your new dog.....you'll have A LOT of fun with her!!!!!

 

[Crazyland]

It has a little to do with lines. American show lines tend to not have the drive that German show lines have. But there is always an exception to this. Your more nervy dog may have been German working lines. Now if she were DDR or Czech then her prey drive could have been thru the roof! It is more than just German lines and American lines. It does break down even further as to purpose and area. Even their body structure is different line from line. I can tell you that it isn't true that German bred lines are not bred for herding. You may want to check with some of the herding clubs to see who is herding. GSD from all backgrounds are. The parents of my boys were farm dogs, and they came from SchH3 parents. It is that the American lines have deviated from the original intent of the breed but some very diligent people are trying to breed it back in and not just let them be show dogs but working dogs.
I have German working lines and my oldest male will let the chickens walk all over him. His temperament is very mellow but break out a sleeve and he is all game! My Female is the dominant one and has a very strong prey drive but leaves the birds alone. Even the cats that she will chase will let them sometimes lay on her. Odd relationship they have.

Our 7 month old pup on the other hand loves to chase the birds but is learning to leave them alone. He left them alone for a very long time until recently. lol
There will always be an exception to the rule with the breed. With so many back yard breeders just throwing dogs together and then the puppy mills on top of that, the breed will suffer as long as their popularity is high.
We are already looking at getting another from a friend in Germany. His female will have her SchH3 before she is even 2. We have watched this little girl grow up and she is phenomenal.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I agree with this, but also feel it has alot to do with the individual dog.
As most of you know, Jax and Kane are "half-brothers, half-cousins" (as DH likes to say). DDR on the sire's side, west german on the dam's. We've had Kane since he was 8 weeks old, coming directly from the breeders. Unfortunately Jax wasn't with us during that important period of 8 to 12 weeks, but instead spent that first month away from the breeders stuck in an outside kennel with no one but another pup for company.
Jax is high energy, high prey drive. Loves to work. Got his looks from his dam (west german) side. Not real friendly around new people.
Kane is semi-high energy, very low prey drive. Got his looks from the sire (DDR) side. Kane's not too interested in working. He is the one that is super protective of me though. Loves everybody, but never lets anyone he doesn't know well come between me and him. That's why I always say Kane is happy just being Kane, so long as being Kane means being within 5 ft. of me at all times.