German Shepherd or German Shepherd mix??

[Tina]

I was wondering if anyone here I have experience with owning a German Shepherd or a mix. I might be getting one in the near future. Also I was wondering if anyone could give me some good links for the breed?

I have a GSD, Zoe. http://members.tripod.com/jeepgurlgc/
And I would NEVER have another breed of dog.
I have been around Labs, Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels and lots of other dogs at school (i used to go to school to be a vet tech) and none of them compared to shepherds.
Zoe is very responsive to commands, she listens to everything I say...when we are outside and she is playing with other dogs i can softly say her name to get her attention to slow her down and not be so enthusiastic, or say slow down, easy, no, heel, come, sit, stay and she will do it. No matter what she is doing.
At the dog park....she will play with the other dogs, go run around and then come back every so often to "check on me" to make sure everything is ok and go back playing if I say its ok.
She is protective of me and my house, but not mean by any stretch of the imagination. She will bark if someone comes in my house without knocking...and will stay right with them until she knows my response. I always feel safe walking with her at night too.
She loves to play, cuddle, sleep on my bed (when I let her). She LOOOOVES kids and gets along with smaller dogs (my grandparents cocker spaniels beat up on her) and couldnt live without her.
Don't get me wrong though.
German Shepherds are NOT for everyone. I had one as a kid who saved my life several times (my mom was a coke head and would have wild parties, and greta stayed outside my door...because some of the guys would like to come in my room...and she wouldnt let them in), she was an amazing animal.
Zoe did go through some basic obedience, but we left before we finished because there was a dog that kept attacking her and it made Zoe dog aggressive. I brought her to a specialist who got her and I over it. She has her limits. I dont let her go up to strange dogs or vice versa before I watch both dogs reactions. I warn the other owner that sometimes she CAN be aggressive, I read her signs before anything happens and seperate them before anyone strikes.
Zoe knows her limits...she knows if she does something wrong, she gets in trouble....if she goes over her limit, she gets put into a down stay and I make her stay there until she settles down. I have tried all the other methods of correction, and this one works for her.
Now that I have rambled on forever, and have probabley made very little sense....my point.
I dont recommend a GSD to a first time or novice dog owner.
Also, obedience training is a must. Though go to a trainer with VERY small classes, no more then 7. No matter the size of the building. I dont know if you have AOL or not, but their message board for german shepherds is VERY good. They are some amazing breeders and trainers on that page that can give you wonderful information.
I dont have any other websites other than aol message boards
Good luck.
Sorry about the spelling and grammar mistakes. Not to mention it not making sense.

Camille

[Punxatawny]

German sheperds and german mixes are good pets. I was raised around a german shepered and he was great with small kids and listened really well. We didn't have to put him through training at all. he was a bit of a herd dog because when me and my brother got running around he always managed to get us into a corner. never hurt us just got us to calm down. Our mix was my dog she followed me everywhere she also didn't need lessons and learned with us just telling her things. I was also around Rotties and a friend of ours has dobermans. They are great dogs despite what most people think. I hope I helped out.

[Tina]

Thanks Notverylnnocent and Punxatawny for your help!!

[luvnature]

i have a german sheperd mix...she is mixed with chow..she is such a great dog...soooooo smart and obedient too. She is protective but knows when to bark and and who not to bark at. She is a lot of fun too! Loves the water!
She is very affectionate and loves to cuddle.

[TLC in Chi-Town]

I have 2 GSD's. A 2yr old female and a 7 mo. old male. They are a wonderful breed. Some Shepherds have a high drive, so they take a little more time and work on the owners part to keep them happy. They are known for obedience, agility, herding, and their intelligence. I would recommend at least the canine good citizen training for them. Basic obedience and manners offered at a local AKC or Geman Shepherd club. Start with the www.akc.org and also check the german shepherd club of america. There is a trainer/breeder "Leerberg" that has good free articles on GSD as well as training videos. Do your homework first to make sure they are the right digs for you. I love them, but also put a lot of time into them. Hope this helped.[ATTACH][ATTACH]reading text 016.jpg[/ATTACH][/ATTACH] Hope the pics attached correctly.

[luvnature]

this thread is almost 2 years old but still very good info.

[meewolflover]

We have 2 German Shepherds now. We lost a GS mix and a purebred GS last year. They and Dobermans are my favorite breeds. We have never taken our dogs to a trainer. Our dogs have been good dogs. We never had any problems of them being vicious or attacking any other dogs or people. They are the best companions and watch dogs. They just seem to know what they are supposed to do. They watch over us and guard us. When I say this i mean Doberman's too. We have raised both breeds. you can't go wrong with a German Shepherd. I don't think you will be sorry. We have had GS most of our lives. We have had many other breeds and mixed breeds the same time we have had our Shepherds and Dobies. We never had a problem of them not getting along with the Shepherds or Dobies.

[Greg]

We own 4 GSD's and I would strongly recommend reading everything you can about the breed! They are the most loyal, intelligent and protective breed around - unless you want to find a Caucasian Mountain Dog (extremely rare in the US). Our dogs range from 4 years old to over 10 and I would not trade them for anything in the world. We have 1 who is a rescue, our first was $500 and our breeding female was over $4,000, from who we kept one of her son's. Our breeding female came from Gerland Kennels in Wisconsin and I would recommend a responsible breeder to choose for your new pup. Two titles I would recommend are "THE GERMAN SHEPHERD TODAY" byStrickland and Moses and "THE NEW OWNERS GUIDE TO GERMAN SHEPHERDS" - before we sell our pups we make sure the new owner has a copy of each...Hope that helps a little and good luck with your GSD. By the way, our 5yo male, William Wallace, saved my daughter from a rattlesnake last year!!! Expect the same from yours...Greg

[pinkie1205]

Okay sorry for posting in an old thread but I'm going to anyway

My mom has a german shepherd mix and he is the best. He has ALWAYS been a good dog even as a puppy. He never pooed or peed in the house, he loves to play (almost too much at times) and he is protective. He will bark at anybody that comes into the house. He has to see the person first to make sure they're okay and like a previous person mentioned he will stand by his "person" whether it be my mom or stepdad until it's okay.
He is almost 10 and the dog is still active (and GRAY!) but still loves to play and acts like he is a younger dog. He gets along good with other dogs and really loved to beg...hahah

Now my ex's parents had a pure bred german shepherd that was afraid of EVERYTHING. He would bark and go crazy at new people, he would nip and bite. He nipped at my year old niece that was still in a baby seat. I blamed it on inbreeding (okay flame me now). He couldn't see past his nose and his tail dragged on the floor, he was a mess. After he got to know me he was the SWEETEST dog and just craved attention so bad that he would chew up things in order to get it. I don't really blame that on the dog but the owners. I think they decided to get a pure bred shepherd because they had one before. They got a retired police dog that was Very well behaved. My boyfriends mom told me one day that she told the dog that my ex, when he was younger, couldn't go past this tree because past that tree was a cliff. She said one day she heard a scream and a bark and ran outside and saw the dog pulling my ex up over the cliff by the back of his pants. Talk about a good dog! Anyway I think when they got their new dog they just didn't have time for him.

Anyway I love my mom's dog and he is honestly the best dog I've ever been around. I always say that I'm going to steal him one night so he can live with me.

Oh yea he loves to get on the furniture even though he's not allowed, he'll jump off when he hears someone coming..LOL