German Shepherds

[whiteyluvsrum]

I grew up with shepherds, and while they were all lovely animals they turned me off ever buying a purebred dog (well, that and the great dane we had). All of them were bought from registered breeders with all the right papers and scores and all of them still had hip and other problems.

hip scoring is just a tool to help people breed dogs with low scores to minimize the risk of there pups from getting servere hip & elbow dysplasia. does not guarantee that they wont get it though.

 

[Dragonwolf]

This is my beautiful friend. I adopted (rescued) him from a bloke who was treating him very badly and didn't want him anymore. Since then he is my shadow and frets if I'm away too long. I can't imagine my life without him in it.

 

[Frozenmouse]

i had a very nice pure bred german shepherd for 12 years i found the breed easy to train but really not that personable , he didnt really seek affection but was very protective. they go down hill very rapidly when they age , hip displasia is a big problem, although my dog lost his marbles well befor his body gave out, they need constant mental stimulation or they will destroy your yard and require lots of exercise pretty silly breed for anyone that does not keep them for working activities. trials ect.
once a year after their winter coat starts to malt expect to be knee deep in fur for a month.
They need tonnes of space and heaps of time spent on them and they eat heaps.
I miss him dearly tho, overall i would have to say the breed is a bit of a pain in the butt compared with the other dogs i have had or have which were pit bulls , staffys, jack russels, english bull terrier. were all heaps better for my lifestyle.

 

[amy5189]

i know this sounds really lame but there are tests you can take on the internet where you answer different questions and in the end it gives you a couple of breeds of dogs that would suit you.
thats what we did for our first dog and we ended up getting a golden retriever as it suggested and i can say i would not trade her for the world.
she is nearly 13 now and has no muscle tone left, is deaf, and blind, was never very obedient and though the breed would suggest it, she never retrieved anything in her life. except a dead bird she brought to me the other day. lol.
PEDIGREE Get a dog

 

[miss2]

my uncles old boy "rowdy" was the most amazing dog, so gentle and loving just a big sook.... incredibly smart though, he used to go to my uncles office everyday and would wait at the front door, take peoples keys from them and take them to there desk. such a beautiful dog... the hair was intense though lol

 

[kaos]

I agree with Karakiki.
When you choose to get a rescue/shelter dog there is a huge amount of unknown things that have happened in the dogs life. Some may be good but unfortunately most are bad. Some people treat there dogs terribly. My wife and I are the Neapolitan Mastiff rescue officers for australia and after seeing the condition that some of the dogs we receive both physically and mentally are in.
My thoughts to you is will you collie get along with another dog in the yard or do you have pens.
If your collie is uncertain around other dogs than you may find yourself in trouble when you bring a mature shepherd into the collies home environment.
Do as much research as you can on the breed and ask as many question as you can because every bit will help when trying to sort out the problems.
if you proceed with getting your rescue/shelter dog good luck and remember patience will help as the dog has had a life time of expreiences that you don't know about.

 

[stiffler]

Bit of a contradiction there. The german lines are bred for stable, healthy dogs that can be worked. Schutzhund originated from germany and means "protection dog", so they are the same lines you refer too.

Its funny how people boast there dogs as either "working dogs", "show dogs", and just plain old "pets".
A dog is a dog & with every litter comes with dogs with different temprements and drive. You can spend thousands on a "working line" pup, but its not going to guarantee you a high drive, submissive, hard working dog. not every pup in the litter is automatically a working dog just because both parents are.
It can work the other way too, there have been plenty of "pet" dogs that have been the best working dogs of there time.

good luck in finding the right one for you.

Not quite true. Of course there is no guarentee that a pup will be exactly like their parents. However, if you want a working dog for Police you will find the working bloodline dogs to produce fare more in their litters than the show or pet ones do. You will also find the show lines will produce a far higher % of pups that will be better in the show ring than the working bloodlines do.
If you want a police dog the last place anyone should look are showlines. And Schutzhund is a sport and does not reflect a dogs ability to be a police dog. The vast majority (over 90%) of schutzhund titles dogs do not have the drive, nerve or courage to be a police dog.

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

Not quite true. Of course there is no guarentee that a pup will be exactly like their parents. However, if you want a working dog for Police you will find the working bloodline dogs to produce fare more in their litters than the show or pet ones do. You will also find the show lines will produce a far higher % of pups that will be better in the show ring than the working bloodlines do.
If you want a police dog the last place anyone should look are showlines. And Schutzhund is a sport and does not reflect a dogs ability to be a police dog. The vast majority (over 90%) of schutzhund titles dogs do not have the drive, nerve or courage to be a police dog.

Im afraid it is true, a dog can be picked from any litter and as long as it has the right temprement & drive can be trained to work. It all depends on the trainer/training. Where you get the pups is up to the individuals preference. pedigree dogs have the history, so thats why alot of working dogs come from reputable breeders. My personal choice is pedigree aswell because of the fact that they have the history, and mines just a "pet" too.

I know as a fact that many law enforcement/military working dogs are actually rescues & mixes/give aways. And also some of the pedigree working dogs have show titles aswell.

I never said schutzhund reflects a dogs ability to be a police dog???? I dont know where you got that from????
Read the post again and who I quoted, I was refering to german lines & dogs that do schutzhund.

 

[stiffler]

Im afraid it is true, a dog can be picked from any litter and as long as it has the right temprement & drive can be trained to work. It all depends on the trainer/training. Where you get the pups is up to the individuals preference. pedigree dogs have the history, so thats why alot of working dogs come from reputable breeders. My personal choice is pedigree aswell because of the fact that they have the history, and mines just a "pet" too.

I know as a fact that many law enforcement/military working dogs are actually rescues & mixes/give aways. And also some of the pedigree working dogs have show titles aswell.

I never said schutzhund reflects a dogs ability to be a police dog???? I dont know where you got that from????
Read the post again and who I quoted, I was refering to german lines & dogs that do schutzhund.

All German Shepherd dogs in Germany have to do Schutzhund before they can be bred, so all show dogs in Germany have Schutzhund titles. Alot of show people think as the parents of their dogs did schutzhund, they could be a police dog. I was pointing out that SchH is just a sport, and nothing more.

The reason that some police dogs are give aways and donations is because Police departments dont like to pay money for dogs.

All working bloodline GSD's have pedigrees, same as the show dogs. Of course a few show dogs can be police dogs, and a few working dogs might have good show conformation, however when you are breeding, training and using dogs for, or in, Police you have to stay with bloodlines that produce the highest proberbility of sucess, and thats the working bloodlines. Same goes for show dogs.

We have imported five German Shepehrds from the Police bred bloodlines in Czech Republic. We have bred, trained and sold lots of dogs to the Military, Police, Prisons and security here and overseas.
Infact the GSD is now no longer the dog of choice for police and military worldwide, it is the Malinois and Dutch Shepherd that now are the best working dogs.

 

[reptile32]

german shepherds. i had a police dog jump our fence chasing some kids that broke into our local servo it didnt exspect to see a american bulldog on the other side my bulldog give it a flogging.

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

All German Shepherd dogs in Germany have to do Schutzhund before they can be bred, so all show dogs in Germany have Schutzhund titles. Alot of show people think as the parents of their dogs did schutzhund, they could be a police dog. I was pointing out that SchH is just a sport, and nothing more.
agree, they also can have a HGH or IPO1 title.

The reason that some police dogs are give aways and donations is because Police departments dont like to pay money for dogs.
agree, its the government and its with all departments. It just further proves the point that a pedigree working line is not the only dogs that can work.

All working bloodline GSD's have pedigrees, same as the show dogs. Of course a few show dogs can be police dogs, and a few working dogs might have good show conformation, however when you are breeding, training and using dogs for, or in, Police you have to stay with bloodlines that produce the highest proberbility of sucess, and thats the working bloodlines. Same goes for show dogs.
agree in parts Its all good if the government is willing to spend but it doesn't happen enough, plus you can find a give away that can do the same job.

We have imported five German Shepehrds from the Police bred bloodlines in Czech Republic. We have bred, trained and sold lots of dogs to the Military, Police, Prisons and security here and overseas.
Infact the GSD is now no longer the dog of choice for police and military worldwide, it is the Malinois and Dutch Shepherd that now are the best working dogs.
I wouldn't say "best", they are one of many great working dogs. depends on the work your talking about. They are a good GP dog, My brother is a military dog handler and his dog is a mal.

Mals are awesome to watch in KNPV-
[video=youtube;kcaAPhThnBM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcaAPhThnBM[/video]
[video=youtube;1L5qSF7DpYc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L5qSF7DpYc[/video]
[video=youtube;46psdMxb0vA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46psdMxb0vA[/video]

 

[sarah_m]

There are alot in the trading post atm, was just lookig at some pure white pups, very cute!

 

[stiffler]

You have to remember that just because a dog is a police dog in say the SA or Vict Police department, doesnt mean it is a quality police dog, or would be used in other police dogs with higher standards, such as the Qld Police dog squad. Qld have set up their own breeding program, where only working dogs are used, not show. They have been through the whole exercise and worked out the hard way that the vast majority of show dogs just dont cut it. Maybe you should ring them and ask what dogs and bloodlines they use. Reg Worth or Dean Hansen should be able to answer those questions for you.
My mate is in the Amberly RAAF dog unit, where he breeds and trains the RAAF dogs. He used to live here and trained dogs with us at our club, but moved to QLD when the RAAF offered him a job.
Unfortunatly the GSD is in decline for police work here and around the world. All the high level dog sports such as KNPV, Belgian Ring or French Ring use 90% Malinois. GSD's are looked down upon.
Glad you liked the KNPV vids. We have imported the first Dutch Shepherds into Australia from the KNPV. Infact the Dutch Shepherd male in the last clip is the uncle of my male import. I have also got frozen semen from his father Tommy.
Cheers

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

white ones look cool but are regarded as a fault to the breed standard.

 

[whiteyluvsrum]

You have to remember that just because a dog is a police dog in say the SA or Vict Police department, doesnt mean it is a quality police dog, or would be used in other police dogs with higher standards, such as the Qld Police dog squad. Qld have set up their own breeding program, where only working dogs are used, not show. They have been through the whole exercise and worked out the hard way that the vast majority of show dogs just dont cut it. Maybe you should ring them and ask what dogs and bloodlines they use. Reg Worth or Dean Hansen should be able to answer those questions for you.
My mate is in the Amberly RAAF dog unit, where he breeds and trains the RAAF dogs. He used to live here and trained dogs with us at our club, but moved to QLD when the RAAF offered him a job.
Unfortunatly the GSD is in decline for police work here and around the world. All the high level dog sports such as KNPV, Belgian Ring or French Ring use 90% Malinois. GSD's are looked down upon.
Glad you liked the KNPV vids. We have imported the first Dutch Shepherds into Australia from the KNPV. Infact the Dutch Shepherd male in the last clip is the uncle of my male import. I have also got frozen semen from his father Tommy.
Cheers

My bro has just been posted to the amberly doggies and the old man has worked at amberly for many decades, he may know of your mate. I believe my bros dog was bred from the RAAFs breeding program.
There's no police dog unit up here so when they are needed they call on the local prison GPs to do the work.

 

[Midol]

I've got a workling line black shep, does the job. He works in security and trained in protection.

I wanted a Malinois, but went for the easier GSD as a first protection dog. Intend to get a Malinois or import a working Groenendael(SP) in the future for Schuhtzhund though.

ETA: If you go for a pure, get it from a decent breeder. Get papers. Ensure genetic testing is done. Those who rant and rave about hybrid vigour don't actually understand what it is. Tested pure GSD is less likely to have genetic issues than an untested cross.

If you go rescue, find a reputable rescue group. I find GSDs easy as all hell, even my working line boy is a very easy dog. But then I'm a Siberian Husky owner... So I'm used to tough dogs.