So You Think You Want A German Shepard

So you think you want a German Shepard?  Think again.  Then try thinking about it one more time.  🙂

Over the last 20 years, we’ve owned 2 dogs.  One Shepard/Chow mix and one Papillon mix.  Neither of those 2 dogs were hard to train.  They were rather submissive to my authority. And easy to live with.  Other than this beauty right here.  He was a biter.  The older he got the worse it got.  He was anxious.  We would just crate him to keep others safe.

 

This last year we lost them both in a matter of 3 weeks.  After a few months, we decided to add to our family.  Our son had been wanting a Shepard for a while, so that’s what we got.  He was such a cute, adorable puppy.  But little did we know, that little puppy would take every … ounce … of … our … time … and … energy!

We have done a lot of research since we brought him home.  Research we should have done before we brought him home.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love him.  I do not regret getting him.  He is just consuming.

We’ve been told that Shepards are very different from other breeds and I can tell you that is true.  However, once they are “broken” they are the best dogs ever.

Shepards take a lot of time.  They require tons of attention and activity.  We are either playing with him in the kitchen or outside with the balls.  Running, running and more running with him. He is like the energizer bunny.  This dog just keeps going.  He reminds me of when my son was 2.  Oh the trouble that boy would find.  This dog is the same way.  If he isn’t digging, he is chewing or eating something nasty, like his own poop.  lol

Jeff and I are old school when it comes to training.  If the dog potties in the house, we would show the dog the error,  smack his hind quarters, say to the dog, “a bad dog” and put the dog outside.  That’s what our parents did.  ( We don’t.)

You can’t do that with a Shepard.  Any aggression shown toward the dog, will make the dog aggressive right back.  If you smack a Shepard for biting he will bite even more and harder.  Because of this, we’ve done a lot of reading and talking with others.  We are learning the best way to train and break Kaiser to be submissive to our leadership.

We can almost never leave him alone.  If he is quiet that usually means trouble.  We do keep him in the kitchen, but if he gets bored he chews on the trim. He’s got plenty of things that belong to him to chew on, but he chooses to chew on the wood trim instead.

 

I was talking with a gal this week that had owned a Shepard.  Unfortunately , she only had him less than 2 years.  She was afraid he would bite someone.  He seemed fine with the family, but he went nuts when strangers came around.  She had tried to give him to someone that had more time for him, but he brought the dog back.    She felt he wasn’t a safe dog and the vet suggested she put him down.  So she did.  I am sad for her and the dog.  Shepards are super smart and easily trainable. They just require tons of time and socialization.

If you think you might want a German Shepard, please do your research first.  Please make sure you have tons of time and energy to give your Shepard.  Not only time, but patience.  Shepard puppies are smart, but given the chance they will “forget” what you’ve taught them if they think they can get away with it. lol

Lord willing when Kaiser is a mature adult he will be the best dog we’ve ever had.

Right now, he just wears me out!  lol

Have you ever had a Shepard?  Was your experience different than ours?  Let me know in the “Leave Reply” link at the top of this post.  Thanks for stopping by.

♥Sabrina