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First time GSD owner, "In Da House!!"

8K views 31 replies 13 participants last post by  FirstTimeGSD 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought my first ever GSD yesterday... He is right at three moths old, born 08/12/2012... His name is Yoschi. He is a pink papered German born shepherd. I don't know much about all this to be honest. I always had Dobermans growing up and in my young adulthood.
I purchased him from Elite German Shepherds in Luling, Tx. he's a big goof. My only immediate concern is he may have soft ears.. I know it is too early to tell.

I've attached pics of him, his mom, his dad and of his pedegree... any insight would be awesome... I know it is too early,, but I can envision wanting to show him at some point if he's worthy. I show Koi and am competitive by nature.
 

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#3 ·
Your puppy is very cute, don't worry about his ears, it's perfectly natural for them to be down at this age, he has plenty of time before you hit the panic button.
 
#4 ·
Hi Welcome to you and Yoschi!
He's a good looking pup, I can't comment on the pedigree as I am really ignorant in all the pedigree stuff. I'm sure others will help you out there.
Did you say you show Koi? As in fish???? If so how do you do that, lol?
 
#5 ·
They are judged on body conformation, skin quality and markings.... show quality koi range in valuse from the thousands to hundreds of thousands... they are living art.
 
#7 ·
To be honest. I'm learning all this pedigree and pink papers stuff after the fact... we woke up yesterday morning with no thoughts of getting a pup... my wife mentioned it and three hours later we were looking at yoschi. We found him through a friend that shows dogs. He directed us to Elite German Shepherds in Luling,Tx. We lost our beloved Gizmo to a fungal infection a month ago. He was a ****zu and it turned out he had an immune deficiency disorder. He wasn't able to fight it off no matter what we did. I didn't think we'd be getting another dog so soon... but I am so glad we did
 
#9 ·
Wow, nothing like living in the moment! I'm sorry about Gizmo, i'ts always hard losing something that you loved so much. I'm sure that Yoschi will help with the healing.
Good luck with Yoschi, GSD's are nothing like ****zu's (sp?) but you'll definitely be impressed with their intelligence among other things!
 
#10 ·
Here's a picture of my pond and my one show quality fish,.,.... I have others with potential,, but this one has already won me two trophies... the pond is 6000 gallons.... Yoschi wasn't home thirty minutes and he walked into the pond as if he could walk on water... LOL... I think he learned his lesson,, it was freezing cold... I believe that was the first time he has seen water outside a water dish... hahahaha
 

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#13 ·
Wow that's an awesome koi! It's funny but he has the same markings as the one and only goldfish we have right now, lol.
Your pond is also awesome, do you have any issues with critters or herons getting into it?
 
#17 ·
It is six feet deep with straight walls... it prevents animals from wading in to get the fish and it's deep enough foe them to get out of reach... I've lost two very small fish.. probably to owls... we have guardians, a Lhasa Also and a ****zu that will bark at anything
 
#19 ·
Yoschi is very handsome :) Sorry to hear about your loss, that's always a hard pill to swallow. But I'm sure that Yoschi is helping with the healing, that seems to come naturally to them. I'm a newbie too and we got our Gitchi when she was 9 weeks old, she's a little over 8 months now, they sure do grow up quickly! Welcome to the board and keep posting pics of your sweet boy!
 
#21 ·
I have a couple questions... first of all, let me say this is my first "high quality" dog... he is a pink papered GSD... How do I go about learning about the history of the dogs listed in his pedigree lineage?
Also, the lady who imported him (not sure to call her a breeder or'importer') seems to get uncomfortable when I ask about breeding him or showing him in the future.. she said "I purchased him as a family pet..." "he was sold as a family dog..." I never did state my intentions when talking to her. I am competitive by nature and also, want yoschi to live up to his potential. I have the time and the means to take him all the way... all I need is the education and training to make it happen... lol, I did say that "I" need the training... why foes this lady seem so touchy about all this.... for the record she is a German born lady with all the stern attitude that comes with that... I liked her, but my wife was really put off by her and we almost didn't get yoschi because of it
 
#22 ·
Welcome from Austin as well. Yoschi's a good looking pup.

As far as your questions go...

Yoschi's what's known as a West German Showline GSD. If you haven't gotten the lowdown by now, what it boils down to is that there are sort of four distinct lines of GSD. There are the European Working Lines, the West German Showlines, American Showlines, and American pet lines. And around here, you'll no doubt soon discover, there's a pretty strong bias in favor of the working lines.

Lots and lots of European dogs make their way to the US, of course, and Yoschi's pink papers really just mean he was registered in Germany as opposed to in the US. And that doesn't really mean a whole lot in and of itself.

If you want to research the dogs in his pedigree, the pedigree database is a good place to start. Just type in any of their names and see what you come up with.

Also, you can just Google the whole names of dogs in his pedigree. Doing that will usually lead you to them in the pedigree database, but it's amazing what else you might find.

As far as the breeder being reserved when you asked about breeding him...well, many breeders just are. But keep in mind most people have no idea what's involved in actually breeding to improve the breed vs. just throwing a couple dogs together and making puppies and money. Surely you know all that from the fish, but the breeder doesn't necessarily know that.

Anyway, I'm not sure if you have to buy breeding rights separately with German Registered dogs. But as long as you have them, then what you do with the dog is in the end up to you.

And don't worry about his ears. WGSL's just seem to have bigger ears, and it's not uncommon at all for them to take awhile to come up.
 
#23 ·
Thanks... She told me it would take two years to qualify him as a breeder and that it takes tons of work,,, I said, "ok" ...... lol.... I have the true willingness to do what it takes.... I'm not just wanting to make money...lol,,,, I've never done anything just for money.. not in my whole life,, there is always a greater purpose... money is a necessary perversion to all that is good... Just like with my fish,, I was told never to sell them cheap or give them away,, people that get them cheap or free won't spend the money and time on them to give them the care they need and deserve.
I honestly am not sure what I will end up doing with Yoschi... I plan on neutering him at some point, if for nothing more than health reasons. I may want to breed him once or twice prior to that though... I just want my options open... I want him trained to the highest standard possible... do you know of any top notch training places in Austin?
 
#24 ·
I can't help with the local questions about clubs, and I don't know much about WGSL's, but your pup is gorgeous and I am a fish keeper by nature as well (though pet aquarium tropical fish only, LOL). But wanted to try to answer your question about the breeder stating you purchased him as a pet only.

Within a litter, you will not necessarily have all uniform pups. Since you breed fish, that may help you understand that dogs (anything really) are quite similar in that out of allllll those fry that are born, very few are show quality. The rest may very well be super nice fish, nicer than anything you'd find in a petstore or the average backyard pond. But their markings won't be quite right, their conformation not quite right, etc. Not necessarily anything wrong, just not show quality.

With a litter, WGSL and ASL (american show lines) they are often priced differently and sold according to what standards the breeder feels they measure up to. So pet quality puppies would be puppies that the breeder feels, for whatever reason, are not up to par for a show dog, but still make a top notch pet and companion. That doesn't mean you can't still show the dog, and for all your know your pup could end up being top notch. Puppies are a crapshoot, and you don't always know what you have until they grow up.

Best of luck to you!
 
#25 · (Edited)
That thought had crossed my mind that it wasn't up to show standards... I don't know what dogs of this caliber sell for normally.. to be honest this was such a spur of the moment decision that we didn't look around at all and since she only had one boy, we bought him without a second thought. Needless to say though, he wasn't cheap... lol.. never imagined I would spend that much on a dog... at the same time, if I told you how much I would be willing to pay for a fish, you'd want to have me committed... LOL

I still will train him to the highest standards and love him as much or more than any grand champion.
 
#27 ·
....it's strange though,,, he pees regularly but doesn't seem to poo much at all..... only three times "THAT I KNOW OF" since being home
 
#30 ·
Where in Austin are you? Triple Crown academy is on the outskirts of Austin, but it's probably considered pflugerville/hutto. They have lots of trainers and they do free assessments as well. I took my dog there a couple months ago, when he was probably about 4 months old and we basically just had a discussion about possible training classes/what he saw in my dog. I recommend at least getting the free assessment if nothing else.
 
#31 ·
still waiting to hear back from them,, called twice,, both times transferred to a lady's voicemail,,,, what all is included in the assessment?
 
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