The Reputation of the German Shepherd Dog

[ken k]

Originally Posted By: Christie.L.I work in a Veterinarian office and see many GSD. The problem of why GSD have a bad rep. is on the fault of the owners. We have some that come in that are so sweet and so well behaved that they would hurt a fly. Then we have some that come in that you can tell there owners have not put any time or training into them. It is because of the people that have let there dogs down by not training them and socializing them that has given GSD such a bad rep in the animal world. My 7 Month old pup has been coming to work with me since she was 12 weeks old. Even as a 7 month old there are people that back away from her.

Christie L., is that you from monday night training with Dan morris????

[Jennifer McClellan]

It's amazing that people still have the fear of these guys and gals. My father calls them german police dogs and wants to know why we would have an animal like that around our 2 year old son. I would rather have a shepherd than a small dog any day. When I was growing up we had a terrier that would bite your feet from under the couch, we had a terrier mix that used to pin me against the fence and I would have to crawl over it and go in through the front door and recently I had a pekingnese that would wake up my husband by standing on his chest and growling in his face and the pekingnese drew blood from him at least 6 times, me once and the groomer 2 times.

[crossroads bmx]

Just thought I would share this story with you guys about what happened to me and Mya yesterday. My mom got home with the groceries and I went out to help her take them in. I always take Mya, she's 4 months old, out to the front yard to go to the bathroom, with out a leash or anything, and she stays right next to me. She has NEVER, EVER ran from me. I take her on walks all around the neighborhood and she will not run. She seems very uninterested in people walking buy or squirrels, she just likes to sit where ever she is when she spots them and watch them until they disapear. I love it. But any way, she follows me outside and does her thing then sits next to me as I am handing my mom groceries. A lady and I assume her husband were walking across the street with a little Yorkie who was going absolutely ballistic at the end of the leash. Jumping, barking, lunging, everything you can think of trying to get to Mya who is sitting calmly (not running, barking, or anything...just watching) next to me. I waved Hi to the lady and she gave me a crazy dirty look. I didn't think anything of it until I was walking away and she yelled "YOUR DOG WILL EAT MINE!! TAKE IT AWAY!" I was shocked. Mya is sitting next to me just watching them walk past and this lady is yelling at me to take my dog, who is at my house, away, because she thinks Mya will eat her dog. I just laughed and said well actually we have a yorkie as well and they play just fine. She gave me another dirty look and scooped up her dog and continued walking.
Just thought I would share it with you guys. If anyone wants to see Mya and Mumble (the yorkie) play there are some pictures in the photo section.

Jeremy

[Josette's Raiser]

I don't post often, but this thread really stuck out to me. Growing up, we had a small dog. She broke loose one time and the neighbor's GSD attacked her and injured her pretty badly. Not knowing anything about dogs then, our whole family automatically hated all GSDs even though us kids used to play with her all the time before this incident.

When I started raising for Guiding Eyes, I told them I never wanted a GSD, I would always be a Lab person. I remember walking into a puppy class and seeing a GSD that was almost ready for formal training. She was so sweet and just laying so calmly on the floor next to her raiser. That dog went on to become a brood and one of her puppies joined our region. I started to interact with her at classes and my 'hate' for GSDs started to wane.

When I had my 3rd puppy, we swapped dogs in class and I handled Bentley, a gorgeous (and huge) GSD. He was so sweet and I saw the bond he had with his raiser and the idea started to come into my mind of actually raising one some day.

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to intern at Guiding Eyes. There were quite a few GSDs in the kennels and they were all just so wonderful. I had a sweet spot in my heart for one particular big guy, a sable named Hansel. When he graduated as a guide, my heart broke not being able to see him every day at work.

When the next GSD litter was born at Guiding Eyes, I asked to be considered to raise one. GSDs are pretty rare there, so only certain people who have the skill set can actually raise one. I counted down the days until my little pointy bundle of joy would join my household. Finally, at the end of August, I picked up Josette. I have been hooked ever since and hope to raise many more GSDs after Jo leaves.

Josette has been with a sitter for 2 months now because of a strong traffic fear that we couldn't work through together. I've sat for a few labs and even a golden/lab cross, but none have come close to filling the void left by Josette. I can't wait to get her back.

I too have noticed the change in people's reaction to her. Not that I'm biased, but nothing is cuter than a shepherd puppy! I couldn't take a walk with Jo without being mauled by someone wanting to pet her. At about 5-6 months though, the street crossing started. I guess it is warranted...if given the opportunity Josette would surely lick anyone to death

[onyx'girl]

Sarah, how does your family now view GSD's? It would be hard to get over that, unless you had one on one with a certain dog, as you did. Thank you for your service, in training the service dogs, it must be very hard to give them up...
I agree, nothing is cuter than a shepherd pup!

[Josette's Raiser]

onyx'girl-
When I told them I was going to raise a GSD, they were not all too thrilled, but Josette won them over with one **** of her cute head It also helped that we sit for a friend's GSD who is the biggest baby! My family is definitely a shepherd family now

And yes, it is so hard to give them up, but when you see them as a team with their person every bit of sadness leaves you and what you're left with is a heart busting with pride!

[BradThor]

Im new around these parts, but I just had to weigh in as a novice GSD daddy...

Our pup (Raina) is about 3 months old, and I try to take her everywhere the family goes... we have a 15 month old boy that loooooves him some animals... he has grown very fond of our new GSD family addition...

well, long story short... we go to the pet store for supplies (food, toys, etc) and every time we go, we have at least 3 or 4 people approach us and want to pet our puppy... the response we have received from people about her has been quite amazing...

Pretty much everyone that i have spoken to about GSD's has had nothing but wonderful things to say about them... so we are very glad we adopted our baby...

I will admit tho... when we went to meet her for the first time at the breeder's ranch... I was quite intimidated by some of the bigger adult GSD's that she had... some were security dogs for the ranch.. Im not one that gets initimidated by dogs all that often (as im a bigger man myself), but these dogs were quite impressive and they are as sweet as they can be when they trust you...

[Timber1]

ditto, regarding the small dogs. I inherited a Jack Russell from my Ex, because despite the divorce agreement she was going to put the dog down when he was perfectly healthy. The dog was very intelligent, but also a biter.

Now I have two GSD's, one my forever dog and the other a rescue. The rescue is the most gentle dog I have ever seen. My forever dog is protective. But when it comes to family, including the little ones, my forever dog is gentle and playful.

As for the GSD's rep, yes a European GSD will be protective of his family and his property. That is the nature of the dog and I love it.

Concerning the little guys, whether yorkies, terriers, whatever, they are more high strung and in my opinion are more likely to create a problem.

[misskris]

I'm new to GSD's as well. My boy is almost 2, but we did not get him till he was 6 months. A BYB, could not sell him and his brother because they were no longer "cute", so she dumped them at the shelter.

Untill today, I would discribe him as more of a golden or lab personallity. He absolutely adores people.

We've had people, pull their kids across the street so they did not have to walk past him. Parents, tell kids "stay away from that dog, those are mean dogs". Not to mention the dirty looks.

We've also had people, let their kids crawl all over him. We were in Petco one day, when a toddler Sat on top of him and almost fell asleep while I was talking to her parents. This was a child he had never seen before and will most likely never see again.

Little ole ladies seem to adore him. They allway's want us to stop so they can pet him or shake his hand. They're also the ones that say "what a handsome dog" or "he looks like a smart fellow"

[GunnersMom]

This thread made me stop and think, and I honestly can't remember one instance of someone reacting to Gunner in a positive way. People are always so afraid of him. People cross the street when we're out for a walk. When we walk into the vet's office, people stop dead in their tracks, like a deer caught in headlights, or try to get a better hold on their own dogs. On one hand, it really irritates the **** out of me, that people automatically assume he's a vicious killer. And yet, on the other hand, I don't necessarily mind it. Gunner is actually quite friendly, but he's a bit reserved with strangers. You know... typical Shepherd! It's only at the vet's office that I'll tell people he's friendly. Otherwise, I don't advertise it. I had one man holler to me, from across the street of course, "Boy, I bet you sleep good at night with him in the house." I just smiled and answered "Yes, I do."

The funny thing is, when Cooper (our other Golden) was still with us, people would automatically coo and aww the minute they saw him, while keeping one eye on Gunner, waiting for the most-certainly iminent attack. I used to get a kick out of telling people that it was the Golden they'd better watch out for. He would have bitten before Gunner would! LOL.