Help me find the right GSD

[Tom888]

Hi,

this is my first post here, I decided to register after I realized I have a stronger and stronger desire to purchase a GSD after days of diving more and more deeply to all this lot of information. I might buy a german shepherd in about 6 mths as long as certain conditions are met so this post is the beginning of "doing my homework". So far I know what I want, I'd like to ask you where to look for it in terms of bloodlines/pedigree:


Location

I'm living in the UK but originally I am from Slovakia and I want to buy my dog in Central Europe (Slovakia, Czech rep., Hungary, maybe Southern Poland) due to the huge price difference

Main goal

good quality/price ratio, I am prepared to pay more for a good dog but in local terms (i.e. not multiplies of the average registered GSD price in Slovakia)

Drive

Imo very important to choose a dog with suitable drive. I've dropped the border collie because I don't think I could handle it. What I think I could handle is somewhere on the "toned down WSL" - "normal WSL" - "toned down GWL" spectrum I am just not sure where. Any comparison of these to the border collie in terms of drive? Maybe that would help.

Appearance and health:

First the less important, I would like I nice classic coloured GSD, black and red/tan (maybe also some ligher coloured areas)

Slope and angulation is quite important though. I definitelly want my dog to have a back with slope but I really nothing extreme in terms of slope, nor I like the banana shaped backs, I'm not sure if even GSL would be the right direction in my opinion, I might be mistaken but I just want my dog to be OK and healthy. Seen some pics of western working line with straight (not curved) back with slope that seemed to be perfect like "VA3 Xitta vom Kirschental" (also her colour is really nice)

Nerves/Temperament

Yeah, I'd definitely want a stable dog with good nerves but I think it's self-explanatory. It should be more of a one man dog compared to e.g. a golden retriever but should not be aggressive toward other people or animals (I know a lot depends on socialisation)

===========================

I think my drive and temperament requirements are pointing me away from working lines but at the same time I feel that I would more likely find a healthier dog (both in terms of physical appearance and genetically) that would look more ideally if I picked a working line one. Again, I might be mistaken but this is what I think is statistically true.

Maybe a toned down west german working line dog would be OK, the question is if it would be toned down enough?? Any other suggestions?

(Sorry for the long post, I just have an idea of what I want and it takes space to describe it really... also I did not intend to offend any dog, breeder or line, hope I did not)

[Speedy2662]

Sorry, but do you expect us to find you a dog? :O Just kidding. The temperament depends on the parents and how you train it...
go on gumtree if you want to look for a dog to buy and ask the breeder about the parents

[Tom888]

Originally Posted by Speedy2662

Sorry, but do you expect us to find you a dog? :O Just kidding. The temperament depends on the parents and how you train it...
go on gumtree if you want to look for a dog to buy and ask the breeder about the parents

No don't misunderstand me, I think I was just a bit too specific. I will find a dog, I know that a lot of what I was talking about depends on the actual pedigree and the personality of the actual dog, what I'm asking is where, in which subset of the breed I'll be likely to find a dog that will suit me so that I can narrow my search... if that makes sense

[Speedy2662]

Ah, okay. Hope people can help you out here. Good luck!

[GSDElsa]

Really, it sounds like you will be fine with any type of GSD you get as long as you are buying from a reputable breeder who puts temperment first and you are very honest and clear with your goals and expectations of the dog. As a general rule, working line will have higher drive, but so much also depends on the individual dog. I don't think it will matter one way or the other for you as long as you don't overstate what you are wanting from your dog.

Are you fluent in Slovak or Czech ("from" could mean any number of things...you moved to the UK at 6 months or 26 years of age)? Obviously having no language barrier will make things much easier. There are a lot of good GSD breeders in Slovakia and the Czech Republic--you should not have a problem finding one.

I got one of my dogs from Aritar Bastet in the CZ and I was very happy with the process and am very happy with my dog, although I wouldn't consider him a "beginner" dog (but that is not what I wanted!). But he's got a great overall temperment (ie not dog reactive, social but doesn't act like a lab, etc) so as long as you are clear with the breeder as to what you are looking for I think he delivers nicely.

Here is the thread for our BH video that we recently did

Medo Aritar Bastet - BH Video

[JakodaCD OA]

I agree with Justine) and will say no more other than good luck in your search)

[Tom888]

Thank you both for the input.

To be honest I thought you will be a bit more concerned about whether GSDs are OK for me in terms of drive but it seems like it will be just fine

Generally speaking I am fluent in Slovak/Czech, maybe after such a long time (10 yrs spent outside Slovakia) I will have problems to discuss such a specific topic like right now I have no idea how I would translate "drive" lol.. but nothing that I could not manage.

If the opinions in the posts will stay this consistent I will go for west german working line with the desired shape and colouring and will discuss my drive/temperament needs with the breeder so that he can help me to choose the right puppy.

BTW the funny thing will be to find someone dealing with west german working line these countries being full of (afaik) Czech/Slovak and maybe DDR lines, some GSLs... Elsa I'm honestly wondering how you found what you were looking for if you don't speak Czech, I was trying to find some information but the Slovak/Czech part of internet just seems to be so fragmented and chaotic lol (well on the other hand I've already found an oficial list of Slovak breeders and some of them have a webpage so that could be a good starting point)

[wolfstraum]

first off - the black and red saddle is going to be much harder to find in a working line....

there are some Czech/Slovak kennels with good websites and owners who can speak English...a few sell alot internationally and charge "American" prices....perhaps with you being Slovak, you can find a pup at a more regional price point ....

Germany should be fairly easy to get to for you tho.....and seriously, I would recommend the WG Show line as it seems to be what you prefer - ie, the VA Kirschental female....last year, I paid E600 for a puppy from Germany - but the fees and exchange rates and transport brought that up to USD 2000 + .... so remember to keep that all in perspective when you look in Europe!

Lee

[JakodaCD OA]

Masi's (in my avatar) mom was imported from slovakia, she is a helga v eurosportu, (maybe eurosport?) I have a copy of her slovak papers, but darn if I can read them either))

Anyhow, again good luck in your search, maybe someone here can recommend some kennels over there to check out?

[GSDElsa]

Originally Posted by Tom888

Thank you both for the input.

To be honest I thought you will be a bit more concerned about whether GSDs are OK for me in terms of drive but it seems like it will be just fine

You post was well thought out and included a good deal of info that showed you had done a decent amount of research

Originally Posted by Tom888

Generally speaking I am fluent in Slovak/Czech, maybe after such a long time (10 yrs spent outside Slovakia) I will have problems to discuss such a specific topic like right now I have no idea how I would translate "drive" lol.. but nothing that I could not manage.

I imagine most well known breeders speak enough English that they are familiar with the popular words to describe temperment so between that and you speaking the language you should be golden!

Originally Posted by Tom888

If the opinions in the posts will stay this consistent I will go for west german working line with the desired shape and colouring and will discuss my drive/temperament needs with the breeder so that he can help me to choose the right puppy.

BTW the funny thing will be to find someone dealing with west german working line these countries being full of (afaik) Czech/Slovak and maybe DDR lines, some GSLs...

Most good Czech/Slovak breeders have recognized the need to bring new blood into their lines so a lot of what you will find is a Czech/WG working cross (my boy is about 3/4 Czech, 1/4 WG). I don't think that will will find so much of a difference that you should worry too much over Czech and WG. There are some differences, but really it's all about the individual breedings.

Originally Posted by Tom888

Elsa I'm honestly wondering how you found what you were looking for if you don't speak Czech, I was trying to find some information but the Slovak/Czech part of internet just seems to be so fragmented and chaotic lol

I wasn't specifically looking for a Czech breeder, it's just kind of how it worked out! It was a breeder I had been interested in for awhile, and it just happened when I was ready for a puppy someone who had a lot of experience with this breeder (cliffson on this forum) was importing a puppy at the same time. And it worked out nicely as Zybnek's English is pretty decent. I get updates on Medo's littermate he still owns and he always promptly responds to my email updates. I mean, we are never going to have a long philosophical conversation on GSD's, but the communication is clear enough we make it happen, lol! I don't need my breeder to be my BFF, but I do appreciate that I feel like he cares about Medo and the fact I got a good dog...not just that he made a buck and doesn't care what happens beyond that.

I couldn't give any other specific recommendations since A.B. is the only one I have experience with, but Cliff (Cliffson) has imported from several different breeders in the area and I think Zybnek and other contacts he has provide him with a pretty good scoop on who is good and who isn't.