Need Advice on GSD Breeding...

[GSD<3er212]

Originally Posted by GSD<3er212

OH! I definitely dont think she was properly socialized with other people and dogs... because shes very skittish with new people, and barks at every dog she dont know.. which is understandable, but it gets embarrassing when im out shopping and she goes bazurk barking at others.. it also makes me very nervous... because idk how she will really act with the others.. shes been great with her puppy class friends until its time to play.. she plays so rough, she paws (which i find normal with puppies) but she also tries to bite as shes playing. which makes me super nervous about the other owners. When she goes nuts, Ive tried getting her attention with treats, "poking" her side and making a loud noticeable different noise than shes used to, but she like, "blocks" me out.. Ive tried about everything but a squeaky toy.. which i dont think that'll work either... Any advice?

PS... my pup is iffy with certain family too.. mostly my younger brother and sister.. she wanted NOTHING to do with them.. we've tried everything... and she still goes nuts when they are around... i must add that they are very loud, and ADHD like... -.- ive told them to stay calm, dont acknowledge her, etc, they listened, but didnt work. Everyone else, shes cool with.

[onyx'girl]

I would start another thread in the training section. Or read some of the threads in the training/behavior forums, many have the same things you are dealing with.

The book Control Unleashed has several exercises to help dogs with reactivity. I'd invest in a copy asap!

Also some training places do hold classes based on the book(or the CU concept) if you can, get into one of those classes.

[carmspack]

looks like you have your hands full --
please do not breed this dog .

[GSD<3er212]

Originally Posted by carmspack

looks like you have your hands full --
please do not breed this dog .

She just wasnt properly socialized. doesnt mean i cant breed her.. she's still young and got to work at her social skills.. shes in puppy classes and thats a big start. if it happens, breeding may not be at 2YO it may be a little later...

[onyx'girl]

Her temperament isn't from lack of socialization...it is genetic and really she isn't a dog that should pass on her traits.
A dog that is:

skittish with new people,
barks at every dog she dont know
my pup is iffy with certain family too
she still goes nuts when they are around

doesn't sound like one with a stable temperament. After she's been well trained and still has this personality, please do not consider breeding her.

[GSD<3er212]

seriously? even if the only people she was with b4 we got her was the husband, wife, and a toddler? no one else? no other dog? She was even like that when we first introduced ourselves to her, and when we introduced her to our 5YO dog.

[msvette2u]

Please read this before breeding your dog with unknown background - you are not only NOT adding anything positive to the breed (as a whole) it's breedings like this that are the DOWNFALL of the GSD.

Heidi's losing her leg today - Eastern WA state

For those contemplating breeding your dogs who are not titled (sometimes not even registered) or health tested...think about Heidi.

She was most likely bred under the same circumstances - although a beautiful girl with a sweet temperament (and a FINE family companion!) she isn't anything special that when I look at her I can see that the breeder had specific goals in mind.

Most likely they just like the breed, they love their dogs and wanted to create more like them. Maybe they wanted to earn back some of the money they spent on the parents, or maybe not. I've heard that sentiment too many times to completely disregard it.

The problem is, any good potential buyers who can easily afford a dog up to (and sometimes over) $1200 aren't going to be surfing craigslist or the want ads searching for a puppy! No, they'll be asking about good breeders here on places like this, or going straight to AKC's websites to find good, quality breeders who breed to better the breed - not just because they have a male and female, or a female and their friend has a male. These buyers know what a crap shoot puppies can be, and want to stack the odds in their favor by going with breeders who health and temperament test their dogs.

So...dogs like Heidi wind up in a home where she was quite probably always an outside dog - maybe a fence, maybe not.
And one day she wasn't there. Either wandered off, or maybe even stolen.
A few days later the owner notices she's back, with a bad injury this time.
And now she's in rescue minus the leg which some idiot managed to damage irreparably.

For most breeders who breed their dogs just because they can, this is the fate of quite possibly half or more of the puppies in the litter.
Sometimes they wind up in great, lifelong homes. Most often, I'm willing to bet not.

This scenario repeats itself daily in our country. Shelters are overflowing with the surplus puppies and dogs that people had little to no commitment to in the first place, and those dogs must go somewhere.

I read statistics a while back that said an average person would have to own like, 5-6 dogs (per person in America) to take care of all the dogs already in this world.
I mean - per person! A family of 4? 20 dogs. Per family.

It really makes you stop and think, or it should.
I know the fates of dogs like this, because we're called daily to try to help them. We face, daily, the results of irresponsible breeding

[Lucy Dog]

Out of curiosity... why do you want to breed her? Any specific reasons?

[GSD<3er212]

Originally Posted by Lucy Dog

Out of curiosity... why do you want to breed her? Any specific reasons?

@ Lucy Dog: We were just thinking about it, really.. We were told she had a good bloodline. We're pretty new w/ the GSD world, though. Most of it is so we could get $$ out of the pups.. but i dont know if we wanna do it after i saw some of the costs..

[onyx'girl]

Do you have her pedigree? You are in an area with puppy mills aren't you? Could she have come from a miller?