I'm not planning on getting another puppy for another year or two, but I thought I would start looking into breeders sooner rather than later. Since buying from a breeder is still very new to me, I would be extremely grateful for advice from those with more knowledge of breeders and the types of dogs they may produce.
In my next dog, besides the obvious good health and stable temperament, I would really love to have a dog with much higher drive and motivation to work. I am in the process of learning agility and I am enjoying it immensely, so I would definitely like to do agility with my next dog.
I would also love to do schutzhund or mondio (depending on which is more accessible to me). So I need to find a puppy that has the drive and willingness to go for the bite, but not so nuts that it absolutely needs someone who has done years of the sport to be able to handle.
I'm really just not sure what I'm looking for. I have read that I shouldn't worry too much about whether it is West German/Czech/DDR etc lines because I likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways. So I really just need help finding a breeder from whom I could get a dog with the drive and temperament to do some agility and primarily schutzhund, but not so easily overstimulated that it would tear me apart while I am learning the sport.
I wanted to learn schutzhund with Kaiju before I got another dog, but he's simply not right for the sport. He likes to chase down the rag/sleeve, but it seems like no matter what we do, he just has no earthly interest in biting unless we put a ridiculous amount of energy into encouraging him to go for it. And even then, it's iffy. So I'll be channeling him into agility and obedience.
I've decided against going back to the breeders I bought Kaiju from because besides a few IPO1 titles in his ancestors' pedigrees, they were focused more on just breeding solid dogs for active families and sports newbies. I've come to call them "newbie working dogs" Enough drive that I can see the difference between Kaiju and the couch potato shepherds that are milling around my apartment complex, but not drivey enough that he compares to some of the schutzhund dogs I've seen.
Sorry if I come across as ignorant about different lines and what it takes for a dog to be competitive in schutzhund. It's all very new to me and I want to learn as much as possible before I decide on my next dog. Again, any help would be greatly appreciated!
In my next dog, besides the obvious good health and stable temperament, I would really love to have a dog with much higher drive and motivation to work. I am in the process of learning agility and I am enjoying it immensely, so I would definitely like to do agility with my next dog.
I would also love to do schutzhund or mondio (depending on which is more accessible to me). So I need to find a puppy that has the drive and willingness to go for the bite, but not so nuts that it absolutely needs someone who has done years of the sport to be able to handle.
I'm really just not sure what I'm looking for. I have read that I shouldn't worry too much about whether it is West German/Czech/DDR etc lines because I likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyways. So I really just need help finding a breeder from whom I could get a dog with the drive and temperament to do some agility and primarily schutzhund, but not so easily overstimulated that it would tear me apart while I am learning the sport.
I wanted to learn schutzhund with Kaiju before I got another dog, but he's simply not right for the sport. He likes to chase down the rag/sleeve, but it seems like no matter what we do, he just has no earthly interest in biting unless we put a ridiculous amount of energy into encouraging him to go for it. And even then, it's iffy. So I'll be channeling him into agility and obedience.
I've decided against going back to the breeders I bought Kaiju from because besides a few IPO1 titles in his ancestors' pedigrees, they were focused more on just breeding solid dogs for active families and sports newbies. I've come to call them "newbie working dogs" Enough drive that I can see the difference between Kaiju and the couch potato shepherds that are milling around my apartment complex, but not drivey enough that he compares to some of the schutzhund dogs I've seen.
Sorry if I come across as ignorant about different lines and what it takes for a dog to be competitive in schutzhund. It's all very new to me and I want to learn as much as possible before I decide on my next dog. Again, any help would be greatly appreciated!