Another newbie question :)

[Charmander52]

I've been reading pretty much everything I have time for on this forum, and I have a question that is probably somewhat dumb.
If you're only getting a GSD strictly as a pet, no showing or anything (except maybe protection ), why is it a bad idea to go to the local classifieds?
I know a lot of you have purebreds that you got from breeders & backyard breeders usually probably aren't the best way to go, but I'm just curious. Even backyard bred pups need good homes. Nah, just kidding. But I am curious.

[onyx'girl]

If you don't do your research and go with a classified ad..you may end up with a temperamental nightmare. Some good breeders advertise in the newspaper, but most good breeders don't have to.
Of course they all need good homes, instead of classifieds, look at rescues or shelter dogs. Don't support a breeder that is not doing the breed any favors.

[Charmander52]

I know, a lot of people have also talked about rescue dogs and shelter dogs (both of my family's past dogs came from the humane society), but... isn't it quite likely that at least some of those dogs are from backyard breeders originally? I guess I'm just a little confused.

[onyx'girl]

Yes they probably are, but if you pull from a shelter or support a rescue, you are not giving a BYB or miller financial support to continue their breeding practices.
Rescues usually will have vetted, evaluated and try to match the pup/dog with the right owner so the chance of return is slim. Pulling from a shelter is a risk, you may be taking on medical or training issues so need to be dedicated in helping the animal, the paybacks are usually 100x's what you put into it though!

[Charmander52]

Ah, I see.
I think part of the thing is, around my area pretty much any dog has come off a farm, or by the terms on here, backyard bred. I don't think there are too many "good" breeders around.
Guess I'm just used to that.

[selzer]

Go to the classifieds. That is not the end of the world, but make sure the breeder is paying attention to the health of their dogs, and go visit them, check out the cleanliness, look at the pedigree of the sire and dam and make sure they aren't breeding father to daughter, brother to sister, grandfather, to grand daughter etc.

Inbreeding is something people who are not really, really into it should mess with.

Talk with the people. Temperament and health are the two biggies. Health will be gaged by health screenings, and knowledge of the dogs' ancestors. Temperament is gaged by what the owner does with the dogs. For someone who has titled many dogs, and been into dogs forever, and has a good name, I would not be as worried about it, and just listen to what they are saying about the dog. But for someone starting out, or doing this on a small scale, titles give you a bit of a second opinion, the dog is trainable, the dog can work around people, dogs, distractions.

You will likely pay less, and you may not have every duck in a row. But pay attention to temperament and health.

For pet owners, going with a good breeder is your best bet at getting a healthy dog with good temperament.

Lastly, you want to encourage breeding and give your money to those people who are breeding with a purpose, with attention to details like character traits, health, genetics, etc., and to people who care about the breed, not just their own dogs. To most of us it is worth spending more money to go with someone who is going the extra mile and doing things right. Giving money to people who are just putting two dogs together is encouraging breeding for all the wrong reasons.

[onyx'girl]

Well, look at what they are breeding and decide if that is what you want to live with for hopefully the next 10-12 yrs. Look at the parents if possible, ask about allergies, digestion sensitivities, and hope that the hips/elbows are ok...because usually the breeders on farms don't do much in the way of health testing.
We got our first GSD from a dairy farm in the early 80's he was a great dog, and lived to be 11...died of bloat, but was overall healthy and stable temperament.
No papers or pedigree, and the guy only charged us like $30 so it wasn't a breeder out to make $.

[selzer]

And since they aren't advertising in the paper or the yellow pages, it is hard to know whether there are any good breeders around your area. Some good places to check are German Shepherd Dog clubs (look it up on the internet for some in your state) they may be able to send you to people in driving distance. Also local training clubs might know of GSD breeders -- who to or who not to go to.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Charmander52

Ah, I see.
I think part of the thing is, around my area pretty much any dog has come off a farm, or by the terms on here, backyard bred. I don't think there are too many "good" breeders around.
Guess I'm just used to that.

Most backyard- bred dogs are randomly mated. Someone with a female Shepherd breeds her to a male because he is convenient. Either they own him, or someone they know owns him. Often, the dogs have no hip, elbow, or health certifications, and nothing has been done to test their temperament beyond daily living in the house, yard, or farm.

By contrast, a good breeder tests their dogs' temperament by taking them to competitions like obedience, tracking, protection, agility, herding, etc to test what the dog is like under pressure. In the act of training for competition, you learn a lot about your dog's natural biddability, nerves, intelligence, and temperament that you just can't learn from having the dog live as a pet.

A good breeder will submit a dog's hip and elbow x-rays to a certifying body to make sure the dog is orthopedically sound. It is becoming more and more common for breeders to test for other genetic issues as well.

Finally, a good breeder studies genetics. Instead of just throwing two dogs together, they study the bloodlines for many generations to try to achieve exactly what they are looking for in their puppies.

Far from being "just a pet" a pet German Shepherd needs to have great temperament, sound nerves, and be healthy and structurally sound just as much as a top show dog or protection dog.

With rescues and shelters, you have the adult dog there in front of you. It's not an 8-week old puppy that you have no idea what he'll be like. With an adult, you can check to see what the dog himself is like with kids, what his nerves are like, etc. You can even have him looked over by your vet before deciding to adopt him.

To me, buying or adopting an adult is the least risky, followed by buying from a good breeder, followed very distantly by buying from a newspaper or Craigslist breeder.

[Charmander52]

So basically, good breeders just spend a lot more time on what they're doing vs. the farmer who has puppies?
I get what you're all saying though. Might take some getting used to though, where I'm from a lot of people think you're nuts if you spend more than $200 on a dog.
I actually have surfed our local humane society's site quite a bit (just in case!), sadly they don't usually get too many GSDs in. I think I've only seen 2 or 3 in the last several years.