Help Needed From German Shepherd Owners

[petstew]

Hi, my name is Mike and I run PetStew.com. I'm working on improving our German Shepherd breed information, and I was hoping that some of you can review my German Shepherd page and make sure my sources provided me with data you consider correct? Now like I said, this is all research I did on my own, I've never owned a GSD myself, so I just need confirmation my site is not providing inaccurate information. Here is the link, German Shepherd Breed Information, thanks in advance!

[Jax08]

I think the stars on the breed characteristics need some work.

My dog is very kid friendly
She demands alot of exercise!
She is the least dangerous dog I've ever had (in company with collie's, boxer's and doberman's). If raised and trained correcty they are not any more dangerous than any other dog.
She does NOT tolerate heat at all (she is a blanket back so black and the heat do not go together well)

Your statement that they can be overly weary of strangers is not correct. These dogs are supposed to be aloof. They should be approachable but not outgoing towards strangers. that is very different from being "weary of strangers"

Sable should be added to your colors. Actually a Pattern Section should be added as Sable is NOt a color but a pattern.

[Technostorm]

They are one of the most kid friendly dogs on earth. They have this protective instinct that once they bond with the kid(s) and accepts the pack, they will give their lives to protect the kid(s).

My puppy will not allow me to hold him over 5min but will readily let the kids do "anything" to him. He does not and has not nip or even show intentions of any irritation towards the kids. Once the kids are done molesting (lol) him, he'd just slowly and carefully walk away and and lay down a few feets away from the kids.

They really dislike heat. And will pant and pant.

They love to excercise and will continue until they are totally drained which may take a long while. Also depends of the food you feed.

Hope this helps a little.

[ebrannan]

"weary of strangers"

weary means fatigued, i.e., a weary smile
wary is the word you want to use.

[allieg]

I would up the shedding stars.They shed always.

Lower the dangerous stars.

They can be very social if brought up right.Mine knows who is around at all times and watches anyone in our sight but doesn't respond if there's no threat.

You need to add EPI,SIBO and pancreatitis to the health problems.

I would also up the exercise demand.

They are fine in appt IF they get the appropriate exercise.

They are very versatile pets if bred and raised appropriately.

[JKlatsky]

I think it sounds pretty standard as far as what you read on the internet about the GSD.

I think my GSD may be TOO kid friendly...I can see though where lots of little running children would be cause a young dog with strong herding or prey instincts to be a problem.

My dog has yet to meet a stranger he doesn't like. I would prefer a little more aloofness...but they should NEVER be aggressive to properly introduced strangers. I would say that they are very Pack oriented and that it important to find a good breeder with confident, happy pups.

I don't agree with "Dangerous" in general. All dogs can be dangerous.

And my dog also does very poorly in the heat.

Sable is a color, not a pattern. Patterns are saddle, blanket-back etc. A Sable dog can be patterned. Sable is also the dominant color and is pretty common among Working lines. There is also Bi-Color...which I believe is being leaned towards as a color and not a pattern.

I would also add in that there is such a thing as a long coated GSD, even if it's not in standard.

[Kay13411]

Very kid friendly. Ihave 4 shepherds here and all of them love the kids. My daughter gets greeted everyday that she gets off the school bus. My grandkids just adore my dogs, and my dogs adore them.

Shedding all the time.

Health issues along with allergies, EPI HD, Pannus

[samralf]

Your Shetland Sheepdog info needs a lot of updating!!!

[MrMacleod]

Pretty much ditto to everything everybody said...shed more than average dogs, and they are almost too friendly. I have two now, one is almost 3 years old and never met a stranger in his life..he loves everybody.

I just got a Czech GSD who is 9 weeks old, and is following right in her new big brother's footsteps. They both take a lot of abuse (not real abuse!) from my young kids..and never even bat an eye.

[codmaster]

Hi Mike,

most of the info about GSD's sounds reasonable but I would suggest a couple of questions/changes.

Weight is a much wider range many male GSD's are easily over 100 lbs. and many show dogs esp. are oversize from the standard esp. for the male size of 24-26". Should mention this size difference between standard and in actual practice!

Where did you get the average price? I wouldn't even put anything about the price as it varies all over the map from a few hundred to many many thousands depending on the quality and where you get the dog and from whom do you buy it.

The GSD IS extremely smart but this doesn't neccessarily make "training a breeze" - sometimes a smart dog is actually tougher to train.

What is your ranking of "Dangerous" based on? It seems that ANY dog can be dangerous if raised improperly, even say a Golden Retriever. GSD's, some of them, can be an impressive protection dog it is true but this capability doesn't make them dangerous as a breed. They also make excellent seeing eye dogs and therapy dogs! The MOST versatile breed in the world!

And they tolerate heat very well - my current one would fetch and run in the heat of the day (in No CA) all day if I let him. More of an individual thing is heat resistance in the GSD's.

Anyway, good info for the breed. A couple of changes and it will be an excellent source.