New Here

[JillyBean40]

Hello All,

I've been lurking here for a few weeks now. Was referred by a very good friend of mine (Kittilicious) who said this was the place to come. I don't currently own a GS or any dog for that matter. My family and I are the proud parents of Lola the cat.

The reason I ventured here? I guess I should go back about 6 years ago when Max was in our lives and hearts. That is him with me in my profile picture. I am embarrassed to say that back then we knew nothing about the breed. With that lack of knowledge and no idea what to look for in a breeder, we searched through our local paper and found and ad for four month old GS pups for sale just a few miles from where we were living at the time. Well, I know most of you here are going to shudder when I tell you we brought Max home that very day. Looking back on it, I realize how stupid we both were for not researching the breed or breeders. If we had done some homework first, we would have known better.

There were red flags a flying too when we went to look at the dogs. The man had several 4 month old's their mom and grandma all in the same runner cage and his father was in the one right next to them. It was obvious the only socialization these dogs ever had were with him when he came to feed and water them. There was fecal matter matted all in their fur, etc...it wasn't a pretty sight, and we recognized of course that it wasn't the ideal situation for these dogs to be in. We should have high tailed it outta there at the moment, but we couldn't when we saw him. He was gorgeous! From the day we brought Max home we had problems. He was scared to death of us at first, wouldn't come, or even wag his tail for us. For his owner he did, but not us. We figured it would just take him time to warm up to us and things would be fine. As time progressed he did warm up to me the most, then the kids, but not my husband. He was scared of him. He was so smart. I had him house trained in 2 weeks by ringing a bell with his nose. He was really good with our kids, and very protective of them when they played out in the yard.

As time went on Max became even more fearful of my husband. Especially when he would arrive home from work in the evenings. He'd call for Max and he'd pee a river just at the sound of Sean's voice. Mind you, my husband never did anything to the dog that would cause such behavior.

We realized that Max's previous owner, even though he was a man, his voice was high like a woman's. We theorized that he never heard a man's voice before. That poor dog. I was so angry at the previous owner (I refuse to call him a breeder), that I was tempted many times to drive back to that crap hole he called a home, and give him a piece of my mind. I never did, but I should have.

Needless to say, as time went on, Max started to become overly protective of his family. He started to become aggressive too with anyone he felt to be a threat to us. That meant men, women and children. He did not discriminate. I started to become fearful of taking him out at all because he was starting to go after people. He bit my teenage niece a couple of different times when she bent down to pet him. When I was visiting my parents home one time the kids didn't close the back door good enough and Max ran out and bit a boy who was walking by. I was so stressed out and fearful of someone suing that I very seldom took him anywhere after that unless I had to.

I tried so many different things to help Max. I read book after book, talked to a dog trainer, researched online for hours and hours for help, etc... Nothing seemed to help. Vet visits were a nightmare. I couldn't take him into the waiting room until it was our turn to go in because I was fearful that he would bite someone or attack another dog. Then when we'd get him in the room he'd practically attack anyone who'd dare go near or touch him.

I found myself having anxiety issues because I never knew how Max would react in a situation. I know now that my anxiety made Max worse because I, as his owner, was not taking control, and that made him even more insecure.

A few months later we met a guy through a mutual friend who told us that if we ever wanted to, he'd take Max in a heartbeat. He saw Max's issues first hand and still wanted to have him. This man lived on a farm with grown children, who had the time and dedication to give Max what he needed.

The deciding factor was that because my kids were ages 8, 6 & 4, & we'd always have young kids around. It was the best decision for Max I felt, plus he'd have plenty of room to run and one on one attention. I cried so hard the day we gave him over. It gave me peace though knowing that he was in a good place with someone who cared about him as much as I did. We have visited a few times over the years. Each time further enforces the fact in my mind that I made the right decision in giving him up.

Fast forward to present. My kids are now ages 14, 12 & 10. We have moved into the country and have a nice sized yard and lots of room, and I work from home part time. Since having Max in my life I have read and researched the breed enough to now know that I want to try again. Even with all of Max's faults, I loved that dog and all the good traits that he did have, I know came from his breed.

I am searching breeder sites in PA now (we don't want to actually buy a pup until Spring/Summer). I know full well the negative impact that making too hasty of a decision can be, and I refuse to make that mistake again.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all and I welcome any suggestions or even friendly criticism. Thanks for reading!

[Kittilicious]

Well you ruined it by saying I referred you.

[JillyBean40]

Oops! Sorry....was that supposed to be a secret?

[KZoppa]

lol welcome. Sorry to hear you had such a tough experience but it does happen. Dont be ashamed. There are several people on this board who started out with a BYB dog and learned from it. My thinking is, you have to start somewhere right?

Again, welcome and I hope you're able to learn even more here. I know i'm always learning something new.

[JillyBean40]

Originally Posted by KZoppa

lol welcome. Sorry to hear you had such a tough experience but it does happen. Dont be ashamed. There are several people on this board who started out with a BYB dog and learned from it. My thinking is, you have to start somewhere right?

Again, welcome and I hope you're able to learn even more here. I know i'm always learning something new.

Thanks so much! I DO still have a lot to learn. I've spent a good bit of time reading on this site already and know I haven't even scratched the surface.

[1sttimeforgsd]

Hello and Welcome, and that was a nice story of introduction that you gave.

Also, sorry that you got attached to your boy and that things did not work out. Sometimes we have to sacrifice what we want for what is best for our dogs.

[Jessiewessie99]

Welcome!

Sorry about your doggie.=(

[KZoppa]

Originally Posted by JillyBean40

Thanks so much! I DO still have a lot to learn. I've spent a good bit of time reading on this site already and know I haven't even scratched the surface.

oh yeah! I've learned so much on this board its almost like brain overload and i keep learning. I'm more of a lurker these days or on the random thread but still a ton to learn!

[Kittilicious]

When she told me she was going so goo-goo over all the pics of Knuckles on another site her & I frequent and on Facebook that she wanted to get a GSD again, the FIRST thing I told her was "you gotta go to the GSD board!" There is so much to learn here... so much to gain and nothing to lose!