What attracted you to the GSD as a breed??

[Kyleigh]

The first dog I ever "really" met was a GSD. I was babysitting for a police officer and he had a retired K9 in the house. Her name was Heidi, and she was gorgeous. I was about 13 at the time, and I had a blast putting her through her commands - even in the back yard where he had a bunch of stuff for her (A-frames, etc.) I thought she was the coolest dog ever (Not a clue at that age, how much training went into a K9 LOL.)

She did scare the crap out of me though one night. I had been told that if I wanted to eat chips I had to put Heidi in her room. Being 13 I scoffed that off ... look how wonderfully she listened to me. I opened the bag of chips and before I had a chance to eat ONE, she grabbed the bag and took off to her room. I followed her to get the chips and when I reached down, she growled at me. I left her the bag of chips.

I did confess to the people and he laughed at me ... will you listen next time? Turns out, she wouldn't have bit me (I did ask), but she most certainly didn't want to share!

This is why else I was attracted to the GSD: (I can't remember who posted this)

Their fierce loyalty to their owner and families
Their ability to 'go to work (as a K9 cop) and then go home to their family and seperate family from work,
Their ability to excel at literally anything they do
Their extreme intelligence, but also their ability to act so goofy..
Their regal look (i know when I see a GSD walking down the street I stare in awe)
and their love for their owner...how they follow them EVERYWHERE, just live to please us, and how nothing makes them happier than seeing us

[RowdyDogs]

GSDs weren't even on my radar until last year. I'd been a professional pet sitter for a few years and took care of several of them, but they never really made an impression on me. I think from that experience I thought they were kind of low-energy and boring (the ones I took care of were, not sure if it was breeding or what). I have always owned Australian Cattle Dogs and I love the high-energy, challenging nature of that breed. In retrospect I'm not sure why I thought GSDs were low energy, considering their popularity as police and protection dogs, but it wasn't something I'd put too much thought into because I had "my" breed already.

Then about a year ago someone dumped a young, untrained, unsocialized GSD in the desert outside my house. I was living on a ranch near a popular trail head on BLM land; I saw the car speeding out and a few seconds later the dog crested the hill. My heelers ran out and started barking at him and he changed course to come to my farm. I was pretty sure he was dumped, he was in good health but intact and had no idea what to do with himself--not even housebroken, no idea how to interact with other dogs, scared of the world... So I spent about a month looking for owners just in case, but of course no one showed up, so I started looking for a home for him.

I had a lot of trouble doing it. I couldn't find a suitable home no matter what. I finally did find one about 8 miles away from where I lived, and I drove him over there. As soon as they let him out to eliminate, he jumped their 5-foot fence and showed up at my house again a few hours later. Needless to say they didn't want him after that. At the same time, I started really liking him and began to realize that he's one of the coolest dogs I've worked with. The more I read about the breed, too, the more I think he's a fairly typical good example. His temperament is amazing, even with his poor start in life he's become bold and confident, protective in appropriate situations without being reactive (for example, we were running once and he spotted some guys lurking suspiciously in the bushes off the trail up ahead--he immediately stepped in front of me to block my movement in that direction and gave a little warning grump, but once I assessed it and realized they were just homeless and camping out for the night he resumed running beside me, keeping an eye on them but not reacting otherwise). Now we're doing SAR work and he constantly amazes me at how clever he is.

Anyway, he's just an amazing dog. I still love my heelers and I'm undecided about whether I'll get another GSD in the future (though probably), but Hector is such an amazing partner that I want to learn as much about the breed as I can.

So that's a very long story about how one super cool dog attracted me to the breed.

[Peter.]

This is what started it all for me.. I had this G.I.Joe Toy when I was young, and had wanted one ever since, we only had small breed dogs when I was little.



Now that I'm an adult, and after a lot of research into the GSD breed did I confirm that a GSD would be a perfect addition to our young family!

Our new pup is 11 weeks old, and adjusting to his new family life nicely.

ps. He's sleeping at my feet, in my office at work as I write this.. doesn't get any better! haha

[Nikitta]

But Peter have we seen pics? We require pics to use this board. ( Just kidding but we do love pics!)

[Peter.]

Originally Posted by Nikitta

But Peter have we seen pics? We require pics to use this board. ( Just kidding but we do love pics!)

Of course I did

You can see them here:
Meet Rainer...

[Christiansen]

i never had a dog with me..so i thought of a big strong dog enough to protect us & our family..i think we should have a dog which can stand in front of a lion...not a dog which stands behind you when it sees even a monkey...then its feel horrible to protect a dog..now i have got one of my neighbors who has a female GSD which is going to have puppies so i would having one of them..

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Christiansen

i never had a dog with me..so i thought of a big strong dog enough to protect us & our family..i think we should have a dog which can stand in front of a lion...not a dog which stands behind you when it sees even a monkey...then its feel horrible to protect a dog..now i have got one of my neighbors who has a female GSD which is going to have puppies so i would having one of them..

A Rhodisian Ridgeback would be the way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Debbieg]

Their loyalty and devotion to their person
Intelligence
trainabilty
eagerness to learn.
work ethic
desire to please
sloppy kisses

[dazedtrucker]

I didn't read the whole thread... but me:
When I was a little kid we ran the dog show circuit. I got to know just about every breed very well. Not only did the beauty of GSDs strike me, but they didn't act DUMB. So many breeds just seem like either total idiots, or mentally unstable (turn on owner, too aloof to ever train for anything, health problems galore, or just plain nasty..). Then you have the over-the-top high energy dogs... LOL! I was ALWAYS attracted to a dog that was intelligent, stable, loyal (as in not EVERYONES best friend... alot of breeds will go with anyone with the best treat, who cares who they are...)
1 of our best friends raised GSDs. They were "polite" to me, but made it clear I was not in their pack, and even as a little kid (9 or so), that gained my respect. I got to handle one occasionally in junior showmanship. They are fun to show I loved to stack a Shepherd. They just look so darn cool! I guess I was just born this way

[Christiansen]

Originally Posted by codmaster

A Rhodisian Ridgeback would be the way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ya thanx for the advice..I will think about this..but i dont know a lot about this breed..just googled few things about it..but tell me how much will it cost me???