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Where does your love for dogs/GSDs come from?

24K views 128 replies 114 participants last post by  ADogCalledQuest 
#1 ·
Where does your love for dogs/GSDs come from? Does it stem from growing up with dogs? Your family/parents always owning a beloved pet? Or do you just love them because you feel it was somehow programmed into you?

What about your love for the sport you compete in? Is it a family tradition? Or something you've independently learned to enjoy?
 
#27 ·
It's a weird story, but here goes.....

I used to be a surveyor. Ya know the guys that run around with lasers and measure things. Well I was doing a loan survey in a fairly nice neighborhood and saw a man tossing a frisbee for his German. I always was drawn towards agile and smart dogs(had Border Collies prior) so I wandered over and said hello. The dog, named King, brought the disc over, laid down and put his paw on the frisbee while I spoke to the owner. It was such a meaningful gesture on the dog's part, sorta like "well, I'll wait here and hold onto my disc while these two schmutzes yammer". I asked if I could toss the disc and with a simple word the owner ASKED King to give me the frisbee. I saw the dog size me up, I was surveyed, assessed and accepted as an appropriate frisbee tosser. I liked the thinking, I liked the fact the dog made decisions. I threw it a few times, got a few good ear rubs in and cemented in my head that GSDs would likely be a good foil for me.

What I didn't know was that with their humans GSDs are goofy wads of cuddle-ness that strive to make you laugh and quit being such serious beings. Win-win in my book.My dogs are dorks with me, dorks around my friends and suits with dark glasses with strangers, What's not love about that?
 
#28 · (Edited)
My love for GSDs came from family dogs.Taffy(Black/Tan GSD) and Prince(silver and black) Jumper(light sable GSD) and Heinrick(light sable GSD . Taffy was a large female GSD who was beautiful but was at my families dairy farm as a deterrent to thiefs. She seemed beautiful and big.She was very mean . I used to sit across from her dog box and watch her and try to get her to like me. She would do the GSD head tilt and I would be like" see she likes me" and then she would snap at me when I tried to get closer. I really wanted Taffy to be my friend so when she had puppies we gvot Jumper. He was colored like Daisy and jumped alot hence at I named him. My family kept dogs on a chain. Prince was a black and silver GSD who was a cuddle bug extrordinaire even on the chain. He was hit when he got loose. Heinrick was a stray puppy my adoptive parents found along a railroad track. He too was light sable. When I think dog I see a GSD.I wanted a GSD and I wanted them to be true family memeber so hence the lives of our Daisy,Lucky ,Chevy and Thunder.
Did my family have beloved family pets ? Yes and no my mom's side yes ,my dad's side they always had farm dogs who slept in the barn and played w/ kids ,ran off vermin and rabbbits they had jobs of a sort or they were on chains. My Mom's side had lots of spaniels ,beagles and doxies.Most dogs lived in the house and looking at old pictures the dogs were in every shot. Adoptive family the dogs including Rex ,sable GSD lived on a chain but came in sometimes and Heinrich was not only an inside dog but he was prince.He accepted everybody ,believed that the couch was his and in general was so smart it often got him in trouble.
Thats how I came to love the GSD and the reason my dogs live the way they do..
 
#29 ·
I've loved animals since I was a toddler. I used to catch snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, and turtles all the time and keep them as pets. We got our first dog when I was seven years old, Cookie(free walmart puppy, we still have her). I became very involved in her training. I taught her how to roll over, jump through hoola hoops, jump on command, and shake hands all before I turned eight years old.
I've had many favorite dog breeds, but the German Shepherd was always on the list (because I've always loved their looks). When I started to do research on the breed and know more about temperaments, I knew that this was the breed for me. I own two German Shepherds, and I love each of them to death. I will always have a German Shepherd by my side.
 
#31 ·
My mother loved animals. We always had dogs (among other things). When I was 12 years old, she bought a GSD puppy. The two of us took her to obedience classes, joined a kennel club, and then showed her in conformation.

I've never been without a dog. I can't even fathom it.
 
#32 ·
My love for dogs came from my parents, especially my father. We always had a dog or two when I was growing up. I won my first dog, a Cocker Spaniel, in a contest on my 12th birthday and have had a dog of my own ever since.

My love for the German Shepherd came from watching the old Rin Tin Tin TV series plus watching a few movies when I was in grade school that featured GSDs. I got my first GSD, Tasha, in 1974 and have never wanted another breed since then.
 
#33 · (Edited)
I've always been drawn to GSDs, wolves, horses, etc. GSDs especially just went straight to my heart. Maybe I owned some in a past life or was one(and one of you might have owned me :D).

Never wanted to keep any though. It's the kids who forced my hand. I tried to convince them to go for a smaller, cute, fluffy breed and kept tempting them with these puppies. We even took them to a breeder who had several huge GSDs and though the kids were intimidiated by the sheer size and the jaws, they would not budge from their desire for a GSD.

My husband in the meanwhile who didnt care for dogs or animals happened to come across a full page of GSD puppy images and he was so immensely drawn to them(highly unusual for him) that we ended up getting one. Strangely though, I saw our puppy in a dream much before we ever even thought of getting one. And when I saw him among the litter, something clicked and I said this is it. We had no second thoughts about which puppy to pick out of the six.

By the way, nice question! I enjoyed reading some of the responses :)
 
#34 ·
I've always been drawn to GSDs, wolves, horses, etc. GSDs especially just went straight to my heart.
Ha! Me too! I have always been an animal fanatic. I was the kid who was out finding ridiculous ways to get up on the horse's back, because I wanted up there, but was so short I had to get get creative (found out very quickly which ways worked and which ways didn't!)
My Grandpa was a dog handler for the police and, though he was retired, he had a GSD by the name of Reba, who I adored. My Grandma was always nervous that she would scare us, so she wasn't let out of her kennel often when we were there, but I begged my Grandpa to take her out.
To my four or five year old brain, she was the most magnificent animal that had ever walked the earth. Ever since her, I had wanted a GSD. We have always had dogs, my Dad used to have English Setters, but now we have Alaskan huskies. I used to skip out on schoolwork a lot so that I could research dog training, checking out every dog book at our local library, memorizing them, and checking them out again (before I discovered the internet). My life always has, and always will revolve around animals and animal training. Its my "thing."
 
#35 · (Edited)
My mother was the German Shepherd lover, when she was 11 her parents were tragically killed and she was shipped to live with an Uncle she didn't even know, he had a broom factory on the property and they had a big white GSD chained up to the building and he would be set free at night, he was so mean he had to be hazed into a pen to catch and chain him, even her uncle couldn't touch him. My Mom was warned to never go near him but everyday she would sit near him and just daydream as she had no friends as she had not spoken since her parents death, one day her Uncle found her sitting with the big dog laying on her lap as she stroked his head, he ran to her and the dog threatened to attack him, that dog became my Moms best friend, he brought her out of her grief and accompanied her on daily jaunts in the hills, he cemented her love for the breed and we always had German Shepherds because of that dog.

The day before my Mother passed away from cancer she was in and out of consciousness , me and my sisters were sitting bedside when she reached her hand out and said "Baron" in a very happy tone, we all looked at each other and smiled, Baron was her favorite German Shepherd who had died at 15 years of age 23 years prior. :)
 
#37 ·
:wub: That proves the Rainbow Bridge is for real!
 
#38 ·
I think loving animals in general was pre-programmed into me and my sister, mostly through my mom's side of the family. She got it from her dad, my grandmother always just tolerated all his animals, but Papa was a true animal lover. He had several outdoor aviaries of birds, mostly finches and parakeets, but also a couple of cockatiels, and maybe some other kinds. He also had an outdoor pond with fish. Those I remember, but when my mom was growing up they had a lot more animals, even goats and chickens I think.

I grew up with cats, so they were my first love. We had a couple of badly behaved dogs that nobody bothered to train, but it wasn't until my met my husband that I really became a dog person too. He had two German shepherds, Heidi and Nero. We were together for years before finally moving in together and then deciding to get married. He brought me home a kitten as an engagement present, and I got him a GSD as a wedding gift. Sneaker lived to 14-1/2 years old, and she was such a great dog. She totally sold me on the breed, and we've had one or two ever since.

My sister has 7 rescued cats, many with special needs. Mom has several parrots, they just lost their 15 year old Westie and got a cute little dog from the shelter when they went to donate Molly's things. Tinker is possibly a terrier/chihuahua mix of some sort, and is fitting into their home well.

I had two Maine **** kitties, but lost my boy Elvis two weeks ago at age 12-1/2. :( His half sister Emmy was diagnosed with renal failure a month prior, so I've been doing everything I can to keep her as happy and healthy as I can, as long as possible. She'll be 12 on Saturday.
 
#39 ·
I was a latecomer to dogs. I used to have (and train) rats, but when I was working in trials, I didn't have the time to devote to a bigger pet.

Then I moved to appellate work (more flexible schedule, fewer hours) and we bought a condo so I wasn't renting anymore, and a "real" pet became possible. I actually only got Pongu because originally I wanted a cat, but my husband is allergic to cats so I figured "well, I'll get a dog instead."

Nobody really expected the "dog thing" to turn into the craziness that it did... but in retrospect I guess it shouldn't have been that surprising. I am constitutionally incapable of stopping halfway on any of my hobbies.
 
#40 ·
Oh, forgot our sports! Tom jumps Halo in dock diving, but he doesn't train her he just takes her out there and does it when there's an event not too far away on a free weekend, so it's more of a dabbling situation rather than being seriously competitive about it. We first decided to try it because she loves to swim and would jump off the rocks into the water at the park, so we thought she might actually jump off the dock, even though she'd never seen a swimming pool or a dock before. And she did! We'd tried it a few years before with Dena & Keefer, and Dena would go into the pool off the exit ramp and swim around, but would not jump off the dock. Keefer slid off the dock head first a couple of times before deciding he wasn't interested in doing that anymore. He went completely submerged and then popped to the surface like a cork, lol. :wild:

I've been racing Halo in flyball since April 2012, so a little less than 2 years. Again, it was something I'd heard of before and thought she'd enjoy it. She's agile, athletic, and fearless, and loves to run and jump and chase balls, so it seemed perfect for her. I found a "for fun" class at a shelter the Summer of 2011, and she did so well and enjoyed it so much, I searched online and found the North American Flyball Association website, that had a list of clubs in our area. I saw that one was about an hour away and was starting up classes in a few weeks, so I signed us up. We took the next class after that, which ended right before Thanksgiving 2012, and then we were invited to come to club practices since there would not be any more classes until Spring.

The official invitation to join the club was at the end of March 2012, about a week and a half before the club was going to sponsor a tournament. I remember the email well - it said "Halo will be racing at our tournament, so get ready!". We've been having fun practicing most weekends, and doing 6-8 tournaments a year ever since.
 
#41 ·
My best friend when I was young, was a German shepherd. I used to hang with him all the time. I would run home from school and there he was sitting there waiting for me. We had a lot of good times together. I believe that is where it all started. The rest is history.
 
#42 ·
I was born into a kennels that raised and trained working dogs. My mother was a trainer and handler. We had mals, GSDs and Saint Bernard Dogs that competed in weight pull and conformation.

I have a deep love of dogs in general. I spent my youth training and handling several GSDs, and my personal SBD Charlie. I also used to work with my mother training clients dogs and shelter rescues. After moving out on my own, I continued working with shelter dogs and the local rescue groups. Bring an avid hunter, most of my personal dogs were field labs. We also always had a Mastiff around as a pet for the kids.

Through my early adulthood, I got away from working dogs and concentrated on behavioral modification, aggressive dogs, problem children if you will. I also started pet training, which taught me to train people. I got involved in a club, teaching obedience, and stayed involved until I joined the army.

I got back into working dogs as a handler in the army and quickly progressed into training. My working dog was a GSD, and I got to train a couple hundred dogs over the next few years. This enabled me to form an opinion of what I really like in a dog. I appreciate all working dogs, and enjoy training any dog, but for me the GSD is my breed of choice.

I like an active thinking dog. I like a dog of solid nerves and balanced drives that is neither of low thresholds or handler soft. I like a dog that is built to work and has the proper conformation to work well into it's senior years. I like a dog that is motivated by working with me, not just by the toy I carry. I like a dog who would rather be with me than anywhere else. You can find dogs that meet this description in any working breed, but I find them most prevalent in the well bred GSD.

Secondary to all that stuff, I just love the look of a WL GSD.

David Winners
 
#43 ·
Fun thread!!!

I blame my mom. I grew up with dogs, Springers. Was a typical annoying child. My mom sided with the dog usually. " moooooom, Maggie growled at me!!!!!" " what were you doing to her?" Was he usual response. Not the way things are done now, but it taught me to think about how my actions were seen by the dog. But she was the woman who found my cat attacking a bunny nest and tried to save them, who told me not to capture firefly and keep them in jars because the "queen would seek me out", who fed the squirrels and picked up strays. A basic respect and love for all life.

But my mom is not actually a good dog owner. LOL. They get fed off the plate, would not get any vaccines if not for me, would eat Gaines Burgers and be obese. But ****, all her dogs live forever.

We adopted a wonder pit/lab mix from the pound when I was just about to go to college. Casey. Best dog. With some DA issues. So I took her to training. And the trainer has GSD that he did SchH with. Having been "attacked" by 2GSD in the past, I was floored by these dogs. And decided I wanted one. So I got one. She was so amazing I started working with rescue dogs, met some amazing people just getting into the breed as well. Rehabbed lots of dogs(before I knew when to be scared of a dog) just immersed myself into the breed and the culture.

Tried SchH , got a BH, then realized I did not have the competitive spirit. ( and I did not like being yelled at and called names , bad club, nuff said) At SchH training one day 2 SAR handlers came out to look at some dogs for SAR. We sat and talked and I thought it sounded like fun.

Long story short, SAR is an illness. It's infects everything you do. I was addicted. Stopped SchH, started SAR, got certified, got another GSD, certified that one, then wanted more and moved to USAR. And here I am. Full circle. New puppy, doing SchH but also SAR.




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#46 ·
The first dog I had was a GSD mix. Part of me thinks he was a Bi-Colored GSD, but that's not the point. Anywho, my parents' house caught on fire and he was in the basement. He somehow made it outside and instead of bolting out of fear, he stood outside, barked for a while, then went up the street to my Aunts' house and began barking on her porch/scratching at the door until she came out. He took off back down the street, barking the whole way and my Aunt watched as he went back into the now smoke filled basement and continued to bark his head off. My mother said what woke her up was not the smoke detectors, but the incessant barking of the dog.

He ended up having burned paws and due to smoke inhalation and burns on his face, he had some sight/smell/hearing problems for the rest of his life, but he was a fantastic dog. I also loved the show Rin Tin Tin and I just absolutely loved any GSD I saw on the street. I think I've always loved GSDs. There was just something so majestic about them and I can't quit loving them. I don't think I'll ever not have a GSD.
 
#47 ·
Where does your love for dogs/GSDs come from
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved dogs and other animals. I played with The Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony instead of barbie dolls and make up. When I went to family parties I was more excited to see their pets than I was to see my family. Everyone thought I'd grow up to be a Vet or a Vet tech but I always said I wanted to be a dog breeder so that I could have several different breeds and lots of them. (I was little and didn't know that's actually called a puppy mill)

I knew many GSDs growing up but they were either white or black/tan and I was not attracted to them. 5 years ago my ex boyfriend's best friend got a sable GSD and I thought he was so handsome and such a good dog that I started looking up the breed and discovered that they came in solid black and that is what made me want one. They were just gorgeous, intimidating and such a strong looking dog that I decided right then and there that I had to have one. :wub:

Does it stem from growing up with dogs? Your family/parents always owning a beloved pet?
I guess it does, my mom got a male Lhapso Apso/Cocker Spaniel/Poodle mix puppy 2 months before I was born so I grew up with him. We also had a Yorkie but it was aggressive with children so my mom gave him away. When I was 11 we got a female GSD/Husky mix. I've never not had a dog in my life and I hope that there will always be at least one in my life.

Or do you just love them because you feel it was somehow programmed into you?
I think it is programmed into me but I also think it's because dogs don't judge you. They give you loyalty, love and attention. They accept you for who you are, they love you no matter what and they show you that they care. They make you feel better when you are sad, they make you feel safe when they are around and they make you feel like you are not alone. :wub:
 
#48 ·
We always had dogs growing up - just can't imagine life without them. I made sure my kids grew up with dogs as well - it teaches them about compassion and unconditional love! :)
 
#49 ·
I never had a gsd growing up but always fantasized about having one. I really admired their devotion to their families. There was this terrifying GSD named Bear that lived down the street. Their front yard had no fence and if anyone walked by he would be right at the edge of the property barking his fool head off to warn everyone that they shouldn't touch his yard. My bike crashed one time and I fell into their yard and I was terrified that he'd tear me apart, but he just stood about five feet away and gave me some warning barks and I went on my way. He was always really nice to his family too, super obedient and happy. Just a crazy dog that stuck in my memory. (I know barking at everyone doesn't sound like obedient and happy but he just really took his job too seriously lol)

Flash forward a few years. I'm alone at school for the most part. Have an apartment, I wanted a dog that could be my best friend and gsds are like glue. I love that they are aloof toward other people outside their circle. I know it's kinda lame, but I'm kind of like that too. I can be social but I prefer just a few select people, so the breed is similar to me in that aspect. I just love the characteristics of the breed. I joke all the time that my dog is basically me. She whines all the time ;) but gets what she wants, she's smart, a little devious, etc.
 
#51 ·
I grew up on a rural farm and had animals all my life. Raina is my fourth GSD. I love the breed but have had several other dogs along the way, Dobies, Pits, mixed breeds, etc, not to mention horses, ponies, ducks, chickens, rabbits, iguanas, and cats. I learned to love animals when I was young and never stopped. When an animal comes into my life, they are there for the rest of their life. I never give up on them.
 
#52 ·
I was lucky my mum kept gsds from me been 2 but when she split up from my dad and was forced to live with my step dad she got more gsds and she bred them and established herself as a kennels and I lived in a place I hated stepfather I couldnt accept but I would spend my life sitting down the kennels with the shepherds they became my best friends and whenever I was upset they would huddle around me and put there heads on my shoulders they was the only thing that kept me going then bought my first shepherd when I was 17 paid for him with my cleaning job I was so proud to own my own gsd I went on to show him and he made championship level but he was the apple of my eye he'd sleep on my bed and went through every walk of life I went through went
every where with me and now 30 years on I still love this breed and still own gsds can't imagine my life without them and thats where I developed the love of this breed

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#56 ·
I have these memories of giant black GSDlike guard dogs. They're false, but do have some basis in reality. When I was a toddler, my mom owned two small dogs, but they looked huge and wolfish to me because of how tiny I was.

I've always wanted dogs that looked like the images from my fuzzy early memories.
 
#57 ·
Naturally, humans must fear wolf-like dogs. It is fear, not love that is programmed in our brains. For the same reason we are scared of bees, snakes and rats, not because our mothers told us they are dangerous, but our instinct of self-preservation. This prehistoric fear is a corner stone for our love to dogs which comes through the culture to love all living beings, and, being selective, we chose dogs. The majority of small children under 2 years are scared of dogs like GSD absolutely instinctively, not because they are big dogs, but because of their wolvish shape programmed in our brain. We grow older and overcome our fear supported by pleasant experience, this time we love ourselves in our bravado, I still watch it sometimes when scared children, who had never touched a dog in their life leave me and my dog with truly happy faces. When we understand, that the beast we feared is vulnerable- we start to admire him. People in general wouldn't like dogs if we consider humans lesser than dogs. People love that fact that they managed to overcome that ancient fear, they love dogs as our "younger brothers".
Conserning dog owners, the main instinct which is at work in us - that is parentual. We are foster parents, and our puppy is our foster child, not less, we exercise the same love to our puppy as we do to our own children.
Those, like me, who grew up with dogs, have a hodge-podge in our brain. From my birth I had dogs as my best companions, they were true members of the family, i was a memmber of their pack ( it would never happen in nature), thus comes an equation for human and dog creatures. So, I'm a pure pagan in this sense, beside many of you. But ... Many people told me, that they mourned the death of their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters not so deeply, as the death of their dog.
 
#58 ·
Many people told me, that they mourned the death of their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters not so deeply, as the death of their dog.
My childhood dog, a small terrier mix, passed away recently and I felt a much deeper loss than any family member that has ever passed. since I was 8 years old she was with me everyday and that is something no one else can say. We went through a lot together.
 
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