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You are way ahead of the game, because you are asking questions, and learning before you get your puppy.
When you do get your puppy, you are probably going to make a better informed opinion as to where to obtain it. Hopefully if that doesn't succeed in getting a better puppy, it will certainly get you a person who can help you succeed with him.
You will have some good ideas about training and nutrician and how you intend to manage your dog.
You may think that the dog will sleep in the laundry room, and not be allowed on the furniture, and six months later, he may just OWN the house, but it will not be totally lost.
There are some things that simply cannot be learned from books or reading though. Some things simply take experience. There is nothing worse than for someone with three or four kids to be approached with advice about those kids from someone who has never had any kids, because they took a class in child psychology or something.
Dog people do the same thing. "I am not a breeder, but if I was a breeder, I would..." Doesn't matter, you are not a breeder, and until you are, than you really cannot say whether or not you would take that dog away from the lady who saved it from being euthanized. -- Just an example, not suggesting you made that comment.
We have to guard against the preconceived idea of how we think things ought to be, and apply them to people real life scenarios. That is why posts that begin with, "When my dog started doing that..." are generally better tolerated than posts that begin with "You should..."
Of course, experience is partly what we have experienced, and partly what we would have done differently if we had to do it all over again. Like when I mentioned it would be best to join a club, get to know the dogs, get to know the people. I did not do that first, I have now, but if I had to do it over again, I would have done that first.
You're doing fine, except for a bad case of puppyitis. When is it thay you intend to get your first shep?
When you do get your puppy, you are probably going to make a better informed opinion as to where to obtain it. Hopefully if that doesn't succeed in getting a better puppy, it will certainly get you a person who can help you succeed with him.
You will have some good ideas about training and nutrician and how you intend to manage your dog.
You may think that the dog will sleep in the laundry room, and not be allowed on the furniture, and six months later, he may just OWN the house, but it will not be totally lost.
There are some things that simply cannot be learned from books or reading though. Some things simply take experience. There is nothing worse than for someone with three or four kids to be approached with advice about those kids from someone who has never had any kids, because they took a class in child psychology or something.
Dog people do the same thing. "I am not a breeder, but if I was a breeder, I would..." Doesn't matter, you are not a breeder, and until you are, than you really cannot say whether or not you would take that dog away from the lady who saved it from being euthanized. -- Just an example, not suggesting you made that comment.
We have to guard against the preconceived idea of how we think things ought to be, and apply them to people real life scenarios. That is why posts that begin with, "When my dog started doing that..." are generally better tolerated than posts that begin with "You should..."
Of course, experience is partly what we have experienced, and partly what we would have done differently if we had to do it all over again. Like when I mentioned it would be best to join a club, get to know the dogs, get to know the people. I did not do that first, I have now, but if I had to do it over again, I would have done that first.
You're doing fine, except for a bad case of puppyitis. When is it thay you intend to get your first shep?
