German Shepards

dontcallmecrazy

Love Love Love this breed and to be honest I was never that into them until I met my bf who is mad about them, so I bought him this little dude as a gift and now we're both besotted, would never be without one now, hes so loving and loyal and adores cuddles.

He's the love of my life, just dont tell my boyfriend!!

IrishHomer

dontcallmecrazy wrote: »

Love Love Love this breed and to be honest I was never that into them until I met my bf who is mad about them, so I bought him this little dude as a gift and now we're both besotted, would never be without one now, hes so loving and loyal and adores cuddles.

He's the love of my life, just dont tell my boyfriend!!

I feel same.

I never really fancied the GSDs and my partner wanted one so i went along and we got one last Christmas.

So now i am besotted by him and by the breed in general. Can't stop now admiring every one i see and i think they are by far the most intelligent dog and so easy to train and of course you get back what you put into them.

If you give them the time and attention they deserve you are guaranteed an incredible dog!

jakesgirl

They are wonderful! My husband and I have had our "little" girl for three years now (she's four) and we couldnt imagine life without her! She is so gentle and intelligent and is without a doubt the best dog I have ever owned (I have had many different breeds before--great danes, basset hounds, Old English sheepdogs, and mutts) She is my heart

terenc

Great dogs ,very intelligent and loyal, brilliant with children but you have to spend plenty of time with them and train from an early age. (puppy play):)

Tony Sopranoe

Richard tea

He is My Rommel. He turned 3 last month.
I gave him a bone to chew on so that he would say cheese for the camera.

Blogger50

Richard tea wrote: »

He is My Rommel. He turned 3 last month.
I gave him a bone to chew on so that he would say cheese for the camera.

He is gorgeous!

Discodog

Can I suggest that all of you email the Greens & ask that GSD's are removed from the restricted breed list as part of the forthcoming changes to the Control of Dogs Act.

Joe Duffy was discussing dog attacks on cats & other dogs. A woman phoned in mentioning an "Alsation" . Duffy gave an intake of breath & implied that they were a dangerous breed. You GSD owners need to lobby & get back your breed's good name.

lrushe

Discodog wrote: »

Can I suggest that all of you email the Greens & ask that GSD's are removed from the restricted breed list as part of the forthcoming changes to the Control of Dogs Act.
QUOTE]

Personally I don't think there should be a Restricted Breed List at all, as we all know any dog is capable of biting.
A Restricted Owner List, now that's another story......!!!!!

Discodog

I believe that Switzerland are introducing a law where you have to attend a course before you can keep a pet.

I hate the way that the dog is always blamed & never the owner (I don't even like the term "owner"). Lets have a dog ownership test & license. Contract out the enforcement to a private company who can collect a €1000 on the spot fine with half of it going to animal rescues. If the collectors get the other half as an incentive, then there would be 100% enforcement.

Does anyone here know how or who drew up the "restricted" breeds list ?.

lrushe

Discodog wrote: »

Does anyone here know how or who drew up the "restricted" breeds list ?.

Probably some politician trying to get some 'fear' votes on the back of a recent dog bite story :rolleyes:

Discodog

I agree but even they were deluded enough to come up with a list why would you put GSD's on it. In some countries they are a popular choice as Guide Dogs !.

I have been reviewing all the Irish animal legislation & some of it is totally inexplicable. For example a Pound manager must be a "fit & proper person" !.

lrushe

Discodog wrote: »

I agree but even they were deluded enough to come up with a list why would you put GSD's on it. In some countries they are a popular choice as Guide Dogs !.

I have been reviewing all the Irish animal legislation & some of it is totally inexplicable. For example a Pound manager must be a "fit & proper person" !.

What I think usually happens is, with a dogs popularity comes the 'breeders' trying to make a quick buck on the back of the hype, this can lead to illness and in the wrong hands agression. The rise and fall of 'aggression' in particular dog breeds usually coincides with its popularity, so I would think that the GSD's popularity probably peaked around the time the list was being created and so they were black marked along with a few other random breeds. Like for example not many people would consider a St. Bernard to be a very agressive breed, yet in the early 80's when the film 'Cujo' was being made there were so many St. Bernards and St. Bernard related bite injuries that Stephen King thought it the obvious breed for the film!
I agree Irish Animal Legislation is so out dated it almost laughable in places, I watch alot of those Animal Planet programmes were animal inspectors have full police powers, what a great thing it would be to have that here!

gavkm27

This is Annak,half Sheppard half Huskey,very common breed here in Canada,great mix! he's 17 months old and had just cut his paw before this pic!

Branoic

GSDs are, imho, absolutely the

BEST


BREED


EVER!!


Above are pics of my 15 month old, Sky

Morganna

love the water pic that is so typical love the sofa one too

Morganna

peasant

Branoic wrote: »

GSDs are, imho, absolutely the

BEST
BREED
EVER!!

until they broke it, that is

Morganna

I agree Peasant

Dyr

peasant wrote: »

until they broke it, that is

the poor german shepard, all dog up front, all frog out back. :mad:

The Sweeper

Can someone explain what the hell happened, for those of us who don't have dogs?

peasant

The Sweeper wrote: »

Can someone explain what the hell happened, for those of us who don't have dogs?

Fashion happened, breed standards were changed and now only half-frogs get to win shows and thus only half-frogs get to breed.

(to be fair though, there is a reversal of that trend going on ...but it just goes to show how a determined breeders organisation (in this case the Deutsche Schaeferhundverein, the biggest breeders organisation in the world) can thouroughly destroy a breed.)

Magenta

peasant wrote: »

Fashion happened, breed standards were changed and now only half-frogs get to win shows and thus only half-frogs get to breed.

(to be fair though, there is a reversal of that trend going on ...but it just goes to show how a determined breeders organisation (in this case the Deutsche Schaeferhundverein, the biggest breeders organisation in the world) can thouroughly destroy a breed.)

When I get a German Shepherd I will be going for a healthy straight-backed "working strain" dog. Screw the breed standard.

olliephelan

GSD s are the most intelligent and sensitive of all dogs .
therefore they train very easily . but because they learn so quickly and are so sensitive they need good training .
theyre not the type of dog that can be just fed and brought for walks etc etc .....they need a lot of mental stimulation and physical exercise.
so it can be a lot of effort , but because of the QUALITY and excellence of the breed , every second pays off .
I had one for 8 years , and Id never dream of getting any other breed other than a GSD .

theyre so different from average dogs that owners tend to refer to them as "their GERMAN SHEPHERD " rather than " their dog " ...
...almost as if " dog" is an understatement .
It is certainly uncanny how human-like they can be .

olliephelan

yes DEFINATELY go for the more straight back .
BUT NOT completely straight .
the photograph of URMA (i think its from a book i have ) is the "fashionable" look .
ITS TOO SLOPING ...very bad for hip displacia .
my GSD had a very gently sloping back .
I honestly think it was just perfect . i must try upload some photos but ive no scanner , he had an impressive pedigree ...2 irish champs 3 english and 4 world siegers in his parents /G parents + GG parents . AND his parents didnt have the "fashionable" sloping back . I never entered him ,himself .He was long haired .
the british police a few years ago had to get rid of its entire new batch of police dogs (imported) they were interbred +interbred to get the fashionable look that they became useless as police dogs . they werent in any way aggressive , had NO assertivesness and useless for police needs .

So YEAH ,, definately go for a LESS sloping back .
Ive been told that watching a dog suffer hip dysplacia is horrible .

Morganna

[QUOTE[/QUOTE]Well my dogs arent half frog half dog

Morganna

morganna le fey wrote: »

Heres one of my boys

I breed from old english working lines

Morganna

Be careful what working lines you go for .The east german chechozlvakion spelt wrong are a nice type but very hard dogs.They are working strain need to be worked and the temperaments are better than they used to be but not for the faint hearted .The police are using these dogs now and they are good at their jobs but not for the average owner,

peasant

Here are some pictures of old German working sheepdogs
http://www.altdeutschehuetehunde.de/?id=10
some of them conceivably had a role in the parentage of the GSD

Morganna

Thats an intersting link Peasant .The black and gold one looks like a chodsky .they are a super breed totally unspoilthttp://mhlo.me/a60d1a63