Mom of 3 Children Seeks German Shepherd Breeder Recommendations

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

We are considering getting a German Shephard puppy - our family's first and long-awaited dog. I have done a fair bit of research and understand that the breed requires a lot of training early on, as well as fairly regularly in early adult years, as well as exercise. My kids are 8, 9 1/2 and 12.

That said, I also understand that some breeders may focus on producing working dogs, while others claim they breed dogs with more family-friendly temperament. I am not sure how accurate these breeder descriptions are and would absolutely love breeder recommendations from folks with small children, who found a puppy that, with appropriate training, thrived in their family environment.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Referencing this that it’s not meant to sound snarky:

Have you ever owned a dog? German shepherds are not good starter dogs. you know they require a lot of training but what you imagine times 10 is the reality. Will you be home or will they spend their days by themselves?

[Anonymous]

We have a GSD and our kids are 5 and 3. He is absolutely fantastic. He is so patient with the kids (they climb all over him, snuggle with him, play with him) and has the best temperament. We have had SO many people over the last 10 years tell us he is the best dog they've ever met. My Dh also travels for work so I feel better having our dog home with me and the kids. We adopted him- check your local shelters and set up some visits! There's many wonderful dogs looking for homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a GSD and our kids are 5 and 3. He is absolutely fantastic. He is so patient with the kids (they climb all over him, snuggle with him, play with him) and has the best temperament. We have had SO many people over the last 10 years tell us he is the best dog they've ever met. My Dh also travels for work so I feel better having our dog home with me and the kids. We adopted him- check your local shelters and set up some visits! There's many wonderful dogs looking for homes.

PP here adding that we did teach him a ton of commands and I grew up having Saint Bernards so I was no stranger to owning large working dogs. It was a bit of a curve for DH who had never had a pet in his life.

[Anonymous]

I love dogs and don't like disparaging a breed, but look into GSD's guarding tendencies. That might feel like a plus for you as they are great protectors. That said, with young kids and likely playdates and friends over in the future, things can go downhill. My sister always had GSD dogs. They were the absolute best until one day I went in a room unaccompanied by my sister's immediate family and the dog got very very aggressive, despite knowing me well. The dog was beyond sweet with its family, but a wildcard with others entering the family space.

[Anonymous]

What is attracting you to the breed, exactly? Looks, the impression that it's intimidating to strangers (even if you get a *nice* one, you get the benefit of it looking scary)?

With three kids and no dog experience in the house, there's no reason to pick a breed that you have to thread a needle on finding the better version of that dog than the inappropriate version (guarding, aggression). You should just get a retriever and try to find a breeder with a good record w/r/t cancers. Same size, could be intimidating based on size alone, but famously good tempered and sweet with kids, even the ones that don't live in your house. It will still need training and there will still be a learning curve, but there's no reason to introduce this other element of concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is attracting you to the breed, exactly? Looks, the impression that it's intimidating to strangers (even if you get a *nice* one, you get the benefit of it looking scary)?

With three kids and no dog experience in the house, there's no reason to pick a breed that you have to thread a needle on finding the better version of that dog than the inappropriate version (guarding, aggression). You should just get a retriever and try to find a breeder with a good record w/r/t cancers. Same size, could be intimidating based on size alone, but famously good tempered and sweet with kids, even the ones that don't live in your house. It will still need training and there will still be a learning curve, but there's no reason to introduce this other element of concern.

By retriever I mean Golden or Lab, maybe a flat-coat if you stumble on one. Don't get a Chessie (not a starter dog).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs and don't like disparaging a breed, but look into GSD's guarding tendencies. That might feel like a plus for you as they are great protectors. That said, with young kids and likely playdates and friends over in the future, things can go downhill. My sister always had GSD dogs. They were the absolute best until one day I went in a room unaccompanied by my sister's immediate family and the dog got very very aggressive, despite knowing me well. The dog was beyond sweet with its family, but a wildcard with others entering the family space.

Agree in general, but also think this is dog-specific. One nice thing about adopting is you usually get to do home visits or a trial period and get to know the dog a bit vs being handed a tiny puppy that was bred. What PP describes has also been my experience with herding breeds- shelties, collies, australian shepherds, etc. They can instinctually try to herd little kids which doesn't end well.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. A retriever or lab is a really safe bet for a first time dog owner, especially with kids in the house,

[Anonymous]

There is a group on facebook called "Fact or fiction: Uncensored opinions of of breeders". If you state your location, willingness to travel, and what you are looking for, people will share names of breeders that are high quality.

Be careful with shepherds because there are a lot of genetic issues that you want the breeder to screen for, and a lot of early temperament testing you want done to find a solid family pet. We are super close to lancaster which is all BYB/puppy mills/amish breeders who do zero health testing. If you know nothing about evaluating breeders I'd probably cross off anything in southern PA right off the bat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love dogs and don't like disparaging a breed, but look into GSD's guarding tendencies. That might feel like a plus for you as they are great protectors. That said, with young kids and likely playdates and friends over in the future, things can go downhill. My sister always had GSD dogs. They were the absolute best until one day I went in a room unaccompanied by my sister's immediate family and the dog got very very aggressive, despite knowing me well. The dog was beyond sweet with its family, but a wildcard with others entering the family space.

Yeah, a family member had a GSD that was famously menacing to visitors, keeping everyone glued uncomfortably to their seats. The owners seemed to find it kind of charming.

[Anonymous]

I know two families who had German Shepherds attack family members, one was the wife (owner) after a walk and the other was a child. With the child, kids from an extended family were playing in a swimming pool, the GS was on the deck. A kid jumped into the pool from the deck too close (I guess to the dog) who then bit the kids arm, causing a deep cut that required stitches, blood in the pool, etc. One of the kids who witnessed it won't go near our pug, it was that traumatic.

Not a good dog if you aren't already used to this kind of breed.

[Anonymous]

Pug owner from above but I did use the Monks of New Skete methods for training the pug, they breed and train German Shepherds.

[Anonymous]

A friend had to have her German Shepherd shot off a family member. I will never feel safe with them. It was a sweet dog that had a brain tumor.

[Anonymous]

Oh come on people, let's give OP some credit. She wants a GSD, not a goldie, She says she's done research, her kids are not toddlers.

My sister is an avid GSD owner and she got her youngest pup of 1.5 years from Golden Ridge Farms in MD. This dog is great around my kids and my dog.

For what it's worth, my family of 3 kids under 10 got our first dog last year and while the puppy phase was NO JOKE, we've done really well because I was obsessive in my search for a breeder of calm temperament and about the breed in general. It seems like you're doing the same. It was really helpful to join one of the many breed-specific facebook groups, just to read all the daily questions and comments about what it's like to own [fill in the blank] breed. Good luck OP.