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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One more thing OP - I am the PP who has been raising and training German Shepherd Dogs for 20 years.  Obviously, I LOVE the breed.  Both of the ones we have now are rescues.  I got a phone call from an out of state friend about a month ago.  They were looking to adopt a dog and came across a German Shepherd Dog in a local shelter.  The dog was estimated to have been between 2 and 3 years old.  They have a 3 year old little girl and a 7 year old boy.   They spent some time playing with the dog at the shelter and fell in love with him.  She called me before they adopted asking my advise.  I told her that adopting an adult German Shepherd from a shelter (as opposed to a foster) when you have young children in the house was a bad idea.  They adopted anyway.

About a week ago I found out (through another friend) that the dog and the kids were in the back yard playing.  The dog attacked their 3 year year for no apparent reason.  The little girl is going to be o.k., but needed 12 stitches in her face.  It could have been much, much worse.

When you adopt from a shelter, you have no idea what you are getting.  If you are in an adult only household or a home with older kids, it's usually fine.  Adopting a dog that has been with foster family usually works out o.k. because hopefully the family has had time to learn the dogs temperament.  Adopting an adult dog from a shelter is always risky.  I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't do it.  However, when you do, you accept that you may find out that the dog has behavior issues that you aren't prepared to handle, especially with young children in the home.  The moment you see aggression, the dog goes.[/quote]

http://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog-attack-deaths-maimings-merritt-clifton-2013.pdf  see page 10 of this document on bite patterns in german shepherds-it's a good explanation for herding breeds.  That face bite was not breed typical but it was the type of bite [fleeting with no latch on] done by a herding breed.  When you see aggression and the dog goes where does the dog go?  Recycled to a shelter or rescue for another owner?  An adults only home where it could have contact with guests of all ages or be a danger to others both animal and human on walks?   The shelter/rescue culture as well as the humane society have no regard for public safety relative to inborn behaviorial traits.   Erroneously there are even false analogies to racial profiling.  [/quote]

I'm not even going to respond to that nonsense expect to say that you do not keep dogs that bite for any reason in homes with children.  Period.  Breed specific behavior (and you are talking to someone who has been raising and training Shepherds for twenty years) is never justification for aggression or biting.  We don't even tolerate play biting or mouthing in GSD puppies.  Is it normal?  Of course.  It's also normal for them to try to herd family members, another risky behavior when their are young children in the house.  It doesn't mean they can't be trained to understand that they are not in charge.  I assure you my GSDs would LOVE to attack my neighbor's cat.  It would be completely "normal".    However, that cat can walk right by them and they won't touch him.  It's simply training.[/quote]

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