Reply to Mom of 3 Children Seeks German Shepherd Breeder Recommendations

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are several good GSD rescues in the area. Because this is your first dog, I would recommend starting there with a young-adult dog. They are generally fostered, so you will have lots of information about how they do with dogs, cats, children, etc.

I used to volunteer with VGSR many years ago. Used to do home visits and help match dogs with adopters. Plenty of people live successfully with German Shepherds and children. [/quote]

That is really good advice. I'd adopt a dog who's been in a foster home with kids - that'll give you a much better idea how they will be in your home, than anything else.
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Thank you for this. From what I saw when I looked at rescues, adult GS and GS-mix dogs are typically not adopted out to families with children and without breed experience. And for good reasons, when you consider potential additional behavioral issues from neglect and whatever other history landed the pup in rescue to begin with. But I am in no rush, so your comment makes me think rescues are worth a second look. This extra level of screening through a foster does sound wonderful. I will give this another look.[/quote]

OP, when I was with VGSR, they definitely adopted to families with children, and to inexperienced people. Part of getting an adult-ish dog is some assurance that they will behave in a certain way, and not all GSDs will act in a manner consistent with breed standards.

One of my favorite home visits was to a family that had two young children (I want to say under 6), had birds, cats, and essentially a zoo. As I was sitting there attempting to talk to the parents while the kids ran in circles, the bird chatted and screamed, and the cat was trying to swing from tall places, I could not fathom living in that mad house. And I'm happy to say that we found the PERFECT dog for them, one that fit right into the zoo. A bit wild and crazy, but absolutely bomb proof with the menagerie, including the littles. It was one of the homes I revisited later (at their insistence), and they had taken the dog to a good trainer, even the kids had gotten involved, and the dog had absolutely bloomed. The house was still bananas, but the dog was about as good a fit as one could hope for.[/quote]

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