New dog

gglynn81

im gonna be coming home from the US in a few months and i want to get a german sheppard dog as i have about an acre for him to run around. just wondering what the general opinion is of that kind of dog around kids? he would be a family pet so obviously would be around children from a pup....

DBB

Hi OP,
You have to be ultra, ultra cautious where you source a German Shepherd from here in Ireland these days. There are lots and lots of breeders, many of whom have show champions as stud dogs/bitches, and are considered to be magnificent examples of their breed by show judges.
Problem is, for some reason the show judges in this neck of the woods have a very, very skewed picture of what a lovely GSD is: the "frogdog" shape seems to be highly prized by them, that is, dogs with horribly deformed, weak, eventually painful hind quarters.
This shape means the dogs are not capable of doing the job they were bred to do. In fact, with these deformities, these examples of the breed aren't capable of doing any job at all.
However, as long as the judges keep selecting these frogdogs to win (remembering that their own frogdogs are also up for judging... it is a very closed shop), then breeders will continue to produce these abnormal dogs. There are a lot of breeds in trouble due to this blind adhesion to some random idea of what a perfect dog looks like, but I know of no other breed whose advocates, judges and show-people are so, so blind and unbendable to the plight of their own breed.
So, that's the physical side of things: the frogdog shape makes locomotion difficult for them, getting worse and more painful as the dog gets older. Hip dysplasia is common in the breed, as is spondylosis. Other problems associated with the breed are anal furunculoisis and certain OCDs.
However, from a behavioural viewpoint, things are even worse. There are so many nervy, jumpy GSDs about these days, many of those I know personally were bred by a couple of the big successful show-people. The incidence of aggression in these dogs is high. They tend to be unpredictable, hard to train, sometimes overly loyal to one person (i.e. not bonding with other family members), and quite frankly, an abomination of what is supposed to be the breed temperament. Certainly not pet dog material... dangerous in fact.

However, there are some simply fantabulous GSDs out there too. I am the proud owner of one of them, and owned her aunt before I got this one (as a rescue dog!) almost a year ago. I simply do not know what a person would have to do to this dog (and her aunt before her) to make her bite. Despite being a young dog who lived as an outdoor dog for her first 9 months of life before I got her, she is gentle, patient and kindly with kids of all ages. She is a loveable goofball of a dog, yet an intruder would think twice before hopping over my fence!
Healthwise, she has a fine, square hind end, and moves with ease.
My only reservation about recommending her breeder is that, although she used to run a tight ship, things have been let slip in recent years due to various personal problems, and I would not be terribly happy about the way her dogs are kept these days. They're not mistreated or anything, but just a tad neglected. However, you can't fault the temperament or health of the dogs she's producing!
Otherwise, many will recommend you go for a GSD from working/sporting lines, because these dogs simply have to be physically sound in order to work. They also have to have sound temperaments to be trainable, biddable, and co-operative with their handlers. However, they may be a little too hot-wired for a family pet, as they are bred to have more drive. That said, I have little doubt that many of these dogs are sold/rehomed as pets because they don't have the necessary drive, but still have all the advantages that come with owning a working/sporting strain dog.
Sorry, I seem to have gone on a ranty mcrant here, I hadn't intended to, but I hope this is of some help to you!

gglynn81

thanks for the info, useful insight that i wouldnt have known otherwise. seems like it will be difficult enough to get a physically sound and mentally stable GS!
i used to have a golden lab when i was younger - very placid dog and great company but he was prone to diseases when he got over 7-8 years old.
my folks have a jack russell at the minute and he is the most energetic dog i have ever seen and great fun but i just really want a GS. any GS breeders you can recommend that dont cost an arm?

boomerang

I'd also pitch in and say that they are such an intelligent, energetic dog and a working breed to boot, so that your shepherd probably won't be content to just lark about in the garden with the kids. Don't get me wrong, I love shepherds and they make fantastic family pets, but I think you'll find he/she will need more positive training and things to do than your lovely placid old lab.