German Shepherd

[Kato]

Time to try and get technical. I'm going to attempt to post a picture of my good dog Zelda. Does anyone else here have a Shepherd? Love to compare notes.

Hope this works.

[Chuckie]

kato--i don't believe we've had much interaction, but that is a beautiful bitch--looks about 9 mo old in the pic--am i even close?

i don't care what anyone on this forum thinks: there is NOTHING better than a "well-bred" german-bred dog. for anything. period. and there's nothing worse than a bad one.

the kicker is this: well-bred, from breeders who CARE about the breed (and not necessarily about AKC show standards), but about what the dog is bred to do, and breeding for that.

let's keep the standard up for performance--not "looks" --120# shepards are too big to do their job......

OMG--you don't want to get me on my "german-bred dog" soapbox unless you're prepared to listen.

[Faster horses]

What a fabulous dog!! Absolutely gorgeous!! What intelligence is expressed in those eyes.

MAN ALIVE!! Thanks for sharing.

We had a young Basque man that lived with us for awhile and he had a beautiful, intelligent, German Shepherd named Sultan. The dog was his family and could unerstand everything (it seemed) and would do anything he asked. I have never seen quite a dog before or since.

My father had a German Shepherd in the service. I was always intriqued with the name. They called him "Four Ton."

[Kato]

Chuckie, you're pretty close. She was about 11 months old when I took the picture. She's not quite two years old now..

When we decided to get another dog, it was me that was reluctant to get a Shepherd, because of some of the bad Shepherds I've seen in working at a vet clinic. My husband talked me into it. Well, guess who the puppy bonded to? That would be me. He wanted a Shepherd, but I got one.


I thought she would be hard on cats, but that turned out to be no problem. She actually mothers kittens. I was worried she would be too agressive with the cattle, but that turned out to be no problem either. She's a real good gate guarder, but not an agressive chaser at all. We don't use her to work cattle as you would a 'real' cattle dog, but right off the bat, when we went to move cattle in the pasture, she seemed to know how to cast back and forth and keep them collected. She never pushes them hard, just keeps them in a herd. It's quite amazing to watch, because we never taught her anything, just let her work on her own. I've discovered since that this is what these dogs were bred for, to keep a herd together while grazing.

They are a demanding breed, though. Want to work. Need to work. You just can't ignore a dog like this or you will have trouble eventually. I guess that's where the 'bad' Shepherds come from, homes where they are left to their own devices.

There, now I've gone and gotten on my Shepherd soapbox...

[Hanta Yo]

Wonderful picture, Kato. I've had very bad experiences with German Shepherds, however I do believe there is good breeding and bad breeding and just plain bad raising! She doesn't look mean, just very, very intelligent, waiting for you to give her something to do!

[Chuckie]

i've never had a problem with the shepherds i've owned killing cats; as a matter of fact, the labX i own now is the worst for cat killing and tending to harass--just for fun--the cattle. my doberman sleeps ON our cat (the cat's his pillow. til the the cat gets tired of it )

anyway, your bitch has got good bone too, bright color-i hate those wahed-out shepherds...you need to post a pic of her now (i'm embarrassed that i missed her 2 months....).

speaking of vet experiences with various breeds of dogs. i used to be a tech at a small animal clinic, and believe it or not, the 3 worst dogs we dealt with were (other than Shar Pei's, and the little schnauzers, shiz tsu's, chiuhaua's, etc), a St. Bernard, a Border Collie and a Beagle. the pit bull one of the local frats owned was a sweetheart (but we used to dust-mop the floor with my a$$ when it was time for vax )--and that's with putting him in a corner to start! he was just POWERFUL. and i think he out-weighed me by 30 lbs. (this was a year or two ago--i could kick his butt now i tell ya)

one of the sweetest was a bluetick hound bitch, a couple of rescued greyhounds and 2 dobies. it really is all about breeding to start with, but then the owner either makes 'em or breaks 'em. but i love a good german bred dog, yes i do

[Jinglebob]

Great looking dog! Good picture too!

We had a dog years ago that was some kind of cross of German Sheperd, Border Collie and Blue Heeler. He looked mostly like a sheperd. He was a natural cattle dog and if I had known then what I know now, he would have been even handier than he was. He was a stick chaser and a cow tail dragger. He was a pain when you were shoveling snow as he would try and catch the snow as you threw it. He made a hell of a shortstop when we played softball, but was a little slow on throwing it back, but would bring it back! It got a little hard on his teeth.

When we first got married, he had been sleeping with me. My new bride put that to a stop. I was tellin' a feller about it one time and he said, "You must be a newlywed." I told him I was and asked how he knew. He said, "Oh, after awhile, you will be back sleeping with the dog."

Now my wife has a miserable little terrier who sleeps with us. If I come in after she goes to bed he barks and raises a fuss. What a little pain! My good cow dogs sleep in their kennel(old chicken house) and just come in the house to visit.

[Kato]

Zelda sleeps outside too. Not that she wouldn't mind a snooze on the couch....

As for bad dogs, the only dog that ever bit me was a Cocker Spaniel. Nasty little devil. Lucky he hit my watch, or he'd have drawn blood. We have seen a few bad Shepherds at work, who even had their owners intimidated. When the dog bosses the owner, only bad can come of it. The last bad one we had came in to be neutered. We knew he'd be unmanagable when the owner left, so he went straight to the surgery table, and the owner held him while we gave him the anesthetic. Problem solved. I vowed then I would never have a dog like that. I took great pains to socialize Zelda, and it has paid off.

We've seen some pretty kind hearted pit bulls too. One in particular was quite the dog. We knew someone was bringing a dog in that had tangled with a porucpine, but didn't know the dog. You can imagine what went through our minds when in walked a very large pit bull with what had to be a couple of hundred quills in it's face.

They were in his mouth, some even had to be pulled right through and out the other side of his cheeks. Other than having horrible little veins to try and get a needle into (probably a result of generations of breeding to survive fights), he was the nicest dog you could ask for. Pretty sore when he went home, but he was so tough, it probably didn't bother him!

[carole3218]

Your German Shepard is one of the most beautiful dogs ever, congratulations on her.
Most sincerely, CA

[nr]

Ditto to all above. A grand dog!
And, the photography- talk about color coordinating subject with background! Bet your hat matches your gloves.

[Kato]

Why thanks.

Unfortunately, I hardly ever match my hat and gloves.

[Jeannie]

She is beautiful, Kato!