German Shepards

Make sure you get a good one from a good breeder. You really have to do research because there is a lot of shady business and stupid drama among dog breeders.

Then you have to train it properly, use German words to be extra cool. If you want to go the whole hog you could even get in to the sport of schutzhund:

 
The good news is they're very intelligent, the bad news is they're very intelligent and know their own size.

If they're properly trained from a young age then they'd arguably make the best pets to have with children. However if they're poorly trained then they know what they can get away with and may very well be worse than stupid dogs.

Essentially just like people it all comes down to education, social inclusion and stimulus or they become the equivalent of chavs, terrorists or the mentally ill. Although some of it is personality.

No matter what at the end of the day they're descended from Wolves and are wild animals at heart so you can never be 100% sure so you wouldn't want to leave young children alone with any animal, but you can be confident in the probabilities of nothing bad happening if they're well trained.
 
If the kids are young I'd advise against getting one from a rescue centre. My mum got one from a rescue centre and it turned out to be neurotic (wouldnt like to think what happened to it previously). After a few years it jumped the garden gate and knocked some kids down and was very aggressive, got put down after that. If you're bringing it up with kids then I'd get one you can be confident has had a good upbringing (ie from a good breeder).

Not sure if my mums was a german shep, but all the same, first few years are what makes the dogs character.
 
Just a dog with a reputation so misinformed people will instantly jump to their own conclusions, it's a shame. I myself own a Rottweiler, the second most people hear that breed name I get all sorts of bullcrap stories they've heard from their mothers cousins brothers etc. Dogs grow up shaped by their training!
 
One of my friends from school had one, they had him from a puppy and there was just her and her mum, the dog grew up to be so fiercely protective of them that he wouldn't let anyone else near them, used to get quite aggressive and was really quite scary - he was a blooming big dog. They used to have to shut him away if anyone came round.

I think that was an isolated case though - I had a german shepherd cross when I was little and he was always soft as a pudding.
 
ins0mn1ac said:
Dogs grow up shaped by their training!
Click to expand...

Environmental conditioning is just one aspect I'm always amazed how people ignore the fact that certain breeds of dog have been bred specifically to strengthen certain attributes and you can't quickly train those instincts completely out of a breed.
 
Just like humans a dog will only be as good as it's training, which will only be as good as it's genetics allow.

Genetics set the parameters, training maximizes how well it operates within the parameters.
 
When I was a wee boy and came to my friend's flat to exchange some toys.

I ranged the door bell, his father opened the door, the German Shepard stood next to him barking at me, I was frozen in fear, then it pounced at me and clenched it's jaws around my arm and wouldn't let go. If it wasn't for very cold winter (-30C)for which reason I was wearing a very thick jacket I'd probably get my arm bitten clean off. I was around 9 years old.

The father would softly keep saying "stop" to the dog while it was tightening it's jaw around my arm jerking his mug around trying to rip it off, thank god i managed to stay on my feet If I'd fallen down it would have eaten my face off. Anyways he then eventually took it by it's caller and dragged it off of me when he realized saying "stop" softly wont work.

After the attack he did not apologize, he didn't say nothing. I asked if the dog has been given shots he said yes.(I was worried about diseases) Even though I was wearing very thick jacket (-30C outside) I still had my arm mauled by fangs of that creature. So to sum it up, im not big fan of that breed and people who like that breed, it speaks of what kind of person they are.

TL;DR 9 year old boy got attacked by german shepard. evil dogs :mad:
edit: Don't remember exactly, was between 9y-11. So most likely 10.
 
Last edited:
Personally as much as i love rotty's and german sheperds, they still come under the 'guard dog list' and i still wouldn't have one round my 2 young daughters (6months & 3 years respectively) no matter how much people say they're soft/daft as a brush/wouldn't hurt a fly whatever.

If the kids wanted a dog, i would get a red setter/labrador/cavalier/border collie/dalmation.
 
They're extremely loyal and will become you're best friend. My family have always had German Shepard's since before my father was born (56 years old now) and we've never had a bad experience with them.

The only problem I can point out is they hit a certain age where there health rapidly declines but you'll get a good 13+ years out of them. First signs are there back legs start to go. Shame really but full of life and as I said, extremely loyal.

My parents told me the day I was born, our GS at the time Krystal would sit by my cot and would only let my parents go near me, anyone that Krystal didn't quiet know she'd hit the roof and go find my parents and drag em to me.

My uncle down in Chatham had Krystals brother, Sherman and the house was being broke into and Sherman knew what was going on. He didn't make a sound and went upstairs and woke up my auntie shot back downstairs and the moment the door opened all hell broke loose and the two people who tried to break in hit the deck and legged it over the fence. Or so they tried before Sherman grabbed one of the idiots legs and kept him there until the police showed up.

At the minute we no longer have a German Shepard as she passed away few years ago, my uncle now has two 18 month year olds. A brother and a sister and the sister is white.

Nerusy said:
After the attack he did not apologize, he didn't say nothing. I asked if the dog has been given shots he said yes.(I was worried about diseases) Even though I was wearing very thick jacket (-30C outside) I still had my arm mauled by fangs of that creature. So to sum it up, im not big fan of that breed and people who like that breed, it speaks of what kind of person they are.
Click to expand...

Don't generalise, blame the owner not the dog.
 
Last edited:
With young kids - it's a deffo no-no for me - but I'm sure a lot of you would disagree.

No matter how well the dog is trained - or how tame this breed usually appears - I would suggest never getting a dog as big as this with children.

And I say that - simply because the children will annoy the dog enough for it to snap (especially as it gets older) - and simply because the kids have no idea of it's power if it "turns". And the fact the children will have small friends over - or play with kids in your street.... then the dog will become overly protective and assume the children playing are actually attacking the one it is protecting.

If you must get a dog - get a smaller breed which is docile and has a smaller set of teeth ;)
 
Last edited:
Psyoletic said:
Don't generalise, blame the owner not the dog.
Click to expand...

I'm not generalizing, It's my opinion, obviously there are decent folk who have such breed and raise it well, but in my view (as in just my outlook on it and no a fact) a lot can be deduces from what dog people choose to have. ie bulldogs
 
Yep - unfortunately... the majority of people around here who have German Shepards are pretty scummy. I have seen very few decent owners of this breed..... in fact any so called "dangerous" breeds in fact.

They are tied up in their gardens - never walked - and just bark all day while their owners are out working - or down the pub, snarling at passers by.

It's amazing how inteligent these dogs are - and how aggresive (and probably fed-up) they get when their owners don't take any notice of them and leave them chained up all day.
 
Last edited:
Nerusy said:
I'm not generalizing, It's my opinion, obviously there are decent folk who have such breed and raise it well, but in my view (as in just my outlook on it and no a fact) a lot can be deduces from what dog people choose to have. ie bulldogs
Click to expand...

That's stereotyping surely? So if a chav has a bulldog, whoever owns a bulldog must be a chav?

It's common to come across such people with such a breed because of there nature and how there trained but the end of the bulldogs when trained by normal people are beautiful dogs with lovely temperaments. It's down to the person who trains the dog, not the dog and its a shame such people have given certain breeds a bad name.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom