Dogs/pup from a shelter

Dollardog

My dog was 2 when I had him. He came from a reputable breeder who I had already had two other dogs from in the past and who I was friends with. He had always lived with other dogs so had never really been left entirely on his own.
I work and although he didn't chew furniture or anything, he did tend to look for mischief, ie, chewed a silk flower arrangement he had found on the table etc lol.
My friend's asked me if borrowing a cage would help as he had been used to a cage whilst being in transit and at shows etc.
I had never used one before even though dogs have been in my family all my life, so I was a bit wary, but gave it a go.
As soon as I set it up, he barged me out of the way to get in it, he loves it, it is his 'den'.
Seven years down the line, he still uses it all the time to sleep in.
When I first got it, I left the door open when I was in, even at night and just closed the door when I went out. I did that for about a week and then trusted to leave the door open all the time. He has never been a problem since.
It is 'his space', whenever he is given a treat or anything, it always gets taken to his den. He spends most of his time in there often even when I am in and always when I am out.
The thought of having a cage for a dog is abhorent, but in reality, you might find the dog appreciates the fact that he can get away into his own space where the children must learn to leave him/her on his own.

gettingready

If you are looking for a GS and want to go rescue route - please see this one:

http://www.germanshepherdrescue.co.uk/

con1888

thanks gettingready. Have spoken with my partner and parents today ( don't live with parents but they will want to take it on walks also and it will be them who keeps an eye on the dog anytime that I can't ) and have decided it is definately a GSD I want. Female preferably due to the fact I have owned them in the past ( won't be used to breed). My mum told me if I wanted she can have it in her house during the day as they live next to me but don't think it would be a problem to have it in my own house and use a safety gate when needed - the option is there though.

Will have a look at the rescue site, verging more towards a pup now due to the fact I can train it and take it to training classes if need be. Would be a bit wary of getting an older one as I wouldn't necessarily know it's background.

Again, thank you all for the help. Now that I have decided on the breed I would like then any helpful info on choosing a pup would be good, have looked up the kennel club info about making sure it is hip scored/health checked.

krlyr

If you have no experience of the breed then I would suggest you go for a slightly older dog that has been assessed. Yes, you won't know the background of the dog but the rescue can assess it with children, cats, strangers, etc. and get a good idea on its behaviour. A puppy may be a blank slate to train but it's also a blank slate to make mistakes with. An adult dog accidentally put into a scary situation, e.g. introduced to a dog with poor manners that might spook it, will bounce back a lot quicker because it's had numerous positive experience over months/years, than a puppy who will probably have a lasting impression of it because it's had relatively little experience with other dogs.
I owned a puppy and despite many years experience with the breed there are some things I did wrong. In my case, it wasn't a big deal, I lived remotely enough that we could avoid dogs (she wasn't good with them), didn't have children in the house (though her behaviour with them wasn't really her temperament as such but her health), working schedules meant she wasn't left alone (it was because of this that she developed SA, we didn't realise we should have built up the periods we left her as a pup) and she had lots of other anxious behaviours that probably related to her poor breeding, but were hard work for me as someone with experience of the breed, let alone for someone new to them. Perhaps you could look into gaining some experience with the breed, e.g walking at a GSD rescue or fostering until you set up your childminding business so you can get to learn about the breed with first-hand experience (which will beat research by miles) before getting a puppy of your own. It would also give you a chance to save up enough money - not looked in a while but a puppy from a reputable breeder was at least £800 when I was looking many years ago. Work out how much the dog will cost you a day - I would estimate at least £20-30 a month for food, £25-35 for insurance, and so on. I worked out for my two that it costs about £65 a month each - so look at saving up that amount each month for the next year, you'll have the money for your puppy and you'll be used to the monthly outgoings of having a do. It may also be worthwhile putting some spare money into a savings account you can use to cover small vet bills (remember that most insurance policies have an excess of £50-100 so some things aren't worth claiming for). My costing also excluded the one-off costs, e.g. spay/neuter, training classes, grooming tools, safety equipment for my car and so on (which reached about £500 each)

con1888

I do have experience of that breed as we have always had them in the family, not had one the last two years though, I know they can be hard work and how important it is to train them, although ours were all self trained I would perhaps take mine to a training class aswell. Its the only breed I have hands on experience with. I am not saying I definately won't go for one from a rescue but would still rather a pup. The main problem with rescues is there aren't really many nearby, just the dogs trust which I will be paying a visit to at the weekend to register interest and see if they have any GSDs.


Been looking on a website ' champdogs' at GSD's, the breeder all look reputable and health check results of their dogs are available. Have registered interest and sent a few emails, will check the other websites everyone has told me to. My main problem is I can't travel very far. I do drive but only passed 4 weeks ago so not keen on any long drives, if it is anywhere say 20-30miles away my dad will drive me but wouldn't ask him to drive to England or way up North. For that reason I will probably be waiting a while but that gives me more time to prepare.

krlyr

Whoops - sorry, I read that as "won't be used to the breed" rather than "used to breed"

con1888

krlyr wrote: »

Whoops - sorry, I read that as "won't be used to the breed" rather than "used to breed"

yeah its the one breed I am used to which is what has swayed my decision. We did have one when I was younger that wasn't the best dog though, in hindsight my parents realised it was a bad idea as her parents were guard dogs and when they asked to see them they were shown them but weren't allowed to touch them for their own safety. The dog was absolutely mental and had to have very intense training, after her training she was then given to the police to use as a forces dog, was sad to see her go but we got to visit her and it was clear she was made for that kind of thing rather than a family dog.

con1888

I have two neighbours with beautiful GSD, one is about 6 months old and the other a few years, do you think it's worth asking about them , as in where they got them?

Defo steering clear of puppy farms, horrible horrible places. Was saying to my dad earlier that I noticed a lot of dogs ( of all breeds) were from the borders and he said it may be that there are lots of puppy farms in that area.

krlyr

It could be. Remember not to take websites at face value, many dodgy breeders are catching on to how they *should* look - they don't tend to advertise the fact that they're a puppy farmer, for obvious reasons! Insist on seeing any records of testing, speaking to people who've bought from them, etc. Can you get to any dog shows in your area? Can be a good environment to hear the real opinions of breeders, good and bad.
As for driving - knowing that there's a cute fluffy face at the end of the trip can be great motivation to get driving! I had only passed my test about 2 weeks before I had to pick up Casper, it involved going on the M25 for the very first time which was pretty scary but knowing it was necessary to pick him up made it bearable!

gettingready

OP - if you are looking for a pup and want one with papers....... Caroline's boy (my Zara's twin LOL) is a great example of what to look for in this breed....

I am sure she would be happy to share breeder's details

If a rescue route - can not recommend the one I linked above enough. 2 of my friends were fostering for them and doing home checks (East London), very good, caring rescue...