German shepherd pup

con1888

Following on from other thread as I now know what I want.

I am looking for a female German Shepherd pup. Need all the advice you can give me on purchasing one.

What to look out for/ what to be aware of?

Be better to have it all in one thread then I can jot it all down in my notebook I will refer to when looking for a pup.

Bit of info about me if it helps:
Location wise, I live in outer Glasgow.
I have a cat.
2 story house, unenclosed front garden, enclosed back garden.
Residential area with fields, streams,hills nearby.
Live with my partner and my parents live nearby who are willing to 'dogsit' when needed.
I have had GSD or crossbreeds of them all my life but never had to do the purchasing myself.

con1888

P.S I am only looking for a female because I have owned them, have heard that they are better natured, perhaps this is not true? Let me know as this is the only reason I want a female, I won't be wanting to breed.

gettingready

It is really a rescue site/forum BUT - a lot of useful info there, about the breed in general:

http://s10.zetaboards.com/biggsd/index/

gettingready

and.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n00VYtXfhR8&feature=player_embedded

con1888

He/ she looks as if she is trying to be seductive in the second one hehe !!
Absolutely beautiful.
I can't find any pictures of my old GSD as was the days before I used the net.

gettingready

Did you see the video I posted the link to?

Zara adores her cats but will still chase "strange" ones outside given the chance...

Any cats that come in here (I do cat sitting sometimes) are HERS and perfectly safe, but outside.. another matter ....she chases them like mad pulling me on a lead behind her LOL

She would probably LICK one to death if she ever gets one but... better safe then sorry

con1888

I haven't yet, partner is watching tv so best not interupt lol.

My old dog was the same, fine with my family cat but would chase others. My family cat once chased a westie though, was a hilarious site seeing the cat chase a dog down the lane, poor dog was terrified!

con1888

This is my old dog, has some sort of GSD in her. Have no pics of the pedigree GSDs we had as those were before the net/digicam days. If I find any at my parents house I will scan them on here.


she was a brilliant dog, amazing nature, great off lead, great trained. One of the things we used to do was get a treat, say a bit of chicken or a teddy that she played with and sit it in a part of the room, we would then tell her to sit, stay,,,stay,,, stay,,, GO GET IT!! She would run as fast as she could and pounce on it then not let you near it for a while ( or eat if it was food.)

She died 2 and a half years ago at the grand age of 13. I don't think I will ever find a dog as good natured, we definately won a watch with her. She cost something silly like £40 as is not a full breed dog and was 4months old, for that she came with a bed,crate,bowls,food etc.

gettingready

LOvely dog - and I see she loved her ball too? Zara is not food motivated but a ball... a ball is another thing

Zara was 4 months old (16 weeks) when I got her, she is not a pedigree dog either but she looks like one.

Love her to pieces but would I get another dog without all the health checks? No, I would not.

It is hearbreaking to watch Zara at 5.5 years old not being able to enjoy good runs/very long walks as her back legs are just not up to it.

So, pls do all you can to ensure a healthy pup from healthy parents with good temperaments. Saves a lot of hearthache later on.

con1888

She loved her ball, and teddies, the smaller type ones you got in Happy Meals, she referred to them as her 'babies' of course she didn't speak LOL but when you said ' wheres your baby?' she would get all frantic looking til she found it. She hated the cat going near her 'babies' when my cat had kittens she was a great help and was always cleaning them. If you said to her ' wheres the cheety cats outside?' she used to go nuts, jumping up at the window barking.

Ahh I could tell stories all night about her !

Poor Zara, we were really lucky with Megan, she had nothing wrong health wise til 13 where she got a tumour and was PTS. She was very active up until then but 13 is a good age and we didn't want to see her in pain so it was kinder.

Will definately be making sure for health checks. How do I do it though, is there papers I ask to see? What should the hip score be? Do all vet checks do the hip score or does the breeder need to ask for this seperately. One of the breeders told me a full vet check is given and first jab before pups are allowed home but unsure if that includes hip scoring ( I will, of course, ask more info)

gettingready

I do not know enough about hip scoring to advice but surely someoen with sufficient knowledge will pop in here (perhaps on now but later LOL) and adise....

That is Zara at about 5 months of age with the Grommit that she loved so much that she finally licked it to death





and then....