German Shepherd Puppies for Sale

German Shepherd Puppies for Sale

German Shepherd Puppies

german shepherd pups

German Shepherd Training Tips

German Shepherd dogs are probably the most intelligent, protective, and devoted dog breed that exists. They're a fantastic addition to virtually any household and can provide you with many years of loyal companionship. For German Shepherd training, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that they form strong bonds with their owners. Utilizing the best dog obedience training techniques is vital to your success with these wonderful dogs.

Having a properly socialized and obedient German Shepherd dog, (GSD), can be a genuinely gratifying experience. Training your GSD the right way allows you to draw out the very best in both you and your pet and can help build a bond that can last a lifetime. Their exceptional intelligence is amongst the breed's most captivating characteristics. However, their unique intelligence must be channeled with suitable training and tasks that will challenge them both physically and mentally. Training them the right way, the first time will give you a happy, healthy, and well-behaved pet.

Due to the fact that no two dog breeds are identical, the obedience training needed to enhance the positive aspects of your German Shepherd's personality is totally different from the training necessary to bring out the best in a Poodle. Next to nothing is likely to make you or your pet more comfortable than appropriate training.

German Shepherds are cherished for their intense devotion to their owners. And, not surprisingly, they are among the most popular dog breeds in America. They are generally extremely protective of the people they love. GSDs tend to be great with children if they are appropriately socialized. They are fearless and pleasant pets that love spending time with their family. These terrific pets are occasionally thought to be aggressive dogs. Then again, virtually any large dog that's unsupervised or improperly trained may be classified that way. Because they are very energetic dogs, German Shepherds that are not used as work dogs will require plenty of exercise. If you have a young German Shepherd, you should begin training as soon as you bring your puppy home.

GSDs were initially shepherding and farm dogs, so they are absolutely capable of being kept outside year-round. On the other hand, because they become quite connected to their owners, it is advisable to keep them in your home if possible. German Shepherds can even live in apartments or condos provided that they are given enough exercise. They have exceptionally high energy levels which need to be used every day in order to maintain your pet's physical and mental wellness.

Even though GSDs generally shed all year round, a minimal amount of grooming is needed. Brushing your dog several times per week should keep shedding in check and their coat healthy.

If you have or are planning on getting a German Shepherd, remember that you should find the very best training program possible, because the loyalty and intelligence of this breed calls for nothing but the very best.

Learn the best German Shepherd Training tips from top experts. Dog obedience training doesn't need to cost you a lot of time, energy, or money when you learn the secrets at dogtrainingpage.com.

German Shepherd Dog History and Characteristics

The German Shepherd Dog

By Kayyne Nynne

The German Shepherd Dog Is Also Known By These Other Names: Alsatian, Deutscher Schaferhund, GSD.

German Shepherd Dog Temperament

The German Shepherd dog is amongst the most intelligent of dogs and its versatility and excellence in performing all manner of activities has secured its eternal position in the hall of fame when it comes to policing duties, search and rescue, military functions such as bomb sniffing and even as sight-seeing dogs for people who are blind or those with impaired eyesight. The German Shepherd is a quick study and due to their innate high intelligence are very easy to train.

These dogs are active, alert and like many other animals of a high intelligence and active nature the German Shepherd needs to be constantly challenged and stimulated both physically and mentally to avoid becoming a nuisance. That said, this dog breed makes a great companion and is both brave and loyal. Though some dogs tend to be somewhat aloof and wary by and large this dog breed makes for a great family pet and they generally get on well with children. Occasionally certain dogs may become a tad domineering with children which may manifest in the form of the German Shepherd trying to herd them about; in keeping with its breeding pedigree.

German Shepherd dogs have excellent watchdog ability and are typically wary of both strangers and other dogs. Early socialization is a must if your dog is going to be around other animals. As far as climate tolerance is concerned these dogs adapt fairly well to moderate cold as well as moderate heat, though extremes in either direction don't go down well.

German Shepherd Dog Grooming & Exercise Requirements

The German Shepherd boasts a high energy level and thus this dog breed requires plenty of exercise on a daily basis. Its grooming requirements however are not quite as demanding and its coat only requires brushing once or twice a week. The German Shepherd is a moderate to heavy shedder and thus is perhaps not the best choice of dog for allergy sufferers.

German Shepherd Dog Appearance

The body of the German Shepherd dog is typically longer than it is tall and in the modern variant when the animal is standing the body slopes downwards as though the dog is poised to spring off of its hind legs. This was not always the case, the early variant of the German Shepherd dog having a squarer body and less slanting haunches. The tail is usually bushy and hangs with a slight curve.

This dog breed boasts an athletic build and erect ears atop a head with a pointed snout which enhances the alert appearance of the dog. Coat color may vary and includes the following: black, black and tan and sable. From a show dog perspective white-coated dogs are not allowed although of recent there is a movement for such specimens to be represented in their own sub-category.

This dog breed has a double coat with a thick outer coat comprised of close lying medium-length hair that may be straight or slightly wavy.

Weight: Males: 75 - 100 pounds
 Females: 60 - 80 pounds

Height: Males: 24 - 26 inches
 Females: 22 - 24 inches

German Shepherd Dog Health Issues/Life Expectancy

This dog breed on average has a lifespan of 10 - 12 years. Due to rather intense in breeding over the years the German Shepherd dog suffers from a number of genetic disorders which include the following:

Major Concerns:

CHD

Elbow Dysplasia

Minor Concerns: Panosteitis; vWD; Degenerative Myelopathy; Cauda Equina; Skin Allergies; Hot Spots; Neoplasms; Pannus; Cataract; Gastric Torsion; Perianal Fistulas; Cardiomyopathy; Hemangiosarcoma

German Shepherd dogs are also extremely susceptible to a potentially fatal systemic infection from the fungus Aspergillus.

German Shepherd Dog History

The modern German Shepherd dog is the end result of a concerted effort in the late 19th century to breed the perfect German sheep herding dog. Up until that time each district boasted its own distinct herding dog. To achieve the perfect herding dog various dog breeds from the north were crossbred with those from the central district ultimately resulting with the forbearer of the modern German Shepherd.

The goal of the German Shepherd dog breeding program was to produce a dog that could watch out for and control straying sheep from the rest of the flock without spooking the entire flock. Thus unlike cattle herding dogs it was undesirable for the German Shepherd dog to exhibit leg nipping and neither could it control its wards by barking at them because either one of those attributes would more than likely cause the entire flock to panic!

In essence the German Shepherd dog breeding program had to come up with an extremely intelligent, versatile, swift and independent thinking breed of dog that executed its duties in a precise, swift, calm and steady manner.

Between 1899 and 1901 a specialist breed club was established and was originally headquartered in Stuttgart before moving to Munich and then finally ending up in Berlin. This club was known as Der Verein Fur Schaferhunde (SV for short), and this organization's primary goal and purpose was to oversee the continued positive development of the German Shepherd dog breed.

Within a decade of its breeding the German Shepherd dog had soon become one of the most popular dog breeds in the world. Its rising star in popularity was slightly marred by the occurrence of the two world wars, when it was considered prudent in both Britain and France to refer to the dog breed as either an Alsatian or simple the Shepherd Dog to avoid the inevitable backlash at the time associated with the word German incorporated in the dog breed's name.

German Shepherd Dogs - How to Improve the Breed

By Dennis Fisher

The German Shepherd Dog, not so long ago, had a reputation of being a breed of dog, not only beautiful in appearance, but also an excellent guard dog with a very strong protective instinct.

Unfortunately many German Shepherd Dogs today, particularly top show winners, cannot live up to this reputation. They appear to have lost the natural, in-born, protective instinct that was once a highly regarded feature of the breed. Many German Shepherd Dog are of very little value as reliable guard dogs.

A German Shepherd Dog with a strong protective nature must not be confused with and over-aggressive animal. This type of temperament is frequently the result of timidity and nervousness, rather than bold, self-confidence.


WHAT IS THE IDEAL TEMPERAMENT FOR A GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG?

Ideally, a German Shepherd Dog should be an extremely self-assured animal, a loyal companion, devoted to family members, excellent with children, approachable and tolerant of strangers, but with a natural ability to discriminate between friend and foe and an instinctive ability to immediately recognize danger when it appears.

With appropriate training a dog with this temperament can be easily trained to respond to dangers than threaten memembers of the family.

Years ago this was the type of behavior once could expect from most German Shepherd Dogs. Why has this changed?

One of the reasons for this is probably because many breeders of German Shepherd Dog, who concentrate on breeding dogs that will win at shows, are not paying sufficient attention to correct temperament.

There is no doubt that top German Shepherd Dog show winners today are more strikingly handsome animals than they have ever been.  They are so uniform in appearance that judges, for the most part, are only able to separate them by paying attention to minor faults in construction.

Because gait and spectacular, ground-covering, side-movement is such an important factor in judging, breeders of German Shepherd Dogs concentrate on breeding dogs with dynamic, animated, energetic temperaments.

These are admirable qualities but not at the expense of other important features and certainly not by ignoring the protective instinct.

The controlling body for German shepherd Dogs in Germany, the S.V., has been aware for a long time there was need for improvement in temperament. For this reason a "test of courage" was introduced some years ago at the annual German championship - "Sieger" Show.  Dogs in the open class are obliged to pass this test before being considered for high honors.

In this this "test of courage" all the dogs exhibited at the Show in the adult class are threatened, individually, with a stick by an "assailant", suitably protected with a padded arm and protective clothing.

This form of temperament testing has also been introduced in most countries of the world where German Shepherd Dogs are bred and shown.  As a result there is a definite improvement in the temperament of German Shepherd Dogs; but there is still room for a great deal of further improvement.

This "test of courage" is a positive step towards the improvement of the protective instinct of the German Shepherd Dog. It is the best test that has been devised so far, but it is by no means a completely reliable test.

There are times when a German Shepherd Dog, focuses on the padded arm of the "assailant", which it regards as the "prey", to such an extent that it loses interest in the real threat, which is the assailant.

If in a real life situation, a real criminal - not the "trained assailant" - were to discard the "arm", it is possible, in many instances, that the dog would be quite satisfied to attack this "prey object", ignore the criminal and forget its real purpose.

It is also an unfortunate fact that in recent years, quite a large number of dogs entered in the annual "Sieger" Shows in Germany, failed to pass this "test of courage".  At the 2007 "Sieger" Show, there were no less than 47 whose performances in this "test of courage" was not of a very high standard.

Last year, in 2008, the figure was somewhat better as there were only 36 who failed.  This does show some improvement. It is disappointing to note however, that many of these animals, who failed, came from the very best show winning bloodlines in Germany.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO REMEDY THIS SITUATION?

It is clear that if there is to be an improvement in the natural, inborn protective instinct of the German Shepherd Dog, breeders must pay more attention to breeding from animals with strong temperaments.  They should concentrate on animals that have performed particularly well in the test of courage at Sieger shows and make use of these bloodlines.

This has now been made very much easier by the introduction, for the first time in 2008, of a new feature in the "test of courage" at the annual Sieger show.

For the first time, the Judge made special mention at the 2008 Sieger" Show, of the sixteen German Shepherd Dogs that performed best in the test of courage - dogs who responded best to the threat presented by the "assailant" with most marked enthusiasm and strongest evidence of protective instinct.

A list of these sixteen "best performing dogs in the test of courage" has been published by the German S.V.  German Shepherd Dog enthusiasts, keen to own a dog that possesses the very desirable characteristic of a strong protective instinct, would be well advised to make a careful note of this list and study the bloodlines.