Author Topic: german shepherd as a second dog?  (Read 4757 times)

Offline lulu

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german shepherd as a second dog?
« on: March 09, 2006, 05:18:37 pm »
   hello everyone. i recently got a golden retriever puppy. he is 11 wks old now and adorable. my husband and i are already thinking about what kind of second dog we would like to add to our family once our golden pup, cooper is older.  we are considering several different kinds of breeds but my husband has always loved german shepherds. i am fairly new to them and am trying to learn some info about them. do you  guys think that a german shepherd would be a good choice of dog to go with our golden retriever? or are they too different? any info or advice would be great. thanks!

Offline NoDogNow

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Re: german shepherd as a second dog?
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2006, 07:51:24 pm »
If Cooper isn't going to be his dad's hunting buddy, I'd totally go with a shepherd, once you've researched and found a breeder with healthy lines. 

I think I told you in the 'how soon a puppy thread' that I have a friend who's blind, and she alternates her active guide dogs between a GS and a Golden or a Lab; she found the shepherd-retriever chemistry easier to live with than 2 bird dogs in one house!  :) She's had 4 or 5 Germans since I've known her.

I have to admit, though, that I AM shepherd prejudiced--my perfect dog Nickie was a shepherd. But I've known a lot of others, too--not just Lucy's highly trained partners.

GS's are just so great.  I know a lot of breeds tout how versatile they are, and how smart and how loving, what good guards, etc., and they ARE--but for my money, a well bred, well socialized, well trained GS is just not beatable as an all around family pet if you have a yard that will accommodate their desire to chase around and dig a little.  The shepherds I've known (and some of them not especially well bred!) have been very focused on understanding what their people want from them, driven to do well at those things, and openly affectionate with their people--unless trained to refrain from PDA's, as Lucy's guides do when they're in harness. 

But they're SO ALL business when they're at work that often even people they love can't distract them when they're on task. My mom's friend Jack used to train GS's as K-9 dogs/officers, and even the washout dogs who ended up as pets, not active K-9's, are almost impossible to distract when they're on the job.  Lucy's dogs walk right past members of her family without so much as a tail thump when they're in harness!

If I ever have a house with a yard, I'll have a shepherd again.  The only reason I'm researching other breeds is that I'm an apartment dweller, and planning to stay one, as I am highly allergic to grass.  But if I had a husband who would deal with the grass, I'd have a yard with a shepherd in it. 

Sheryl, Dogless and sad