Posted on 04/18/2009 6:49:01 PM PDT by the OlLine Rebel
German Shepherds may be intimidating at first blush, but they have hearts of gold. I've always had a soft spot for this smart and cheerful breed, which is why this week's post is a shout out to the Alsatian.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
MALINOIS
Great dogs. I don’t like the extreme hunched back look in the American lines though.
German Shepherds are the best dogs in the world. I have had four in the past 25 years and they have all been adopted. I am permanently fostering another GSD, who cannot be adopted because he has cancer. Here he is:
http://www.gsroc.org/available_dogs_detail.asp?ID=941
Your description of how to properly live with a german shepherd is so much like how we are with our dobermans. Both breeds are so smart, and need a firm but gentle hand,and one must never be harsh with them, as you said.
I would be willing to try a german shepherd someday. They are a working type dog like our dobermans. The shepherd is a very appealing dog for someone who wants a companion and a protector. The doberman was used as a war dog (called them devil dogs), the shepherd too is a police dog and I am sure was also used in war. Loyal, smart, hardy dogs. Man’s best friend. In my case, a woman’s best friend. I sleep well with my dobies as my first alert to trouble.
I was thinking the same thing!
Dobies are fantastic dogs, too!
Good shepherds are great dogs. I do dislike what some of the show dogs look like now a days.
Also have a Border Collie...he’s actually pretty mellow.
The person I pinged just got a puppy Shepherd.
I can actually hold a conversation with her. I tell her what to do in complete sentences and she does it ... spooky. I take her flying with me and after putting her inside I call out “Clear!” crank the engine and she starts barking. I can say “clear!” at home and she starts barking. I can jingle the a/c keys and she knows we’re going flying ... as soon as we clear ground she’ll look around, see everything is ok, lays down and goes to sleep ....
Roxie is a girl and she’s more a watch dog than mellow. She’ll chase birds (hawks and eagles esp.) ... we have a cat and she looks after it .... she’ll sit away from me and watch me, or outside she’ll look away watching ....
Border collies are beautiful dogs. They’d be the dog of choice for herding sheep in New Zealand: watching a couple of well-trained Border Collies moving a herd in response to a whistle is nothing short of amazing. It’s almost like they understand geometry and physics (in fact they probably do).
And many of them understand spoken English.
What can I say? As a German Shepherd nut, it’s just my thing.
Plus, I only started it because many stories involve German Shepherds - exactly because they are part of numerous stories about the military and police. If I was a Pekingnese fan, I wouldn’t even bother, because there would be about 2 stories all year. As it is, as my post says, it’s “low volume” (as opposed to all those ping lists that warn “high volume!”). If it got any lower, it wouldn’t be worth the effort.
Anyone who wants a ping list for a breed can start one! I did.
bttt
Hunch (roach - as in Greyhounds) backs are GERMAN dogs. Americans “slope” - not really, though; that’s the illusion when they are “stacked” in extreme position.
I don’t like what EITHER “elite” side of the pond has done with the breed.
The GS basically invented - definitely innovated - almost all services dogs are known for today. Police and military (ALL portions - search, rescue, as well as attack and hold), blind leaders, etc. Every single 1.
Too bad so many breeders are ruining it - hence the ascendency of Belgian Malinois (if only in police/MIL work), and long since the Retrievers (service dogs).
No dog can hold a candle to a “good” German Shepherd. None. I know; I had 1.
But a bad 1 is a tragedy and an outrage.
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