Leerburg »
Dog Training Q&A Archive »
Buying a Leerburg Puppy Q&A
Buying a Leerburg Puppy Q&A
Buying a Leerburg Puppy Q&A
I try and answer every question I receive on dog training. I may often come across as a little on the blunt side (some may call it brash). That is because I consider myself an advocate for dogs and not dog handlers. I am an advocate for common sense dog training and not the latest fad that appears on the horizon. Good dog training is not rocket science. It's common sense.
- How
much does a puppy cost?
- How much
is required for a deposit?
- What is
the penalty for canceling an order for a pup once a deposit has been
sent?
- How does
my deposit effect the puppy I get?
- Should I
get a female or a male? What do you think?
- Who picks
the pup I get?
- Can I name
my own pup?
- Can I come
to the kennel and pick the pup up?
- How old are
the pups when they are shipped?
- How
does the pup get to me?
- Who
pays for the shipping and what does it cost?
- What
is your guarantee on the puppies?
- What do you
feed your puppies?
- What shots
have your puppies received before they are shipped?
- Do you tattoo
your pups?
- What happens
if a pup has a health problem?
- What about
x-rays and hip dysplasia?
- If
a dog needs to be replaced, what happens then?
- When should
my shepherd puppy’s ears come up?
- What size
will your dogs be?
- What
is your opinion of a police officer buying a puppy and trying to raise
it with the purpose of ending up with a police service dog?
- Will
the pup you sell me do protection work?
- Can I train
my own dog in protection work?
- Do I
have to be concerned about your dogs with my children and family?
- Can you explain
the terms, “sharp dog,” “hard dog” and “soft
dog?”
- Additional
information on Leerburg dogs and kids.
- What
is the difference between German and American bloodlines?
- Balance
Problems with the American Show German Shepherds.
- Can
you show me photos of the colors of your German dogs?
- Why It’s
a Bad Idea to Raise More than One Dog in a Family Setting.
- How
do you housebreak a puppy?
- What
can you tell me about long-haired German Shepherds?
Question:
How much does a puppy cost?
Answer:
The pups cost $1800.00 to $2500 and up. The customer actually sends us the purchase price plus $45.00 The $45.00 covers the cost of a puppy crate. When the pup arrives, the crate stays with the customer. The $45.00 can be eliminated if the customer sends us a crate before the shipping date.
To Top
Question:
How much is required for a deposit?
Answer:
The deposit to reserve a pup is 50% of the purchase price. (So for an $1800 pup the deposit would be $900, for a $2500 pup the deposit would be $1250.) Once a reservation is made on a specific litter and the litter is 4 weeks old, $150 of the deposit is not refundable.
To Top
Question:
What is the penalty for canceling
an order for a pup once a deposit has been sent?
Answer:
There is a $150.00 penalty for
canceling a deposit after it has been sent in. There are NO exceptions
to this policy.
If there is even the slightest
question in a customer’s mind about wanting a dog from us I would
rather they not send in a deposit - they should wait.
It is important for customers
to know that it may take a number of months (depending on the time
of year)
before we will have a puppy for them. In the spring of the year we usually
have deposits for 30 puppies that are not born yet. These customers
may
have to wait 2 to 4 months for a puppy. You can always call my secretary
and ask her how many deposits are on our list and how long
she estimates the wait time is.
There needs to be a penalty or
service charge on canceling a puppy. Other customers make a decision
on buying or not buying a dog from us based on the number of deposits
that are ahead of them on our list of deposits.
If circumstances do arise that
a customer has to cancel an order for a puppy, we will refund the deposit
(less $150.00). If that customer changes his mind within 6 months, we
will apply the $150.00 back towards the price of the new puppy.
To Top
Question:
How does my deposit effect the
puppy I get?
Answer:
My position on deposits:
Often times people do not understand
how difficult and complex dog breeding is, (unless you have done it
you
have no idea). After breeding 340 plus litters since the 1970s, I at
least understand that this is a very complex and difficult business.
I tell potential customers that
ordering dogs is not like ordering a car. When I do a breeding I never
know if the female got pregnant and even if she is pregnant, we never
know how many pups there will be.
I used to accept deposits on litters
before they were born. It never failed that I would have 6 deposits and
end up with a litter of two. I would often have 5 deposits on males and
get all females - go figure! It had to be fate. What happened was a lot
of customers were disappointed and I had no control over the situation.
So now we will occasionally accept
deposits on puppies that have not been born but we will not assign
a customer
to
a litter until the puppies are on the ground. Customers who have sent
in a deposit will have their name placed on a list. Their position
on
this list will be determined by the date the deposit arrives in our office.
When a litter is born and becomes available, the customers at the top
of that list will be offered these dogs. If dogs from a specific litter
are determined to be too much dog for that customer or the color is not
correct - they will retain their position on the list and be offered
the
next litter. This will continue until they get a puppy that they and
I feel is right for them.
We occasionally have 8 week old
puppies available. For example, the day I wrote this I posted (for the
first time) a litter on the web site of 7-week-old puppies. This is a rare
occasion.
To Top
Question:
Should I get a female or a male?
What do you think?
Answer:
The answer to this question obviously
varies. Here are some things to consider:
- Females are smaller, they average 60 to 70
pounds, males are 80 to 90 pounds. The females are a little easier to
live with as a house dog.
- Females never (or very very seldom) get dominant.
- Females are usually easier for novice trainers
and handlers to control. They usually want to please their handlers
a little more. So if you have a spouse that is not keen on a big dog
in the family, it is probably a better idea to go with a female over
a male.
- Females come in season 2 times a year, males
come in season every time they smell a bitch in season.
- As a general rule, males are tougher. Females
can do Schutzhund work just fine, but I have only seen 2 or 3 females
in my life that could do good police service work. By that I mean patrol
work.
- If you want to start breeding, you always buy
a female, never a male. You can take your female to a top stud dog for
the price of a stud fee. This is usually a dog that you would never
be able to own for yourself. The odds of buying a male pup that will
grow up to be a super stud dog are slim to none.
- If you need normal personal protection from
a dog a female is just fine. They can be trained to bark at strangers.
My feeling is that any intruder that comes into your home uninvited
and comes through a barking German Shepherd is a very bad person that
will need to be stopped by the police and or a gun.
- If you want a patrol dog for service work,
buy a male.
- If you want to compete at the top level of
Schutzhund, buy a male. Very very few females make it to the top levels
of the sport.
- As a general rule, males have a harder temperament
than females. This means they can take a firmer correction without going
down in drive.
- Females do not lift their leg on the shrubs
and flower beds in your yard.
To Top
Question:
Who picks the pup?
Answer:
Ed and Cindy select the pups for
the customer. The information we use to select the puppy is based
on the letters that the people send
with their deposit. These
letters describe the goals that people have for a new dog. Sometimes
we will
read
what a person expects from a dog and recommend a different litter.
No one knows the Leerburg bloodlines better than we do. Unlike most
breeders,
it's important that we do not give someone more dog than a person can
handle.
Ed and Cindy have more experience
selection testing dogs and pups than any of the people who are going
to buy
dogs
from them. We have better than a 99.9% satisfaction rate with our customers.
This is evident by the testimonials on this web site
We do not request testimonials
from people. All of the testimonials on our web site were voluntarily
sent to us from satisfied customers. Keep in mind that this list of testimonials
is only from people who have bought dogs since 1996 (when we first got
on the web) and Ed has been breeding German Shepherds since the 1970's.
As the list grows we have to split it up.
If you want to see how we select
pups, refer to our video on Bite Training Puppies.
To Top
Question:
Can I name my own pup?
Answer:
Every dog we produce is named
with the "vom Leerburg" kennel name. The first name of every
dog in the litter starts with the same letter. When a breeder starts
producing
litters, all of the dogs in our first litter have a first name that begins
with "A," the second litter"B." When the breeder
gets to the end of the alphabet, he starts all over with "A" again.
Cindy is the one who names the pups from each litter for the AKC
papers.
Our clients may choose to have
a "call name" for their dog, which is entirely different than
the registered name. This is a common practice.
To Top
Question:
Can I come to the kennel and pick
the pup up?
Answer:
Absolutely, we welcome customers
to come and pick up their pups. Most of our customers live too far from
our kennel and choose to have their pups shipped to them.
To Top
Question:
How old are the pups when they
are shipped?
Answer:
The pups are 7.5 to 8 weeks old
when they are shipped.
To Top
Question:
What do you feed your puppies?
Answer:
We feed all of our dogs an all-natural
diet. I would direct you to the article I have written
on this topic.
To Top
Question:
What shots have your puppies received
before they are shipped?
Answer:
We worm our pups as needed, when indicated after analyzing
a fecal exam. We typically worm with Nemex. This is a wormer that is
used for young dogs.
We no longer give puppy vaccinations or yearly vaccines
to any of our dogs. The research and emails we receive almost daily from
dog owners who have experienced side effects or deaths of their dogs
due to vaccinosis have really hit home with us. Read about vaccinosis
here.
We do not recommend any
shots for your pup at all. Some people are not comfortable with
the idea of no vaccines. In this case, at the very most give ONE parvo
only at 12-14 weeks of age. We do NOT recommend yearly
vaccinations
for dogs.
The veterinary industry has led pet owners down a slippery slope on
this yearly vaccination issue. IT IS NOT NEEDED. A strong immune system
protects your dog from disease, not an injection.
Most states mandate a Rabies
shot. If you can get by without giving additional Rabies shots then
do
it.
Vaccinations cause allergy
problems, auto-immune problems, temperament problems, thyroid problems,
pancreas problems and raise the level of cancer in dogs. DO NOT VACCINATE!!!!! If you question this advise, read the book we sell titled Shock
to the System.
If you feel that a dog should have a full series of puppy
shots and annual vaccinations on a regular schedule, we would prefer
that you purchase a puppy from another breeder.
We give preference to
raw feeder/no or minimal vaccine homes for our puppies.
To Top
Question:
Do you tattoo your pups?
Answer:
We do tattoo our pups in the left
ear at 7 weeks of age. When the pups come they will still have a green
inner ear. Do not wash this ink out, let it wear off. It only takes a
few weeks.
The tattoo number is unique to
your dog. We have it recorded here at the kennel but the number is not
registered anywhere else. Some people ask if we register it with various
organizations and the answer is "NO." We tattoo the dog so the
customer can identify his dog if it is stolen or if it is returned to
us (we can verify that it’s our dog).
The tattoo number will be used
when you x-ray and OFA (Orthopedic Foundation of America) the dogs hips.
At that time the vet should print the tattoo number on the x-ray. When
the OFA issues a hip registration number, that number will also be tied
to the tattoo number of your dog.
To Top
Question:
What happens if a pup has a health
problem?
Answer:
Our pups are all examined by a
vet before they are shipped. The vet will issue a Wisconsin State Health
Certificate for the dog. This is required by the airlines to ship an animal.
Our pups have very specific guarantees. You can refer to our complete
guarantee here on our web site If a pup
needs to be replaced we do it without question. The original pup must
be returned
to our kennel at the owner’s expense. The replacement pup will be
of equal or better quality and will be shipped back COD.
To Top
Question:
What about x-rays and hip dysplasia?
Answer:
If you buy a dog from a breeder
like myself (one that is very strict about his breeding requirements),
you have taken the first step towards insuring that you get a dog with
good hips.
Every dog I breed has had their
hips x-rayed. In fact every dog in 5 generations on the pedigree has good
hips.
I wish that I could say that a
pup from my kennel will never have bad hips. Unfortunately, this is not
the case. Because of the nature of the breed, there is still a small risk
that a dog from my kennel can have a bad hip.
Hip dysplasia has four major causes:
-Genetics
-Diet
-Over feeding
-Too much exercise at a young age.
It is felt that genetics play between a 25% and 30% role in a dog having
hip dysplasia. This means that new pet owners can assume a great
deal
of responsibility (70% to 75%) in their dog developing good hips.
This begins with feeding an all-natural
diet, or a dog food that is made up of all human grade ingredients
(i.e Innova). It also means that you should keep you dog thin.
Carrying
too much weight at a young age is going to add stress on soft puppy bones
and you only kid yourself if you think this does not have an effect
on
skeletal development of your dog.
New owners need to be very careful
of over exercising a pup. This means no jogging until after the dog
is
12 months old. This means not exercising to the point of exhaustion,
or taking the pup for long long walks. Around the block is fine, a
2 mile
walk is not fine.
This is the reason that I only
offer a partial hip replacement guarantee on my puppies. If a dog
from
my kennel has bad hips I will only warrant 1/2 the price of the dog.
There needs to be some responsibility from dog owners to make sure
that they
feed a good healthy diet (commercial dog food is not a healthy diet)
and do not over exercise their pups. This is the only way I can think
of
to address this issue. I do my part as a breeder by only breeding dogs
with 5 generations of good hips. I expect my customers to do their
part
in making sure their pups develop properly.
One very important point on preliminary
x-rays: My experience is that many vets who take preliminary x-rays don't
know how to read them. In addition most vets have little to no experience
reading puppy x-rays of hips. They don't understand sub-luxation that
exists in pups (pups - like kids - can be loose ligaments.) Because of
this many vets will mistakenly tell a customer that the hips don't look
good on this dog - when in fact they are normal. So, what I always recommend
is that the x-rays be sent to the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation of America)
and get a preliminary opinion. This costs $20.00. These people are the
experts. They look at hips every day of their life.
I just had an example of this problem.
A customer called about 5 weeks ago and said that he had done a prelim
on a 10 month old male from my kennel. His vet said the hips did not
look like they would pass. I told him to send them in to the OFA. He
just called
and said the preliminary reading from the OFA was "a GOOD RATING." Needless
to say, he was pissed at his vet. I see this 3 or 4 times a year.
If you would like to start the
process of how to read hip x-rays on your dog, I recommend that you read
the article I wrote titled The Importance of Correct
Hip Positioning on Canine Hip X-Rays. In this article you will see
photos of x-rays on the same dog with good and bad positioning.
To Top
Question:
When should my shepherd puppy’s
ears come up?
Answer:
Sometimes a puppy will have its
ears up at 8 weeks. Usually this is a dog with small ears for its age.
It’s not uncommon for ears to not be up until 4 1/2 to 5 months
of age. In fact, a lot of times a pup will have both ears up and all
of a
sudden they will come back down when the pup starts to teeth. Many owners
panic when this happens. But not to worry, I have never seen a pup whose
ears did not go back up when this happens.
If a pup does not have his ears
up by 5 months I strongly recommend that you get involved with your vet
and have him show you how to tape the ears.
When talking about ears not being
up I always remind people to make sure the pup is in good health.
Be sure
that he is wormed and does not have worms. Feed the pup a good quality
diet.. This will help
the
ears, but some still need to be taped.
Some bloodlines have more problems
with ears than others. My bloodlines seldom have an ear problem. It seems
there are more problems with American bloodline dogs than German bloodlines.
To Top
Question:
What size will your dogs be?
Answer:
German bloodline dogs are usually
pretty consistent in size. Females are 60 CM tall at the shoulder (23
inches) and weigh between 60 and 75 pounds. Bitches that are this size
consistently produce males that are 65 cm tall (25 inches at the shoulder)
and weigh 75 to 90 pounds).
When people ask me for LARGE GSDs
I tell them to look elsewhere. The GSD was not designed to be a 100 pound
dog. When people breed them that large the dogs become uncoordinated and
die young. I compare a 100 pound shepherd to a 500 pound quarterback in
a football game. I will guarantee anyone that there are no 100 pound dogs
in this country that are as tough and strong as my 85 pound stud dogs.
To Top
Question:
Will the pup you sell me do protection
work?
Answer:
I am often asked by my puppy customers
if my pups will protect them when they are adults. My answer to this
is: “I can give you a dog with the correct genetic make up to do this
work, what you do with him after you get him determines if he will protect
you.” I compare this to Michael Jordan (the basketball player).
When his son is 20 years old will he be able to play NBA basketball?
The answer
is NO - not unless he has been trained as a young boy. He certainly has
the genetic makeup to play ball - but unless he is trained and his natural
drives are developed into basic skills he will never play professional
ball. The same goes for puppies. I can give you a pup with the right
genetic
make up, but this is a 2 part deal and it's what you do with the pup
that determines his destiny. Without drive development and later training
you
just end up with a "nice pet." Look at my tape titled "The
First Steps of Bite Work" to see what you need to do.
I will guarantee one thing though:
unless you start a pup with the right genetic background you will never
get a protection dog. I compare that to trying to go out to your local
dairy farmer and buying a horse to run in the Kentucky Derby.
To Top
Question:
Can I train my own dog in protection
work?
Answer:
I am often asked by new trainers
if they can do the protection training on their own young dogs. I have
a little story that I use to answer this question.
If you have a son and want to teach
him to fight - you send him to Karate classes. These classes are all prey
drive work where students learn the technique of fighting. Your boy can
compete in a Karate competition and get the bedevil kicked out of him
and this is still prey drive work - because its still a game. Granted
a serious game - but still a game.
If your son goes downtown on a
Friday night and gets into a knife fight where he is fighting for his
life, this is different. This is real defensive work. While a handler
can train his own dog in prey work, he can never put his dog in the position
where the dog feels like his owner or handler is trying to kill or hurt
him.
Owners can take their dog through
prey drive training to the point where the dog has learned all the moves
it needs to know in bite work. In fact, if the trainers neighbor would
come over some day and see the dog biting the sleeve on his owners arm,
even though the dog was biting in prey, he would think that the dog was
attacking his handler. When in fact the dog is just playing an advanced
game of tug of war with his handler.
When the dog needs to be worked
in defense, the handler is going to have to find an experienced helper
to work his dog. There is no way around this.
If you want to learn about protection
training young dogs, get my video The First Steps
of Bite Training.
You can also read more about this
subject on my home page under the article section.
I have several articles that relate to this subject: Understanding
the Drives of Protection Training - CAN I TRAIN MY OWN DOG IN BITE WORK
and Understanding how DRIVE THRESHOLDS and DRIVE
INTERACTION affect Protection Work.
To Top
Question:
Do I have to be concerned about
your dogs with my children and family?
Answer:
Very very few dogs that come from
our kennel ever show signs of dominance at a young age.
When a dog shows aggression towards
its handler or family this is a dominance problem and not a protection
problem. These two areas are TOTALLY unrelated parts of a dogs temperament.
Dominance can show itself even if a dog is never protection trained. Dominance
is not breed specific. My mother had a toy poodle that was the most dominant
dog I had ever seen.
Dominance will start to show in
the temperament of a puppy at a young age. You will see growling around
the food bowl, you will see growling when you try and take his toys away.
Dogs are pack animals by nature.
They accept and live by pack rules of nature. When we train protection
dogs the handler is ALWAYS the Pack Leader. This is very important. A
dominant dog is always one step away from challenging the handler for
the leader position, or he is always a dog that is more difficult to train
in obedience because he questions the pack leaders commands and decisions.
Dominance is unacceptable in any
form in terms of a dog. It must be stopped as soon as it starts to
show.
I recommend reading my article Groundwork
to Becoming a Pack Leader .
If a young dog gets to be 8 to
12 months old and starts to show dominance, it is time to put a leash
on it and correct the bedevil out of it. At this age the dogs defensive
drive has not matured. It is still very immature and does not have anything
in its temperament to allow it to fight back. So strong corrections are
still safe for the handler to give without too much fear of a dog winning
a fight. The problem is that weak willed handlers do not give strong
enough corrections.
I always shake my head when I hear
people say "I want a big ALPHA dog for my protection dog or my police
dog.” I always know that these people do not understand dogs, temperament
or training. The alpha dog is stubborn and difficult to train. They do
what they want to do, not what you want them to do. They should not be
police service dogs or personal protection dogs because they are to difficult
too control. My police dog is one of the toughest dogs I have ever owned
in my life and he does not have a dominant bone in his body. This is
the type of dog people should want for a service dog or a family protection
dog.
The dominance problem is most common
in adult dogs that move into a new home. If a dog has not had the appropriate
corrections at a young age, it learns that it can be the pack leader if
it decides to try. This is where the biggest problems arises. An adult
comes into a new home, he challenges the handler and the handler backs
down (as most inexperienced people should). Now the dog is the pack leader.
The solution to this for most families
that have no experience with protection dogs is to start with a puppy.
The dog grows up in the family and learns its place in the pack order
(at the bottom). When that happens there is never a problem if common
sense is used as the dog grows up.
One last note here on dogs biting
people. When dogs have very weak temperaments they can become fear biters,
this is the opposite end of the temperament spectrum from dominance. This
is a different issue and will never be a concern with a Leerburg dog.
So to repeat myself, very very
few pups from our kennel ever show signs of dominance. If they ever would,
you can deal with it at a very young age and the issue is finished. I
always tell people that for me, the best judge of good temperament is
a dogs ability to get along with kids. When I tell them that the dogs
in my kennel have good temperament, that's what I mean.
To Top
Question:
Can you explain the terms, “sharp
dog,” “hard dog” and “soft dog?”
Answer:
This is a very, very common question
that is asked by people buying dogs. Especially dogs that they want some
form of personal protection from.
A "SHARP DOG" is a dog
that is very quick to bark at someone. An example of this is a dog
that
hits the fence and acts like he wants to kill you when you walk by his
kennel. I don't mean that every dog that barks at you when you walk
by
a kennel is sharp. The sharp ones are those that charge the fence, they
probably get the hair up on their back and they probably are showing
a
lot of teeth in the form of a snarl. A sharp dog is not a tough dog.
The fact is that sharp dogs have weak nerves and are usually not tough.
In
its worse form a fear biter would be called a sharp dog.
On the other hand a "HARD
DOG" does not necessarily mean that a dog is a tough dog. A hard
dog has a temperament that can take a correction and not act like you
just killed him or hurt his feelings. A hard dog is often a good choice
for a person who is big and gruff and not the best of dog trainers. A
hard dog is a forgiving dog in terms of a bad trainer because a hard
dog is not going to hold a grudge against a trainer that makes a mistake
and
gives inappropriate corrections.
On the same hand a hard dog can
be a difficult dog to train because as adults these dogs need a level
of correction that most people are not willing to give to make them mind.
A "SOFT DOG" is a dog
that is sensitive to a correction. If a soft dog is corrected too hard
it acts like you hurt its feeling. In some cases after a hard correction
a really soft dog will lay down on the ground and quit working all together.
Its like they give up.
Soft dogs need to be trained with
this in mind. These dogs require motivation and very controlled corrections.
Just because a dog is soft does not mean that it can not become a good
personal protection dog. Many, many soft temperament dogs are excellent
protection dogs. A friend of mine is a K9 officer in a very large city.
He had an East German police dog (many DDR dogs are soft) that had over
450 street bites when it died at 10 years of age. He was truly a great
police service dog. It's just that when my friend raised his voice to
the dog he became very sensitive. Soft dogs are easy to control with voice
commands at a distance.
I often recommend a softer dog
for a woman who is just getting involved with dogs. Many times a female
is a little more sensitive and listens better. Don't get confused here
though - not all females are soft. I have some bitches that a lot of experienced
handlers would be challenged to work with.
Many people confuse these terms
and the term "FIGHT DRIVE." In reality fight drive has very
little to do with sharpness other than most sharp dogs have little or
no fight drive. Certainly hardness and softness have nothing to do with
fight drive. I would challenge someone to try and fight my friend's old
police dog (who had a soft temperament). This dog knew how to fight humans.
When he approached a suspect he did so with a talented eye - you could
see him size up the man before he hit him. He always looked for the opening
as he approached the suspect. He would hit the man with an explosive
amount of energy and make his first bite as hard as he could. He wanted
to subdue
the suspect as quickly as possible without getting hurt. Usually after
a police dog is hurt in a fight a few times during an apprehension they
get smart. My friends dog fought with maximum force and it always worked
and remember that this was a soft dog who could play with my friends
baby and small children.
If you would like to learn more
about fight drive I recommend you read my article titled The
Definition of FIGHT DRIVE or my articles on The
Drives of Protection Training.
To Top
