Hello,

My name is Mai and I'm new on this forum. I will have tons of questions. My family and I are interested in getting a GSD puppy. We have looked at rescue shelters and private breeders. My question is about the basic run of the mill shelters. When they say that a puppy is a GSD how sure are they? How do they know it's a pure bred GSD? Can you trust the shelter when they say it's a GSD? Thank you for the help in advance. This will not be my last question, I'm sure.

Hi Mai, welcome to the forum!

And congratulations for deciding to adopt a pup!

 Quote: maisha butler

My question is about the basic run of the mill shelters. When they say that a puppy is a GSD how sure are they? How do they know it's a pure bred GSD? Can you trust the shelter when they say it's a GSD?

Probably the only way you will know for certain whether a shelter has a purebred dog (of any breed) or not is if the dog was surrendered from someone who could verify it's history and breeding (and at that, some people lie). Most times, if dogs come in as strays or are left on the doorstep in the middle of the night, the best shelter workers can do is give the breed (or more likely "mix") their best guess. And it can be a challenge with little puppies who have not developed enough to exhibit certain traits.

Some shelters and their staff see a LOT of dogs, so they have a good eye for hallmarks of certain breeds. Sometimes a mutt from 2 mutt parents can be truly difficult to identify in terms of possible breeds in it's pedigree, in which case the most dominant breed characteristics will be used to list the dog. But if a dog that looks primarily like a recognizable breed comes in, shelters will list it as such. And you might be surprised to know that something like 30% of dogs currently in shelters are indeed purebreds of some kind - so it does happen!

Have you tried looking at GSD breed rescues? These private organizations take primarily purebreds, some take mixes, many with known histories. They'll also take suspected purebreds OUT of "run of the mill" shelters to make sure they find loving homes. If having a certifiable purebred is important to you, you may find one faster this way, though chances of finding a very young puppy will be fewer, as most breed rescues end up with a lot of adolescents and adults. If having a 100% purebred isn't critical, I'd keep checking out the shelters for puppies that seem to have all the qualities of a GSD - I know some really wonderful GSD mixes who were adopted by friends of mine... and there are a number of people here on the board with them as well!

Good luck - and be sure to give yourself and the pup a proper introduction once you have him or her home!

Cheers,
~Natalya

Thanks for the information. We have looked at GSD rescue shelters but we were also wondering about regular shelters. We just want to get as much information as we can before bringing a puppy into our home.

Hi there, and welcome to the board. I regularly do volunteer training at shelters I can tell you that they will not lie to you about the breed of the dog. They may be WRONG in their assessment, but they will not intentionally lie to you just to get you to adopt the dog. Full disclosure is the best way to find a proper home for the animals...they don't want them being brought back.

Maybe other people have had issues with dishonest shelter workers, but I never have...not once.

And anyway...if you think the dog looks purebred, and so do they...then I don't see that it makes much of a difference if he's techincally 2% border collie! We just had a GSD in our local shelter who looked as pure bred as they come. She wouldn't have been any less gorgeous if it came out that she had a bit of something else in her. And since breeding isn't an option with shelter dogs anyway...I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I don't know where you're located but I also work with the German Shepherd Rescue of New England if you're in my area...I'd love to help you find a dog. Just PM me.

I totally agree. Lots of shelter experience, and never even a tiny hint of that ... in fact, there just isn't a reason for it, no matter how misguided.

I can say too that my own observations back up the ASPCA's estimate of 25% of shelter dogs being pure-bred.

Good luck, and may I tell you that all the excellent dogs I have had have been previously owned.

I prefer this guide:
http://www.digitaldog.com/shelter.html
to some other web guides.

There are some that say, for example, "Pile the whole family into the car; after all, this is a family decision."

No. MHO is that this isn't the time for the kids to choose on a 100% emotional level. It's the time for the adults to assess the health and personalities of the dogs (and maybe narrow it down, so the kids have input).

It's heartbreaking enough to go to shelters and know that you can save ONE of these zillions of dogs. I truly don't recommend that your first exposure be with the kids. JMO.

I don't know where you are located or if this is helpful but the rescue group (not a shelter) where I got my GS mix sometimes rescues German Shepherds with papers. I don't know how frequently that occurs. I hope it's okay to post their link:

http://www.sheprescue.org/

I know they ship dogs to other states.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

No. MHO is that this isn't the time for the kids to choose on a 100% emotional level. It's the time for the adults to assess the health and personalities of the dogs (and maybe narrow it down, so the kids have input).

That's a great plan, Connie. Narrowing it down to 2 or 3 acceptable dogs and then letting the kids weigh in is a really good idea.

The breed rescue I volunteer with does indeed get registered purebreds with papers as well as unpapered purebreds (dogs turned in by their owners who state the dog was purchased as a purebred) and sometimes a dog was returned to a breeder for one reason or another and the breeder needs to place the dog.

Whenever we get litters, it is never a registered litter. Sometimes the mother is a purebred but you can never know about the father.

If you are looking for a registered dog, you may have to get an adult if you are going to rescue. You will probably be able to find a puppy that isn't registered.

Anyway, there's nothing at all wrong with a mixed breed - I have 3!

I want to thank everyone for their advice. There are no children in my family. We're all adults so there is no worry about the emotional factor. I live in the Los Angeles area so if anyone lives in that area and can help that will be great.