I am looking to buy a GS puppy. I have been researching how to train dogs etc and this site has been sooo helpful. I am planning on buying a bunch of Ed’s videos to help me through this.

I have to admit though I am getting very frustrated. After talking to breeder after breeder everyone says something different it is hard for someone new like me to distinguish a good breeder from a bad.

Any Suggestions? I will give some information about our situation and what we are looking for.


My husband will be attending medical school and possibly with in the next year joining the military. Therefore he will be gone quite a bit and I will be left alone with two small children. The main thing we want in this particular dog is protection for our family. I want to train the puppy in bite work and get him/her ready for a helper.

Looking for a dog with strong prey drive, smart, large size, aloof from strangers, loyal, protective, gentle family pet (especially with children,) solid nerves, confident, fearless, strong and ready to be trained.

I do not want a dog which is shy, aggressive, or unsure of it-self. Because I am relatively new to training I want a dog that is eager to please and not so dominant that I have a hard time controlling it. I do not want a dog that runs up to every stranger it sees and slathers them in kisses (If I wanted that I would get a Golden Retriever).

I'm not clear on the question. Are you looking for breeder recommedations?

Yes recommendations or suggestions about how to recognize a good breeder when I see/talk to one.

Let me clarify what I allow on my web board. I don't have a problem with people like Julie asking for recommendations.

What I insist on is that every answer be taken as a PM or a in a private email. There are no accretions here.

If someone takes information from the open forum and has a problem this reflects on Leerburg.

So I deleted some of these posts

Julie, I pm'd you yesterday, and my messages show you haven't opened it. If you don't know how to check your messages, go to "My Stuff" and click "My Messages." That flashing envelope means someone sent you a private message.

Julie,
While this doesn't address your specific question on breeders, it is a suggestion to the requirements you've set for a dog.
Have you considered an older dog, say a year or a year and a half old? He would already be partly trained for the task, and you would have a much easier time of making sure of getting the dog you're looking for, as his nature and temperment is more fully developed. From there you'd have a solid dog with which to start what would still be a considerable amount of training and work.
Just a thought.
Randy

I second Randys suggestion. A puppy will require a huge amount of your undivided time and attention, for that matter so will a young GSD. Are you sure, with two small children, and a husband either in med school the military, and considering you are not experienced with either GSDs or PPDs, you really will have the large chunks of time you will need to devote to raising/training this type of dog?

I know it can be done, but I also know it's far from easy, and will require a deep commitment and a lot of work to raise/train a GSD into a PPD.

I do like the topic of the OP. How does one recognize a "good" breeder? It is fairly individual but I find it's near to finding a good dog. I look for stable temperment (yes the breeder and their dogs are sane), training (This person does train their dogs), aging ( is every dog this person owns under the age of 5? If so what happened to their older dogs? How much experience does the breeder have?), Health clearances (on the owner, enviroment, and the dog), and lastly and most important in my mind is open on information about their dogs, bloodlines, and breeding intentions.
While I don't raise or own GSDs I do worldwide searches for dog breeders of a particular toy breed. Don't be afraid to look outside the country if you're not seeing what you want stateside.

Melissa I agree with everything you said. With GSDs I also want to see the breedings dogs have been breedsurveyed.

Thanks for all the info. We have considered getting an older dog. The problem is $$$. Being a full time stay at home mom yes kids do keep me busy but I have more access to time than money.

Our last dog was a GS mutt and I did all of her obedience training. Granted, she was not a full GS so there will be many differences. We were also just training her to be a good family pet not a working dog. But yes, time and energy, have definitely been something I have been considering a lot.