Hi all,
I have been looking around the web for a while now at GSD breeders. I have decided that I want a working line dog. I don't need the toughest, the meanest, badest dog out there. I basically want a GSD who is VERY intelligent, healthy, has a great, trustworthy temprament who will want to be very active with my wife and I and possibly participate in Schutzhund (if I can find a club near by) and possibly SAR. Above all, a great companion.
My two main questions are (for starters anyway, and I'm sorry if I post in the wrong place here, New guy syndrome):
1) Does anyone have a breeder they can recommend checking out?

2) How much is a fair price. I've seen everything from $200 (which I am assuming automatically means, "We just want money" up to $5,000 for a puppy. I've never owned or bought a GSD before so I don't know what price is fair.
Anyhelp or information would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Tony! Welcome to the LB Web Board.

I know all too well the extensive search for the "perfect" or near perfect GSD. Finding a good one for sport(SchH) and SAR are not that hard and also not that easy to come by.

Just keep in mind: Not all breeders are created equal. Neither are dogs.

My husband and I were lucky to get a GSD with working lines (Natan v. Leerburg is her GG Grand sire-one of Ed Frawley's best dogs he owned) but she unfortunately has some show lines also. This doesn't make her a bad dog. She's awesome and we only paid $400 for her-not a BYB or Puppy-mill, just a guy who's a rancher, horse breeder and works the oil field in SE Wyoming, and his wife used to show GSD's till she had an accident that left her disabled.

I know of a breeder who has a litter on the ground right now, but the pups come from high to very high drive dogs, who have SchH titles and other titles in working as well. The thing is are you ready for a high drive dog that is going to take a lot of time to train? My husband and I were going to get a pup from the very breeder I speak of, my husband wants to do SchH and he loves the dogs that the breeder has. But we decided that we'll be waiting until we have land out of town and our kids(only have one now) are a little older(in school) before we jump in and take on a dog/pup of this caliber.
If you want to know the breeder, the website is: http://www.sapphireshepherds.com/index.html


Note to moderators: sorry if posting the weebpage is a no-no, didn't mean any harm.

Have fun with your search! Most working lines fall in the range of 1K and 2K. A litter will have dogs with different drive levels and temperament and a breeder should be able to match you up with a dog that will be what you need and what would fit into your life.

I have pm'd you the name of an excellent breeder that just got confirmation on a litter.

I have pm'd you the name of an excellent breeder in which I got my 3 GSDs. Good luck with your search!

I haven't been able to discern any logic or method to puppy pricing. When I started looking for a working line puppy a friend recommended three kennels to me. She either had dealt with these kennels before or personally knew people who had and were happy with them.

I will PM you with the names of the kennels.

$1,500 is about standard for a pup from solid working lines.
Too much more than that, and I'd cry foul. Regardless of the parentage, a pup is just a pup, and you cannot know what they will grow into with enough certainty to be paying that much.

A dog with decent working lines, titled dogs on both side of the lineage, with at least a titled father (I don't worry as much about the bitch), and clear hips throughout the pedigree, is worth between $1,000-$1,500.

I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole anything that didn't have good hips and elbows in it's line, for any price.

I personally would not purchase a pup without some decent titles, at least as recent as grandparents, and even then, if the sire isn't titled, I'd probably want to pay a little less.

 Quote: alyssa myracle

A dog with decent working lines, titled dogs on both side of the lineage, with at least a titled father (I don't worry as much about the bitch), and clear hips throughout the pedigree, is worth between $1,000-$1,500.

I just wanted to expand here on Alyssa's post. Nowadays with dogs being better period, and moving away from the mentality of "females can't work" there's no real reason not to look for a pedigree with a working female line as well. About 75% of those I see nowadays have a working female pedigree. This being said, Alyssa makes a great point in that not everyone titles females. This is because while GOOD working females (I've owned a single one) are incredibly sought after, the return on investment in training and trialing is less than with a male. Therefore, lots of breeders focus on working with their male dogs.

I do want to add that while Alyssa says she doesn't pay much attention to titles on the female, she DID NOT (and correct me if I am wrong, Alyssa) mean that the temperament matters less. In fact, a faulty temperament in the female is almost guaranteed to transfer to most/all of the puppies because she raises them during the formative weeks. I'd wager that the temperament (intelligence, nerve, drive) of the female is much MORE important than that of the male... Titles or not.

Very, very true.
When I'm buying a dog, I look at the dad's titles.
Then, I look at the bitches temperment, and the temperment/titles of any previous pups from this pairing.

My pup's mother tends towards being territorial, and is not particularly friendly to strangers- bark, no bite.
However, she is VERY affectionate and well-bonded to the breeder, very obedient and eager to please.
She just doesn't have the time of day for someone other than her family members.

I had the option of another pup with the same sire, but out of a different mother. I chose the litter I did, because I liked the mother's attitude.

Danke has a lot of her mother's aloofness at 7 months. She tolerates attention from strangers, but is quick to wander away. Within our own family/friends, she is an attention-whore, and is absolutely glued to my side... just like her mama.

Alyssa, I like that temperment too. What was Danka like as a puppy, do you remember?

She's 7 months now.
When I first met her at 12 weeks, she was very forward and bold.

She and her two other siblings came charging out of the pen (the rest of the litter was spoken for), but it was Danke that made a bee-line for me. I wiggled my feet, and she chomped down on my shoe. I was sold right then and there.

Originally the breeder had two possible dogs picked for me, either Danke, or her sister Dascha, another, slightly larger, dark sable.

I liked how forward and bold she was, even at that age. She did not flinch at noises, and was an absolute prey monster. I didn't observe much aloofness in her at that age, in fact she was probably the most sociable of her litter at the time.

The aloofness began showing after she'd been with us about a week. I kept her isolated from all but my husband and son for the first week, so she and I could bond.
The first time a new person came over, she walked up to them, sniffed, and then walked away, laid down in her crate and just watched them.

I think with her, the aloofness didn't show until after she'd begun to bond with me. I don't think I could have predicted that aspect of her temperment as a young dog, except that her mother was the same way.

Her dad, on the other hand, is equally as bold and forward, but more friendly and playful.