I didn't want to derail Mara's post "So you think you want a working bred dog".

But you all bring up some very good points.

I've had two labs in my life, my second one, Nuke, earned his name. He would retrieve/play until he collapsed if I let him. He would just go nuts over the .22 dummy launcher. He was a lean 120 lbs of explosiveness. In fact he was so big I wondered if possibly his father wasn't a purebred lab.

Come the 3rd week of July, I will be choosing a GSD puppy. Foremost this dog will be a companion for me. What I can offer the dog besides love, is lots of playtime and exercise. It is important to me that this dog gets all the obedience training and mental challenges he/she deserves. A CGC certification would be like me winning the Super Bowl. Realistically, I may not be able to afford the money and time it takes to train the dog in other sports such as bite work and tracking.

Is a med high drive GSD going to be too much for me?

Also, this dog will go everywhere with me and won't spend much time alone. BUT, since I am by myself without anyone else to help me with the dog, there may be rare times when this dog will have to spend an extended amount of time by himself. For instance if I have to drive my father to say Baltimore to catch a plane, round trip probably seven hours.

Jim

Work with your breeder to get what you want. These are some concerns that I had when I got my most recent pup. He spends six hours a day in his crate M-F without issue. We are up at 7 a.m. to do all that needs to be accomplished to tire him out before he goes back in his crate at 11 a.m. By the time I get home in the evenings, my husband has been home and had Vigo out for 1.5 hours. Then I take over and we spend several hours doing things like walking, playing, training, going to visit people, socializing, going to training class, etc. He is usually tired enough at night that one "time for bed" sends him running for his crate and he's laying down before I can even get a treat out. He's a really good house dog too and is content to hang out with me too. Not bad for 11 months old!

Depending on the breeding you can absolutely find what you are looking for. Just be really clear about what you want, and be open to what the breeder has to say about their dogs.

Not all GSD's have crazy drive. You will find your new pal

 Quote: lauren jeffery

Not all GSD's have crazy drive.

No, they don't. The handsome boy below is a couch potato. A very smart, patient, poised, confident and loving couch potato. He loves going on 3-mile hikes, playing tug, and running agility once a week. But he has no desire to be going all the time. If I could teach him to do sudoku puzzles, I'm sure he'd prefer that, followed by a nap.

I know that showline dogs aren't popular at Leerburg--and I know all the reasons for that, and I actually agree with most of those objections. Particularly in American showlines, the prevalence of terrible genetics and structure are shameful.

BUT--if you look hard enough, there are breeders producing healthy showline dogs with temperaments that are well-suited to being companion dogs. The best show breeders do breed stock that pass OFA. There are some that aren't crippled nervebags.

No, they are not "real" German Shepherd Dogs in the sense that working dog enthusiasts quite rightly expect of the breed. A show dog is not what you want to participate in Schutzhund. But they exist, for better or worse. That horse has left the barn.

If a person wants the look of a German Shepherd Dog, with many of the wonderful personality traits of the breed--but without the working drive that many here acknowledge simply isn't for most people, a well-bred show dog might be a reasonable consideration.

I echo Tracy's post above. I am what I consider a newbie handler, learning all about becoming a better trainer. For me, my showline dogs have the just the right amount of drive but not so much that I would be overwhelmed by them.

For me, I know that I have a lot to learn and right now having just two pets that are medium and one more lower drive is perfect.
They are great alert barkers, and have a presence in our house, but I know that they will serve as a visual deterrent only.
That is all I could ask from them, they are wonderful companions.

I would be in over my head with a WL dog for sure.

Great post, I am in the same boat while thinking hard about what my next dog is going to be.
I really really want a GSD, but I know I just don't have the time and resources for a true working line GSD at this point in my life. It wouldn't be fair to the dog or to my family.

So I am looking at corgis, or a really well bred field golden, or a standard poodle if I can talk my husband into it.

He wants a blue-tick...but I want brains and stability in our next dog, and hounds aren't know for being brainy.



We have a dear friend with a wonderful "classic" looking GSD not show or working quality, but I swear I could teach that dog to do calculus if I knew how to do it myself. I would love to have a carbon copy of King, minus the hip and skin problems.

He also has this gorgeous showline GSD that is in perfect health but is nervey and skittish and not nearly so smart.

In the working lines you can find a nice, stable, moderate drive puppy.

A lot depends on what the breeder is going for. If you have a breeder who's ideal goal is to breed dogs to be high level schutzhund dogs, police dogs and ppd, you are probably going to find more drive in those lines.

Some WL breeders will have different lines that they breed for different purposes. The breeder I worked with in getting my puppy has her drivey, serious lines for sure.

But she also has working search and rescue dogs that produce a whole different kind of puppy. Many of the puppies out of her SAR dogs go on to become guide dogs, therapy dogs, AKC competitors and some just family companions.

Of course, some of the more drivey pups out of those litters are also capable of SAR work and Schutzhund, too.

Good topic, Jim. If you can handle that 120 pound lab with his drive, you can "handle" quite a bit of dog. The next question, though, is how much dog do you need.

I like Cesar Milan's advice. He says to get a dog whose energy level matches your own. I've seen so many owner/dog mismatches over the years that could have been prevented if those seeking a dog would have followed this little guideline.

Very good points Lauren. One day down the road, as I grow in my handling abilities, I would love to get a moderate drive working line bred dog. But that will likely be many years down the road.

I would love to try agility, maybe down the road, tracking for fun.
But mostly I just want a good companion dogs, but well bred and healthy without all the problems you can see in the show line bred dogs.
I love the dogs I have now, and wouldn't trade them for the world, but when they pass on one day, I would like to seek out a breeder like you are talking about Lauren.

Joyce, I bet you could do a lot with the two you have now!

A number of working dog people would probably consider what this breeder does to be bad. There are people in the world who go to check out puppies, find they cant get near the kennel that houses the sire and think "Perfect!".