Please be very careful when you buy a puppy.

My first dog is now 3 years old SchH3 IPO3 CDX ... and was everything I could wish for in a first dog. I purchased him as a pet to do obedience and agility. He is very easy to train and has been a lot of fun. We are currently attempting the UD.

When I was initially searching for a GSD, all I was really looking for was a sable with a straight back and hopefully with the same personality as a dog I cared for back home in the UK. I read the realgsd website, and I found a breeder on the web. I spoke to her by phone, we talked about what I was looking for and what she was hoping to breed, and she sent me photos and pics when the pup was born. We picked him up at 8 weeks, and met both parents, but essentially we were very lucky that the breeder was a nice person and treated us well. That's not to say other people have had good or bad experiences with that same breeder, I don't know.

My second experience trying to buy a puppy has not been so good. I would say this time I am quite a lot more experienced but also I was looking for a more serious sport prospect. I found a nice website which claimed SV and USA membership and the pedigrees were awesome. I won't go in to detail but lets just say my experience has been bad and I have lost a lot of money. And I've learned that pedigrees aren't everything. Every dog is here to teach us something but please don't fall in to the same trap as me.

I would strongly urge everyone to follow the advice of someone they trust or at least try to visit the kennel before placing a deposit. You can learn a lot by the condition of the dogs and you can see their temperaments.

Good luck

I have some questions, were you disappointed that the new dog/puppy didn't become as strong a dogs the 1st one?

Or were you expecting the new puppy/dog to be so much more then the 1st dog, that you became disappointed?

Can the new dog even do the work? Is it that he does not show the great tenacity that the 1st showed? Or is it that he just can't do the work, no prey drive, no ambition to track, or bite. That would be disappointing.

But not showing the right stuff a better trainer or starting over rebuilding that lack of drive can ignite the dog.

What is the deal? Inquirying minds would like to know. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

This is a great subject and one that I feel strongly about. I don't believe titles and great parents always produce great pups. I believe everyone should take what they read on the net or in advertisements with a grain of salt (a big one). Even tried and true kennnels can give you a pup that won't or can't meet your needs.

When you are looking for a shepherd you should vitit the kennels, ask for recommendations that you can check up on and then do a search for prior owners outside of the ones listed as recommendations by the breeder. We wanted an "old fashioned" shepherd like the ones in the black and white WWII movies. It took us 2 years to find the kennel that had what we were looking for (personality, correct size and proportion, lack of angulation, and agouti coloration--in our case, light silver and black). Once we found the kennel that seemed to fit our needs, we checked it out behind the breeders back. Nothing is wrong with this folks. You can either check things out or suffer the consequences. We even called the ASPA in the city in which the kennel was located and City Hall to see if any complaints had been filed.

In our research we found many, many happy buyers and only 3 unhappy ones. The kennel has both working and show line lineage. Our dog has high drive and a terrific personality. No outlandish hyperactivity at all. We have been so pleased. He is a bit more protective that we had anticipated but good owners compensate to protect even trespassers on their property.

I have since found two other negative comments regarding the kennel (produces too many puppies, produces far too many color variations). Well, so be it. Our pup is the best dog we've ever owned and the same experience has been had by the 15 others buyers we contacted. Never trust a net based ad or other advertisement--VISIT THE KENNELS AND TALK TO PURCHASERS. Some of the negative comments may be positives to you, depending on what you want the dog for. Far too many people go for the claims of lineage champions. Guess what, champions can produce bombs as well.

We have a healthy shepherd who meets all of our needs and that is what counts. Do your research, and don't engage in impulse buying. If you truely want a good german shepherd dog, look for the best one for you and ignore the claims of the kennel owners. After all, they all are in the business of selling dogs!

Louise

That was sad and I appreciate you reliving that for our best interest, its defintely buyers beware it look like you did everything to give those puppies a chance to come around. I'm wondering if she thought that you were so nieve to think thats a fear aggressive puppy was a strong candidate for Shuzlthund work?

Unforuntanely some people/breeders don't beleive the consumer is sincer when they stated they may want to go into such a competitive field. And they may try to take advantage as if the Consumer doesn't know anything. Did you tell her your background that you had already taken one dog to Shulz 3, and IPO 3, thats should have counted for future reference where others could get a nice puppy. You usually get better treatment if the seller thinks you are connected and they can network, with your group.

I'm shocked because you paid good money and should have recieved a nice puppy, it almost like the breeder was selling the good puppies and given you the left overs of her pack.

Thanks I've learned a serious lesson here always evaluated the puppies in person, no matter how big the name of the kennel, unless you can trust them. Kind of like eating take out, sometimes your orders all screwed up when you get home, my mouth all ready for a fish sandwich and I stuck with a burger. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

Thanks again, for the details.

Louise, I too bought 2 GSD's to do Schutzhund, the first out of show lines (before I knew the difference) and the 2nd out of well respected working lines (mostly Bundessieger competitors). While I am lucky because both of my dogs are wonderful animals, I have many doubts regarding their ability to compete in sport. I have come to the conclusion for myself that I will not buy another puppy from a breeder unless I'm getting first pick and can do some basic selection testing myself. Puppies from any lines are a total crapshoot. My next dog will probably be about 1 1/2 years old where there is no question about whether or not he can compete in the sport.

first of all, i am very sorry that your experience with landis was not a pleasant one and the puppies did not work out well for you. my experience with alyeska has been very different. i took shipment of my male from the E litter on oct. 17th and from that day i have never seen anything but a confident, well adjusted little boy (who is going on 10 months now.) he has not shown fear of anything.....ever. even his first night here, he fussed a little so i gave him a knuckle bone to work on and never heard another peep out of him the rest of the night. potty training was a breeze. i have never cleaned poop out of his crate.....not once, and only twice that he had pee in his crate. he goes willingly to strangers as long as they encourage him to come, otherwise he just watches them. now, i'm not going to say that he's bound to be a top sport dog, or even stud material because he's still very young - too soon to tell. i would just suggest that if you are looking for a high competition dog or a breeder, maybe the thing to do is to look for something whose credentials have already been established. once again, i'm sorry your experience was disappointing, but i felt compelled to share my experience because i consider it successful.

John by buying at 1.5 yrs old you are putting the dog fate in your hands, I take it. The pup shows it has the right stuff and its up to you not to mess him up. Thats probably the surest deal because even if he too much for the handler you can always get help from a pro trainer or Club members to bring him around and raise your handling skills.

Thats probably the best bet, but you miss all the wonder years!

I'd think bounding would be a issue here?

I, too have had a good experience with a puppy from the Alyeska C litter and am in contact with several others who have pups from the same litter all happy, one unhappy (but the unhappy one had nothing to do with the quality of the pup, but rather contractual issues and I am not involved in those discussions) .

My pup got delayed at the airport and spent 14 hours in her crate due to airport issues in transit. I was beside myself and when she came, I opened the crate, snapped on a collar and lead and she popped out dry, went potty in the grass at the airport, unphased by the jet engines, and licked my hand. Vet checkup on checking for laxity said she had the nicest tight hips he had ever felt on a GSD puppy.

Nothing seems to phase her and she is no slug she is very very very inquisitive and active -- she did go through a weird period at around 6 months that lasted for a few weeks then resolved itself. She has been slower to mature (both physically and mentally) than some I have seen, and was 12 months for first heat, has done a lot of maturing since int the past month, but at 13 months, is still a young dog. She has a lot of character and is quick to catch on.

We are not doing schutzhund but the others with pups from this litter are -- so I cannot comment on those attributes, but she has been doing very well with SAR training which we are now starting in earnest with harder scent problems each session after we did a lot of onlead tracking, socialization, critter proofing, and alert training earlier.

I don't know what went wrong and have absolutely no reasons to doubt the credibility of your post and am sorry for the experiences you have gone through. I do hope everything resolves.

I am glad that you guys have had good experiences, as I said, I had a very good experience with Bode's breeder, but I was expecting far less, Bode was $600, got all the paperwork done when I picked him up, and never had any need to return him for any reason.

When that happens, everything is great. It's so easy to post good experiences - in fact when I posted about my good experience on realgsd, I was actually chided by the moderator for posting it. Hehe, well he's now SchH3, so I still stand by the post I wrote when he was a pup.

I am very happy to report that I have a "B" litter pup from Alyeska kennel.
After many months of research,phone calls, checking references, my husband and I chose to get our pup (now 14 months old)from Landis.
We can't speak highly enough about our pup. We can't speak highly enough about Landis.
Our "B" litter pup is everything we hoped for and more.
I have been in contact with other "B" litter owners and they are very happy with their pups.
Her temperament is amazing. She is confident and friendly with young and old alike. She gets along with horses,dogs,cats and birds.
Her drives are solid. She has strong nerves. She is extremely intelligent and willing.
She is a well-balanced,happy dog.
I was told that she would make an excellent candidate for Sch should we decide to go that route. This was told to us by well known and respected gsd/sch trainers in Dallas. Another gsd trainer with more than 20 years experience in training gsds was very impressed with our dog. So much so that she wants to get a pup from Landis.
Our vet was very impressed on all counts with her including her temperament. He loves the breed and knows it quite well.
The 2 pups that Louise Jollyman returned to Landis, went to 2 families (both who have young children) who are very happy with them and are glad to have them as members of their family.
When we are ready for our second gsd, it will come from Alyeska.