O.K. this may be a bit wussy for some of you but let's have some stories of what your dog does that really makes your day.

I'll start.

Blue my 4 year old GSD comes to the pub with us and goes up and puts his paws on the bar as he knows they keep Bonios behind the bar. He will then sit stay while we are there and loves it as a lot of the regulars bring treats for him.

He wakes me up in time for work every day but leaves me alone on Sunday as I have a lie in. I don't use an alarm clock any more.

My other dog Sadie (Great Dane X Newfoundland) is a bit dim - during the day they have 2 duvets in my lounge. If there is a toy on Sadie's bed she doesn't have the brain power to move it. Every morning Blue now puts a toy on each duvet so that he has first pick.

I work from home but pop in at odd times to load up my van. About 5 mins before I'm home Blue will start pacing so my husband knows it's time to put the kettle on. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Another GSD named Jim that I grew up with belonged to my grandparents. When my grandmother died Jim would be found quite often at the cemetery sat next to her grave. The cemetery was 3 miles away - how did he know this?

Anyway let's have some of your stories

Gwen

The builders were working on the house and grounds. My then 5 year old male GSD "Eiswein" opened the door to his area (which had been left unlocked) and went for a quick tour of his boundary to make sure all was well.

He wasn't concerned about all the builders as we, the pack leaders had let them in and they had been working on the place for several weeks anyway. BUT some of the apprentices were VERY concerned about the huge fierce monster loose in the grounds, so . . .

One of the builders, who Eiswein knows a little, stood by Eiswein's area and called him to come. Eiswein came obediently and sat at his feet. The builder then pointed authoritively inside and said in his best deep commanding voice "IN". Eiswein GENTLY wrapped his jaws around the man's arm, looked him straight in the eye and growled softly in his throat.

The builder said "Errrr, ok, you don't have to go in" and Eiswein let his arm go leaving not one single mark or indentation, licked the guy's hand, wagged his tail and spent the rest of the afternoon in his favourite observation point in a shady spot in the garden.

This is the same dog that herded my 2 kids into a corner in the park and put the length of his body across them to keep them there and protect them when a local dog, huge & well known for animal and human aggression appeared loose in the park charging at everyone. It came my kids way and Eiswein stood still, growled to threaten and stared the dog down. Took 2 steps towards it then chased it off as it turned tail. 2 minutes later he came back to my kids, wagging tail, licked them both, sniffing them all over to see if they were ok.

Love that dog <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

First dog 1964 - name Blackie part cocker and wire terrier. Blackie used to walk with me holding a rope with a knot on the end in his mouth, we shared tootsie rolls by the lake in Minnesota ...... my first best friend. Second dog 1978 GSD/Collie mix found at a local outside restaurant in New Orleans - had been there 4 days eating scraps the patrons would feed him. Shane was 8 years old and later we found out later his owner had to leave town in a "hurry". Shane was my first obedience trained dog and he would heel through mardi gras crowds ..... he is also the dog that would not allow a friend of a friend in the house by showing teeth and acting what we thought was a total butt at the time ..... and we later found out he carried a gun and was not a person I would want in my house anyway (a felon how did he know)? Some friend huh? Shane is also the dog that later allowed my 2 children to learn how to stand up using his back while he would lay there unmoving while they pulled up on him. This was my first close to perfect dog and he lived to almost 19 years. Third dog - Brandy, 1986. Brandy was my first shot at training a dog by myself (GSD) and boy did I fail this poor girl ..... but Brandy still was a great house dog and fiercely protected the children while they grew into adults. Tell Brandy it was OK and well it was OK no matter what the situation. Tell the cable guy not to come into the house until I tell the dog it was OK, then he comes in anyway and guess what you get 85 pounds of pure agression going for your face ..... I am thankful to this day I was able to grab her before she removed part of his anatomy. I bet this guy listened the next time and perhaps didn't have a 3 foot wrench sitting on his shoulder which the dog took as an attack. When Brandy was 9 months old a drunk man came into my home as I had foolishly left the front door unlocked (Real stupid since I was a single parent) well this dog hackled and snarled and backed him up out the door. So while I failed her in how I trained she still excelled just as a GSD should. Brandy lived to be 14 years old. Fourth dog 2001 - Ike - 14 months old male GSD with Seffe v Busecker Schloss back in his pedigree. I believe this is a line that is mentioned on this web site. Ike does not meet a single confirmation point true to the GSD - he has huge ears and one is soft - he is oversized at 28" and 103 pounds - but he is trying to win Shanes spot in my heart as #1 dog - just wanting to please - very soft and can learn so quickly. Ike has been obedience trained (I paid someone to train me first - best money I ever spent). Ike mostly just wants to play ball and play ball and play ball which we do every morning and then after obedience in the afternoon ..... what a dog and I promise there will be many more stories on this boy! Barb
PS: He already has the #1 spot but I haven't told him yet ..... that way he keeps on working for it.

Shep/Collie I had as a kid never, ever jumped the fence. Once when younger brother, 4yrs old climbed over fence, Taffy jumped over with him and we found them three blocks away with taffy patiently sitting on the curb with little brother.
When my daughters were little, my dogs were all trained not to leave the front yard (no fence) If the kids wanted to go up to the school yard, across our street and 6 houses down the street, we had to hold on to Thunder, our Shep/Dane mix ,because he was obsessed with herding them away from the street (untaught).
Those of you who think JRTs are "cute" little dogs, we have gotten Pete out of our neighbors tree numerous times chasing bushytails (we can't use the S word around him) When I replaced the garage roof last year, we had to pull the ladder up with us to keep him off. My son still had a tree house in back yard. Pete would climb verticle ladder chasing bushytails. The ladder was to steep to climb down, so he would just jump out of the tree house. After one or two hard landings he learned to jump into the shrubs. We took the tree house dowm!

How did this thread end up in the working line GSD section? Lets keep the General Conversation stuff to that section ok?

I missread the title Sorry <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

I moved it here.

Gwen
I think I'm in the right post now. (I already had one brainfart this morning) You reffered to the Parsons JRT. I think this is a relatively new "variation" of the breed, geared more to trying to standardize the conformation(show lines) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> The JRTCA over here is the main registration body over here and it follows the Brits working standard. All of our hunting JRTs are long legged, just different sizes(under 12in and 12in up to 15 in) That is the same as working JRTs over there. The short legged dogs, which we refer to as low riders, are not used for hunting. The short legs usually mean wide fronts and tough on a dog trying to get in a small,winding earth.
All of our hunting dogs are either imported or go back to British dogs. With terriers !Brits rule!

Gwen
I found the site ok.
My Borders both go back to Dandyhow. Dandyhows Brusselsprout was one of the great producers of both hunting and great looking Border Terriers.