I don't know - he looks like a GSD with floppy ears to me. He won't win any conformation titles, but then I wouldn't want one that could, personally. It's funny how we all talk about looks not being important, and to concentrate on getting a healthy dog with good drives and temperament, but then when it comes down to it, we start to feel bad if our dog doesn't look "right". I'm the same way - I guess that's just human nature.

My first thought was that the dog looked scrawny for an 8 mo. old, but if I remember right, this guy is growing pretty big pretty fast. If so, then I'd assume he's got a lot of filling in to do, and that would make him look more "shepherdy". My dog has a much deeper chest than yours, but I don't know/don't care if that's correct or not.

I assume that you're just looking to get some of your money back from the breeder, and you still want to keep the dog. Yes? I'd think that if the breeder comes through with the paperwork, then you're stuck. Did they advertise a guarantee of any sort that would cover the ears?

I'd just start calling the dog Floppy and get on with the training. If the other dogs start to tease him, then you could get him a hat, or one of those doggie disguises that were posted earlier this week. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Oh, so did you get cheated? Probably. Definitely, if you paid good money for him. I certainly wouldn't be shy about mentioning the breeder's name if I were you.

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If you saw this puppy on the streets, would you say he was a pure, quality GSD.

Pure?...yes.
Quality?...that's in the eye of the beholder. He doesn't meet the standard, but then most gsd's don't. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm thinking if the ears were up, folks you meet would have no issue with recognizing the breed.
In any case, I'm sorry to hear you are having to go through this.

PS: What was the red flag concerning "the aggression towards and eventual killing of my other pet" about? Was this dog the aggressor?

I'm no breeder expert but imho that is a mixed GSD. I would be greatly upset if I laid out hard earned cash and didn't get what I want. I'd see what I could get done in small claims court or save up a months worth of doggy doo and dump it in his car. How's the training going?

I am no expert, but the way I see it is that as a puppy it looks like a pure bred GSD, but at 8 months it does not. Sorry you have to go through this. Good luck.

Those photos seem to be all GSD to me. It's amazing how the 'soft' ears change the look of the face, but still appears GSD. Bet if you took a head shot with someone holding the ears up, it would show this.

I think the saddest thing about this is that your feelings to the dog have been so negatively effected because he hasn't turned out to be the perfect dog you dreamed of. Since it wasn't HIS fault you bought him, and HIS fault you are disappointed in his physical appearance, it's rather a shame you can't move on with the dog you CHOSE to purchase and have him 'be all that he can be'.

Hopefully, you can move on to love, work with, and appreciate his good qualities. While having this be a learning experience for you with breeders and what to look for the next time.

My dog looks like a GSD... people still ask me "is he a purebred" all the time. I personally have a hard time deciding if a black or mostly black GSD is a GSD, so there have been times where I have asked people "what kind of dog is that?" because I don't want to sound like a dumbass by being wrong <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

He looks like a GSD to me. I won't comment on quality of breeding, I don't have enough experience with things like that to make any claims and enough people have commented on that already <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I don't know that it's really possible to tell just from looking at him.

Mine are both pure bred, but people always ask because they're both long coated (one with an undercoat and one without). I've even had people tell me that I'm wrong and that there is "no such thing" as a long coated GSD and that I must have been misinformed, even after I tell them that they're both AKC registered GSDs. They tell me that the MUST be Shiloh Shepherds or King Shepherds, as if all of those breeds were long coated. I've even taken my time to explain to these people about the recessive gene, etc... They still don't believe me. It's sad. People with little knowledge, but firm beliefs don't even get a response from me anymore.

Sorry to go off on a tangent. Denise. If your contract states that your pup would get AKC registration, sue the breeder.

Shiloh shepherds, imo, are not a different breed. They are just the result of people breeding the biggest GSD to the biggest GSD to get oversized GSDs.

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Shiloh shepherds, imo, are not a different breed. They are just the result of people breeding the biggest GSD to the biggest GSD to get oversized GSDs.

That's pretty much fact... just read the History page at http://www.shilohshepherds.org. 29" 135+lb GSD's doin Schutzhund work, thats more than my friends great dane weighs and not much shorter either.

Didn't mean to stray from the topic, but had never heard of Shiloh Shepherds so had to comment <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

lol Well I threw in the "imo" because I don't know a lot about them either.