Good afternoon.

I have been lurking on the forums here for several weeks and only recently registered. I have searched for the proper place to make an introduction and since I do not have a picture of me and my GSD to post at the moment, this seemed like the place.

(Mods please move if this post is in the wrong place..with my apologies.)

Our current dog is the first GSD (and working dog) that my wife or I have ever owned and we have developed an enormous amount of respect for this breed of dog. We now cannot think owning any other. Sadly we will be faced with the decision to put our dog down within the week…after over a decade of companionship and protection it is hard to face that fact. I will now need to find our next GSD and prepare for training a new puppy. This is what promped me to search and eventually find the Leerburg site/forum.

I would very much like to ask the best way that I should go about starting my search for another working-line GSD (puppy) for home/family protection and for possible Sch (not seriously, but simply because my wife enjoys handling the dog). I should have started this search months ago, but I guess my family and I couldn’t face the fact that our dog was fading as fast as he was.

I know that this is a common topic, but I am truly lost as to where/how to begin to find a puppy. I consider this a HUGELY important undertaking and I realize that I am a newbie. I have tried Googling for breeders, but I get lost in the zillions of hits that I get.

As far as the training piece goes, I know I am in the right spot and have ordered several of Mr. Frawley’s DVDs already!

I can provide more personal details as far as our experience with our current GSD to go along with my very general question, but I would appreciate guidance as far as how to proceed. Either a public reply or a PM would be most appreciated.

I apologize to all for the “newbie” question that I have to believe gets asked every other day. Again mods please move this post if in the wrong place or delete if inappropriate.

Happy New Year, All!

v/r

Neil Putnam

Neil,
Welcome to the forum, glad to have you here.
I am sorry to hear about the upcoming difficult decision you may have to make. It is always hard to lose a friend/partnerthat has given so much.

I cannot help you with recommending GSD breeders, but there are people here that will help you.

Again, Welcome.

Carol,

Thank you for the reply. You're right it's harder than I thought it would ever be. He has all the drive and spirit from his neck up, but his body is failing him. Worst of all is those eyes. Same intelligence shows through that has always been there.

Looking forward to spending more time on the forums and learning.

v/r

neil

" (Mods please move if this post is in the wrong place..with my apologies.)"


I have moved this to Member Intro/Bio.

Hi Neil,

Just wanted to say welcome to the board and that I am very sorry you may soon be losing your beloved friend. We have all been through that and there just doesn't seem to be the words to bring you any comfort other then to say my thoughts are with you.

Good luck in your search for a new puppy,

Take Care,
Peggy

When I started looking for my puppy last year, I posted on several lists exactly what I was looking for in a dog, including: sex, drive, working or showline, and what age: puppy, young adult, or adult; what I planned on doing with him: show, compete, or breed; what area of the country I was looking in or whether I was willing to have the dog shipped; and when I was wanting to get the puppy. I let the breeders and the sch people make suggestions to me and then I went to those sites and had a look for myself. After that I contacted the few breeders that fit all my criteria and picked one that I liked.

There are so many breeders out there and they all claim this and that, so I relied on recommendations from people in the know. I can definitely say that all the good people know each other and don't hesitate to recommend someone that would have the right puppy for me at the right time. They also know who not to get a puppy from. You can expect lots of PMs. It took me from Sept, when I started looking, until the following June before I had my puppy in my hands at home.

My baby boy is now 8 months old and I couldn't be happier with the breeder I chose and my puppy.

Welcome, Neil.

Good to see you here.

Pat

Connie,
Thanks for moving my thread. I was 50-50 on posting here, but since I didn't have a picture I didn't put it here since the title of this forum was for member/dog pictures. Maybe in the Leerburg "thanks for joining" email the text of the message could point new members to this thread by requesting that new users make an short intro here... (could also change the title to "new member intro/dog pics" or something like that...just a thought.

Peggie,
Hi! Thanks for the welcome. Sometimes it's hard for me to reconcile why I feel bad about my dog when there is so much human tragedy in this world, but damn if he hasn't been loyal to us 24/7 for all these years...I guess now its our turn to return the loyalty and do the right thing.

Elaine,
Thanks for the tips. Sounds like a good methodology. My wife has put me on the fast track however. She wants another GSD and I need to have it in the house by spring. Period! Good thing that I've alredy gotten several recommendations via PM and from using the search button (replies to other posters with similar questions).

Could still use more recommendations....still haven't made a decision yet.


Pat,
Thanks for pointing out this site to me! What a great resource. Didn't take much lurking to figure out that there is much knowledge to be gained by spending time here.

Strong looking dog you have there..

neil