I am looking to purchase my first working line GSP to train in shutzhund.

I have a 2 year old unregistered female shepherd right now that will not be trained in bite work.

This may be quite controversial, but can anyone suggest a good breeder to look into? I would prefer someone near to where I live (Vancouver, BC, Canada), but that's not neccessary.

Also, any advice on sex, temperament etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!

To start off GSP is short for German Shorthaired Pointer... Is that what you really want? LOL.

GSD is the GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG.

Hee hee hee - German Shorthaired Pointer!!
I was thinking German Shepherd Pup - Ah well!

heather,it's always good to purchase a working pup close to home.that way if you have problems(hips.teeth,ears,ect)it's not a problem to get the pup back to your breeder!do your research and be truthful to yourself about what you're willing to deal with!even the best bred pup,if not handled correctly can lead to a life of problems.so don't limit yourself to geographics,color or size!male of female?that's a matter of choice...my female gets along much better with my wife as oppossed to me,my male seem to be very affectionate towards my wife also.the relationship between me and my male(hard temprement,super prey,defence,play and fight)seems to be on the order of "best buddies"!my female is very soft towards me...go figure!a true working pup is a real"HANDFULL",outfit yourself with plenty of old jogging pants,blue jeans and shoelaces...GOOD LUCK!!!

Originally posted by roger herod:
heather,it's always good to purchase a working pup close to home.that way if you have problems(hips.teeth,ears,ect)it's not a problem to get the pup back to your breeder! Sorry, I hate to say it but this couldn't be further from the truth. If you have a local REPUTABLE breeder that produces good dogs, then yes, go for it. But to buy a dog because it is local doesn't mean the breeder will uphold the contract. What if you buy a pup local and there is a problem, and that breeder doesn't breed very often... are you willing to wait a year or more for another pup? To say that because the breeder is local returning the dog will be any easier isn't really true. Yes, you will save shipping costs if you do decide to send the dog back, but often there is an option to keep the first dog(you determine what keep means... place,sell,etc) and get a partial rebate toward the second.

I agree w/Deanna. Buying locally for convenience sake is a terrible idea. If I were to buy pups in my community, I'd have dysplastic, fear biting, peeing on oneself, byb ambred genetic junk.

As Deanna said, if you are lucky enough to have a good breeder who produces the type of pup you want close to home, the gods have really smiled upon you.

The purchase price/shipping costs for a dog are the least of your worries.

I consider myself fortunate to have excellent dogs available to me w/in 3 hrs of home.

Allow me to give you the *Holy Grail* of dog buying....check some references!!
Ask the breeder for the names of three previous customers and actually talk with those people. In particular, if the breeder is stating that he provides dogs to working homes, check with those buyers and see if the dogs that they purchase actually achieve title - the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
What I often see in my area is for someone to achieve a few titles and then decide that they're now " a breeder" . This breeders buy a few studs and brood bitches already titled and then mills out litters without knowing a thing about pedigrees or how lines inter-react. Breeding is a real specialty and it takes alot of skill and study ( and sometimes luck ) to contribute to the improvement of the breed- which is a worthy goal for all of us!
Ahh....if only we had the breed warden concept down pat here in the U.S. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

denna/joy...hopefully i wasn't misunderstood,i can agree that getting a local pup to save on transport,or getting a pup from a "marginal"breeding can become a humongus headace even if the breeder lives next door.in my (novice)opinion,if a person exposes him(or her)self to working dogs in their area and studies the bloodlines,then that person can make an informed choice on what's on the ground!it's also been truly stated(on this board)that breeding requires an understanding of the blood and realizing that "everyone"(or anyone)can't or shouldn't breed!!another point i'd like to make is that a good number of "sport dogs" are just that...sport,and if you're in the sport then a good "prey-driven"dog is more than suitable!currently i share my life with three gsd's(enzo v.dunhill,BH/WH 4 yr old male- ron peko haus x ennazus bianca)(gina v.oostsee-tell dalenburghutte x cara kammerunner eck-ddr)and male pup(cannan blitzburg-west/east ger.bitch x ned chemlovy kvitek-bh)my point on sport dogs is this...my male(enzo)is a very good protection dog,i live in the "inner-city"and work out of town, this dog is very protective of my wife ..a tennis ball or tug won't deter him from his duties of protecting my wife in my absense..we're all prone to getting too much dog and not defining our intentions.

Being born into a dog training family and seeing lots of bizarre things in 35 years, I have to say the most important piece of advice is Will's, check the references. It doesn't matter where you get the pup from near or far, but if you buy it from some place that you have never visited, make sure you check references preferably more than 3. I have seen breeders with generally good reputations in the dog community ship pups (for 4 figure prices) especially to novices as they think you won't know the difference, with extreme faults, weak temperaments, undernourished so much their growth was stunted, pups with parents whose OFA papers were forged, or pups whose real parents were not the parents listed on the papers, or pups on which you are never going to see the papers. I have visited breeders with very fancy websites and looked at their dogs standing on 2 feet of feces.

I had a breeder, an old german guy who has been producing excellent working dogs for 30 years, try to sell me a 4 month old pup with an overbite you could put 3 fingers into for $2000. When I pointed out the ob, he smiled & said "helps him bite better" and then said how 'bout $600? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Good luck, Heather..