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Things to Know About a German Shepherd Dog

Things to Know About a German Shepherd Dog

by: Armen T. Ghazarians

A sound temperament is a must in a German Shepherd Dog (GSD). By sound, I mean a disposition where one minute you can let a protection trained GSD play alone with your 5-year old child, pull on its ears, pet its head, tug on its tail and NEVER-EVER be in harms way; while the next minute, it should turn into the “terminator” and crush its enemies as soon as it senses an intruder.

There are three conventional methods of dog training that you can choose from in order to train you German Shepherd Dog (GSD). They are training with treats, training with treats and clickers, and training with praise. All three methods of training will work; however, there is one that stands out from the rest. That is, oral praise. Why? Because you want your dog to listen to your commands even when you don’t have any toys, clickers, and/or food. Imagine you dog wanting to jump at your every command simply because it wants your praise and love and not because you are going to bribe it with treats. Once your dog gets used to getting treats for performance, it will cease to perform when you don’t have any more treats left. So, treat your GSD with kindness, and train it with praise!

Training a GSD which has not been genetically selected for working ability is that much more difficult than one that has already been selected for that trait. In my opinion, the age-old debate about beauty vs. functionality of the pure-bread GSD dog was settled by the founder of the German Shepherd Dog breed, Captain Max Von Stephanitz, when he said in his book,”…Utility is the true criterion of beauty…” (The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture, pg. 163). Many American GSDs today have been selected for beauty rather than functionality in order to win dog shows. In many of these dog shows, obedience and showmanship are separate events and a dogs’ working ability is never considered in events where the dogs are required to meet breed standards. Hence, you have the decline of the traits for which the breeds were originated for in the first place. So when you set out to buy your dream GSD, look for temperament, health, and working ability first, and beauty last.

The importance of beauty, however, should not be ignored when it comes to posing your dog for a memorable photograph. Unlike other breeds, GSD’s are shown differently in the breed ring. The proper method for posing your GSD for the breed judges is called a “stack”. “Stacking” is the method whereby one allows the forequarters of a dog to be shown parallel to one another when looking through the viewfinder of a camera and when one allows the hindquarters of the GSD to be arranged so that the limb facing the camera is placed backward while the limb facing away from the camera is placed forward. Most professional handlers who pose their GSD’s for photographers walk them into a “stack” instead of artificially manipulating them into it. If you plan to stack your GSD for a professional snapshot, remember to compose the image in such a way as to depict it from the tip of its nose to the tip of its hindquarters; NO MORE, NO LESS (please visit my web site to view photographs of how a GSD is stacked for the camera).

These topics cover just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowing the German Shepherd Dog breed. You can learn more about the GSD by visiting my web site or by getting involved in breed organizations like the German Shepherd Dog Club of America (GSDCA). With a little more reading you can become more familiar with this wonderful breed and all that it has to offer. And then perhaps you can decide whether this is the right breed for you or not.

German Shepherd Ear Taping

German Shepherd Ear Taping

by: Debbie Ray

The German Shepherd ear taping process – helping those stubborn GSD puppy ears up.

German Shepherd ear taping is something that many GSD puppy owners do not take seriously until it is much too late. German Shepherd puppy ears can come up on their own anytime between 8 weeks and 6 months. Puppy ear taping is often an important procedure in the development of the GSD puppy ear set.

If the GSD puppy ears are not up by 4 months I tell my puppy customers to get very interested in their German Shepherd pups ears and the whole German Shepherd ear taping process. One suggestion: help stimulate your GSD puppy to use their ear muscles to help bring their ears up faster naturally, not through touch of that tender ear tissue but by making interesting noises, etc. to your GSD puppy that cause the puppy to use those maturing ears.

It is not yet time to panic, however, it is time to sit up and take notice. When the German Shepherd puppy ears are taped after 7 or 8 months old it has very little chance of working. German Shepherd ear taping is an important process that does not need to be done with all German Shepherd puppies, but some GSD puppies do need the extra help.

First of all, it is very important to make sure that your GSD puppy is in good health. Make sure that the German Shepherd puppy is kept on the proper schedule of wormings and vaccinations. It is also very important to make sure the GSD puppy is on a good quality food. If you are unsure, check with your local vet or German Shepherd breeder for suggestions on a diet that would be appropriate for your GSD puppy.

It is not uncommon for the German Shepherd puppy ears not to be up until 3 1/2 to 5 months of age. It is also quite common for a GSD puppy who has his/her ears up one day to see them fall down again the next day – especially when going through the teething process and for this cycle to repeat as the German Shepherd puppy matures.

The process of teething in general takes valuable calcium from the German Shepherd puppies developing ear structure to those developing teeth and that is one good explanation for the whole process of GSD puppy ears being up one day, and then down the next.

It is very common for GSD pups to have ears that tilt and flop this way and that as they gain strength to stand on their own. The German Shepherd ears may take all matter of shapes (1 up, 1 down; 1 this way, 1 that way) until they come completely up. Do not panic when this happens to your German Shepherd puppy. It is completely normal. If you do have questions about the German Shepherd ear taping process, feel free to contact your German Shepherd breeder or the local GSD breed club in your area or your veterinarian.

Instructions on German Shepherd ear taping follow (it doesn’t hurt to have a helper):

1) Buy the large pink spongy perm rollers (Goody’s ® is one brand) from Wal-mart, etc. for the German Shepherd ear taping process. Take out the hard plastic clip out of the middle of each roller and discard. You only need to keep the spongy pink foam roller part. 2 inch pipe insulation tubing, Grey, I believe, from Home Depot works as well if you can’t find the pink foam rollers. You will have to cut this to length, while the pink rollers are already the correct length.

2) At your local drug store purchase the thin white surgical tape (the kind that’s paper thin and tears easily). The 3M Micropore tape, 2″ wide works well. NEVER EVER even consider using any tape such as duct tape, electrical tape or the like for German Shepherd ear taping. If you don’t have the right kind of tape it will do more damage on the GSD pups ears than good if you have to take the tape out for some reason if you use the wrong type of tape in the first place.

Also, purchase Skin Bond to use with the surgical tape and get one UNsharpened pencil to use in the German Shepherd ear taping process.

3) Insert the pencil (unsharpened end) inside the pink foam roller about an inch or so to make it easier to hold. Next, put the Skin Bond on the pink foam roller about 3/4s of the way around the roller, so it is well covered but not oozing or dripping off the roller in any way. You do not want the glue to drip off the roller into your pups ear canal when ear taping your GSD puppies ears. You do not want to get the glue on your hands either while in the middle of this process. That is where the pencil comes in.

4) While holding the pencil end, wrap the GSD puppies ear around the glued foam roller and then tape them into a fairly tight roll (but not too tight), in an upright position. Remove the pencil from the sponge roller.

Place the roller inside the German Shepherd’s ear flap itself fairly deep, leaving about a two finger space opening above the German Shepherd pups head and the bottom of the roller inside the ear flap. Do not completely block the ear canal with the roller when ear taping the German Shepherd puppy. The GSD puppy will still need to hear with the roller inside its ear flaps.

Optional: Take a popsicle stick and attach it to the top part of both of the GSD puppy ears in a horizontal position. The German Shepherd puppy will tear the tape or stick off the ears several times. The key to this step is to continue retaping the ears using the popsicle stick as it gets torn down. Sooner or later the GSD puppy will forget about the tape all together and leave it alone.

5) Distract the GSD puppy with food or by playing ball, etc. for about five minutes until the glue stops itching and is well set. The roller will fall out on it’s own in about a week or so if not taken out by you or your German Shepherd puppy. Continue the re-taping process until the German Shepherd puppy ears stand on their own.

Important: If the German Shepherd puppy ears are not up by 7 or 8 months of age they are probably not going to come up. When the GSD ears do not stand on their own there are ear implants that can be surgically added. I have no experience with this personally but if you are unlucky enough to have a German Shepherd whose ears will not stand on their own, this is an option. Check with your vet or GSD breeder with any questions you may have concerning German Shepherd ear taping.

Downed GSD ears are not the end of the world, however, erect ears are a part of the German Shepherd Dog breed standard. Upright ears are not only healthier overall for the dog but more so, they are handsome and again, part of the breed standard and the way the German Shepherd was bred to look.

Mike and Shirley

Mike and Shirley

This is not really a story, more like something odd that has happened to our dogs. We got Shirley about three years ago. My elderly Mother, who was living with us, was very ill with Alzheimer’s and we thought a pet would be good for her. Shirley was about a year old and we got her from an Animal Rescue place called PAWS in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She is a Terrier/Poodle mix and was evidentially a stray and someone picked her up and brought her to PAWS. She was the sweetest little dog, about 15 pounds with a lot of hair. My Mother rejected her so she became a family dog. We brought her home and introduced her to our 2 year old German Shepherd Dog, Fred, who immediately tried to kill her. Very soon, they became best friends and were never apart. It was very obvious that Fred was the boss and he had no problem telling her when she was bothering him. About two and a half years later, Fred died and Shirley was alone. She was very sad and my husband spoiled her rotten, almost constantly holding her in his lap. So, we decided to get another German Shepherd Dog. We got Mike when he was 8 weeks old. Shirley loved him immediately and they are constant companions. However, Shirley is very bossy and pushy with Mike. He is now almost 7 months old and can’t seem to do anything unless he has permission from Shirley. Shirley has taught him everything she learned from Fred. It is really funny to watch her teach him. She taught him to go in the water at the lake and chase a stick and bring it back, she taught him to walk the perimeter of the yard and check for anything that might be wrong there and if he doesn’t do exactly what she wants, she really nags him by her barking. She is very stubborn and although we have trained her to sit, down and stay, most of the time she will not do it unless we make her. It is difficult to work with Mike because he is always looking at Shirley for direction whether he should do it or not. If we separate them while training Mike, he is still looking around for her like he just can’t do anything unless she tells him it is okay. Mike has a wonderful temperament and although Shirley gets on to him all the time, he doesn’t mind and has never even growled at her. Shirley is growling and getting onto Mike constantly and he just shrugs it off. Mike is 65 pounds and Shirley is still 15 pounds. We do have play days when my grandson’s bring their Lab puppy and Great Dane mix puppy to our house to play. Shirley also tries to boss them but they don’t pay much attention to her. Mike loves those days when he can play with the other puppies. We were walking both Mike and Shirley and the other puppies every day this Spring but with the advent of constant 100 degree temperatures and up every day and high humidity, we haven’t been able to walk them at all. I know that is needed but right now is impossible to do. We love Mike and Shirley very much and this is a work in progress. We are determined to make Mike realize that we are the boss and not Shirley. We just haven’t quite figured out how to do it yet. Maybe when Mike gets a little older he will realize that he can think on his own. We have always had dogs and Shirley is the first dog we have had that was not a German Shepherd Dog, so this is a real challenge to us. Also, in all these years, we have only had one female dog. I never saw one of our dogs take complete control of the other dogs like Shirley does. We will get this done. It is a challenge, but we will win this battle. Leona M Checotah, Oklahoma

crazy GSD

crazy GSD

I have a female GSD that is 6 months old . She is a purebred with AKC papers . She was born in Eagle Pass Texas . My sister-in-law breeds GSDs as a hobby . I had a male all black GSD that was a monster size for 4 months . When he stood up he was taller than me . This dog was stolen one night because he stayed outside and there were no locks on the gates . I learned from my mistakes . A year later my sister-in-law brought me ( I live in San Antonio Texas ) female GSD puppy. This is the puppy I have now . Her name is Tania . She has black and cream color hair . At 6 months she is bigger than the GSD next door that is 2 years old . Her parents in Eagle Pass are very big GSDs. At first I wasn’t to crazy about a female GSD , but when I saw her at the age of about 2 months I couldn’t say no . She is a nice looking dog . Now she is a big GSD and strong to . She likes to play but can knock down small people if she jumps on them . She needs some training but she is to busy playing to pay attention . Today I have chains with locks on both gates and keep her inside at night . She sleeps in a big cage and will let me know when she wants to go out to do her thing . Tania is now starting to guard the house during the day by barking at strangers when they walk by , and will walk the fence line until the person is gone . If she gets bigger she just may have to stay outside as she learns who is not a family member and keep them out. Tania has a small pool that she will jump in and the water will fly everywhere. She is crazy but she is my crazy GSD . This is my story . Abel N

BRANDY FOR CHRISMAS

BRANDY FOR CHRISMAS

The day after Christmas, I was taking a drive with my mother and sister, and we saw a dog running in the middle of the road. I slowed down as the dog looked very tired but did not want to move out of the road. I got very concerned and I pulled over. As I pulled over, the dog came running to the car. I got a little scared, but he did not growl and he did not look aggressive at all. As I opened the back door of the car to get a little water for the tired dog, he decided that not only that he wanted the water, but he’ll take a ride with us, and jumped into the car. He refused to get out. We pulled and called to get him out, but this dog refused point blank! Even it was a stray dog, he looked well looked after. As it was a day after Christmas, it was pointless to try and drive around to see if he recognizes his home. We decided to take him home, until we can get someone to look after him. After all he looked like a pedigree German Shepherd. When I brought him home, my husband was standing in our entertainment area, having a “brandy”. The dog suddenly connected with my husband, and he started to lick the glass. Right there and then, he was baptized “BRANDY”. The next day, we took him to the local vet to check if he did not have an identification chip somewhere in his body, as he did not wear a collar. We could not find any. The vet told us that he was about 18 months old at the time. I then decided to put an advertisement on the local shopping store windows. After two weeks, nobody claimed him. I never had dogs in my whole life. I do not understand them, and is (was) not much of a dog person. I prefer cats. Never the less, this dog sort of got to me. Where ever I go, the dog would follow me, and stay very close to my legs. He was very obedient to me. Not as much to my husband, but if I tell him to sit, stay, lie down, come or fetch, he would do it. Somehow, I new I could not let him go. I knew he was there to stay. If my husband comes close to me, he would wag his tail and come and stand right between us. If someone comes close to me, he will always look in my direction, or come and stand between us. He is the most loveable animal I have ever seen. I cannot believe somebody would let him go astray. That person does not deserve him anyway. He is tolerant and not aggressive. Very clever and now he is “his-mommy’s-fluffy-hairy-beautiful-pudding-of-a-big-boy” (I cannot have children of my own, and maybe God decided to take the whole in my heart away and bless me with this fluffy). Yes, I do spoil him! He is allowed to jump on the bed every Saturday morning. He has his “Beeno” cookies every morning when I leave home for work. He has some rice over his “Vets Choice- dog food” twice a week. He stays in a huge isolated box, made out of steel, wood and isolation to keep him warm in winter and cool in summer. This box is build into our garage, so that he does not get too cold, hot or wet. He has all the toys he can chew and he have his special rubber ring that I through so that he can run into the big garden and fetch it for me every morning and evening. That is his daily exercises and on Sundays we go for a 4KM stroll. Thank you for your e-book training course (Dog Training Masters). It really helped me, changing this into a very fine K9. For someone who knows nothing about dogs, it is such a nice feeling when somebody stops me right in the middle of the road, when I am walking with Brandy. They have never seen such a beautiful, obedient animal walking with his head right against my knee on the leach without pulling. When people see us at the stores, I tell him to stay at the door. People cannot praise us enough for his obedience. He will not let me out of his sight. He now has a little friend. (Sorry no photo yet…) Her name is “Cola” to go with “Brandy” and she is a 3 month old Jack Russell/Fox terrier. This was the best thing I could have done for Brandy, so he would not be alone at home while we are at work. Somehow, I cannot see myself without Brandy (and Cola) ever again. This is my story of “Brandy for Christmas 2006″! Hope you liked my story. love Marty D, Boksburg Gauteng South Africa

The Amazing Thought Process of The German Shepherd’s Mind

When our beautiful 100lb German shepherd Maya was just six weeks old, we were allowed by the breeder to take her home to begin the bonding process. The breeder, a personal friend of ours, knew that we are dog people and felt that this would be acceptable even though he normally would not release a puppy before it was eight weeks old.  And bond we did!  Maya was as close to us as a child would have been. Our two grown sons would visit often and we would laughingly refer to them as her brothers.  When Maya was 2 years old, our first grandson, Christopher was born. We already had an 11 yr old grand daughter, Jamie, and her younger sister Ciara. Maya was very loving to both girls, always greeting them with kisses and  a wagging tail. However, when Christopher was six weeks old, his mom went back to work. He would arrive at our house every morning at 7A.M. and being just an infant would sleep for most of the morning. Since I had not cared for an infant in too many years to tell, I usually sat right next to him on the couch, fearful that he might fall off. Maya was VERY interested in this tiny new addition to the household. She was constantly poking at him with her nose and trying to kiss him. I repeatedly told her NO!!!  On the third day, Christopher was once again lying next to me on the couch. Maya kept vigil by coming over every few minutes to check on him.  At one point she brought one of her large, and heavy, bones and tried to drop it next to the baby. I immediately spoke sharply and said No  Maya, he’s just a little baby, you’ll hurt him with that!. I thought I had hurt her feelings as she left the room. After about 20 minutes I walked across the room to the changing table to retrieve the necessary items for a diaper change. I turned around to see Maya had re entered the room and was right next to Christopher. I could see she had something in her mouth and with my heart in my throat I  raced to the couch, imagining the worst scenario of my new grandson with blood on his head from a dropped bone, only to find that she was very gently placing a tiny mylar bone that she had when she was a puppy next to him.  I can’t even imagine where she found that little bone! I had no idea that it was anywhere in our huge 14 room house. I was astounded that she must have spent the last 20 minutes looking for a bone that she knew was light enough to bring to the baby! Needless to say  Christopher and Maya have become best buddies and now that he is three yrs old, and she is five, he gives her commands, which she obeys, and they play endlessly together. I have never feared for Christopher’s safety again and I still marvel at how intelligent that act was even though she has proved her cleverness many times. We recently added another Shepherd to our home. His name is Ringo and we are hoping he will prove to be as loving, obedient and intelligent as Maya.

OUR HOLLY

I WOULD LIKE TO TELL YOU ABOUT OUR GERMAN SHEPHERD HOLLY. HOLLY WAS A SABLE GERMAN SHEPHERD, WE  GOT HER FROM A GERMAN SHEPHERD BREEDER AT HILLTOP IN SOUTHERN NSW AUSTRALIA.
 
SHE REALLY WANTED US TO PICK HER OUT OF THE LITTER. SHE CAME UP TO MY HUSBAND & I & JUST PUSHED HER WAY PAST ALL OF THE OTHER PUPPIES. SHE WAS A CUTE BALL OF FLUFF BEING A SABLE & WE JUST KNEW SHE WAS THE ONE.
 
WE TOOK HER HOME & SHE SETTLED IN JUST NICELY. HOLLY WAS VERY CLOSE TO ME AS I BEGAN TO DO OBEDIENCE WORK WITH HER. SHE WAS A VERY STUBBORN DOMINANT DOG WHO JUST WANTED TO DO WHAT SHE WANTED. BUT I HAD OTHER IDEAS. SO WE WORKED REALLY HARD TO GAIN OUR NOVICE CERTIFICATE (COMPANION DOG) I WAS VERY PROUD OF HER & OF MYSELF AS IT WAS HARD WORK. SHE GAINED HER CERTIFICATE IN HER 6TH, 7TH & 8TH TRIAL.
 
THEN WE DECIDED TO GET ANOTHER DOG A GERMAN SHEPHERD OF COURSE. HOLLY WAS ABOUT 3 1/2 YEARS OLD. SHE TOOK TO TYSON VERY WELL. THEY BECAME VERY GOOD MATES & HE WAS GREAT COMPANY FOR HOLLY. THEY WERE INSEPARABLE. I STILL TOOK HOLLY TO DOG TRAINING & I TOOK TYSON AS WELL. HOLLY WOULD PROTECT HIM AT ALL TIMES FROM OTHER DOGS. SHE WOULD DOMINATE HIM AS WELL. BUT TYSON BE A LAY BACK BOY TOOK IT ALL IN HIS STRIDE.
 
HOLLY WAS VERY SPECIAL TO ME, I WENT THROUGH A VERY BAD TIME IN MY LIFE BUT SHE SEEMED TO UNDERSTAND HOW I WAS FEELING. SHE WOULD LAY BY MY SIDE & JUST LOOK AT ME TRYING TO SAY THAT SHE KNEW HOW I FELT.
 
HOLLY PASSED AWAY LAST YEAR IN JUNE. WE MISS HER VERY MUCH. THERE ISN’T A DAY THAT GOES BY THAT WE DO NOT THINK OF HER. SHE WAS CREMATED & HER ASHES SCATTERED TO THE SEA. SHE WAS 10 YEARS OLD. I HAVE HAD GERMAN SHEPHERDS FOR OVER 25 YEARS, ALL LOVELY DOGS, BUT HOLLY WAS A SPECIAL GIRL THAT CAME INTO OUR LIVES & WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US.
 
THANKYOU FOR LETTING ME SHARE THIS STORY WITH YOU.