Is a German Shepherd Right For You?

INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENT  They have been described as a “thinking” dog. Not one that is simply reactive to a situation. They look at and analyze the entire picture of the situation and if trained well, look also to their leader for direction, rather than just jumping in. Most breeds are just reactive. It takes a GSD just seconds to judge what’s going on and prepare for what’s needed. This intelligence coupled with natural instincts, can work for or AGAINST you. Meaning that they figure you and your ways out, very quickly and can read you well. This is why every GSD NEEDS training.  Training is for you and your dog and strengthens the bond. If done right, a GSD will be the best friend you’ve ever had. If a thinking dog goes without training, they will most likely use their energy and focus on destructive behavior. Training and interaction take lots of time and effort. If you don’t have this time... think twice about a GSD.  Anatomy of a German Shepherd https://static.wixstatic.com/media/94e9fe_32ee20531d38491f827cd9ff23537ee0~mv2.jpeg Disqualifying Colors https://static.wixstatic.com/media/94e9fe_268d772d3deb4ddb81aedb857aa2e969~mv2.jpeg American Champion Shepherd https://static.wixstatic.com/media/94e9fe_95312e189ffa4ca7b1778d813a248705~mv2.jpg My German Champion https://static.wixstatic.com/media/94e9fe_bd8d6873215b4899b8c8aed4647d323a~mv2.jpeg

Medium to High Energy Level Again, GSD’s are bred to have the energy to herd sheep all day. They are not “couch potatoes” . They need a job to exercise both their mind and body. This can be a simple job, like playing fetch with the children for an hour or so a day. Or a nice bike ride with it’s owner. Or training classes and competition in obedience or agility or any dog sport. Or a GSD’s job can be complex, in the multiple facets of a service dog . Police work, detection of many and varied substances, search and rescue, tracking, herding and even medical condition detection. A few of our dogs have had the natural instinct to detect a Diabetic crisis, and Epileptic crisis as well as be in tune for an owner’s emotional crisis, such as depression or profound sadness. We’ve also had our dogs score 99/100 on herding instinct testing where herding experts have been astounded by their natural herding instincts without any prior exposure. We believe many of these exceptional traits come from carefully crafted use of particular bloodlines, such as the famous German kennel KIRCHENTAL and many others. This breed is one of the most versatile, if not THE most versatile dog on the planet. They are putty in your hands and with training, time and devotion, can be molded into the dog of your dreams. We, at Castlebrook Shepherds, do not breed for the highest energy level. We have seen that most families can not handle, nor do they want to handle, a very high energy level. An ideal adult dog in our eyes, will be willing and able to play/work as long as asked at a moment’s notice, but will also be calm enough inside to sleep at your feet or curl up by the fireplace next to you.

Puppyhood can be especially challenging.  A GSD puppy has a very high energy level! They go through a “bitey” stage that can be hard on everyone involved. While this is normal behavior, a puppy owner needs to be prepared for handling this stage. First, the owner needs to know that puppy biting is NOT aggressive behavior. It’s an instinctual form of play with other puppies and adult dogs. This behavior in a puppy who will purely be a companion, should be corrected by teaching them not to play that way with humans. They need to learn that that kind of play should happen with toys only. This can be a long harrowing adventure that many choose to be guided by an experienced trainer, that the entire family participates in.   If the puppy is to be trained for protection or bitework competition, this stage needs to be handled differently. The difference ia a puppy who will be trained for protection, must always “win”. This means that they should not be discouraged from biting but need to be “traded” from something inappropriate, to something appropriate to bite. A positive calm but firm hand is essential in this process. Again, time, interaction and patience can be hard. But the rewards for going through this stage the right way are extremely rewarding.  • In addition, raising a GSD puppy REQUIRES a tremendous amount of “socialization”.  Because a GSD is naturally observant and intelligent, they need to get out and experience the world in as many positive situations as possible. I stress positive, because a puppy will remember what happens in his puppyhood, FOREVER. That means the more positive he experiences the better. It is normal for a puppy to be afraid of new things at first. But what counts is how they learn to overcome their fear. The most important thing to remember is NEVER to “comfort” the puppy in any way when they are intimidated or afraid. Comforting is normal human behavior, but to a puppy/dog, that “comforting” means that you approve of how they are acting and reenforces the unwanted behavior. It’s like telling them, ‘awe, I like how you're acting”. What needs to happen instead is, either ignore the behavior and calmly walk away with the puppy. Or distract the puppy with a toy and happy play in the midst of the “fearful” thing. Or gently guide the puppy up to the object with food and give him the food when his nose touches the object. Lots of positive praise for a job well done. Do your best to keep your puppy out of negative situations. Do not let your puppy interact with unknown animals. If you don’t know that that animal will respond positively to your puppy, just keep walking. Even if the owner insists that their animal likes other dogs, don’t take the chance. Work only with dogs and owners you know are safe for your puppy. Which brings up dog parks. I detest them! They are so full of disease and germs and owners who don’t have a clue about appropriate dog behavior, that it’s a downright dangerous place especially for puppies. Taking your puppy to a formal puppy class, after his second set of vaccinations, is the best place to start. A good trainer can guide you to good places to go to let your puppy have positive experiences. Through it all, remember, fear for a puppy is not bad. The main lesson is in how they learn to handle fear. An EXCELLENT place to build confidence is the dog sport of Agility. The dogs are constantly learning to overcome fear and experience how fun new things actually are!! A beautiful way to have fun training and running off energy with both dogs and children/adults! I highly recommend it for both!! A good agility training club will have beginning puppy classes where there are no jumps and such that can damage a young puppy’s joints. Evan puppies who will be trained in protection NEED to be well socialized! Contrary to the old school teaching of many years ago, where they used to think a puppy should be kept away from other humans and even only be fed and touched by one person, We’ve learned that the opposite is actually true. The more confident and comfortable a dog is with strangers and different environments, the more confident and comfortable they will be when asked to protect. In addition, heavy socialization, also teaches the dog/puppy to know what normal interaction looks like. This helps them decipher when a situation turns from normal interaction to a dangerous situation. To sum it up, socialization is extremely important for every puppy!! Lots of time, patience and loving effort is involved. But the end result is the best companion you’ve ever had.

A GSD needs grooming frequently. They have a double coat, which is great for winter weather protection, but hard on those who live indoors with their beloved GSD.  Their shedding lasts all year long and twice a year the shedding is extreme. In the extreme seasons, daily brushing is required. The rest of the year a few times a week is sufficient.  Household vacuuming is , at minimum, a daily chore. I highly recommend an “undercoat rake” to get through the top coat to the undercoat. Bathing should not be necessary more than once a month or two, if that. Unless they get into mud or something else. My GSDs love water and playing in it especially in warm weather. I’ve heard other bloodlines of GSDs don’t like the water. After playing in the water, a GSD needs to have their ears cleaned and dried out.  Nail trimming and normal ear cleaning should be done at least once a month.

This is a touchy subject for some. I have done much research and have had veterinary training on diet and nutrition  The vast majority of my training has come from HOLISTIC Veterinarians. I encourage you to do research on your own. Some places to start are;  DVM Dr. Karen Becker - is a holistic veterinarian who has had much success in helping and even solving digestive issues in dogs and cats. She has gone the extra mile in researching nutrition far further than veterinary universities teach. She also has written books that you can purchase to educate yourself. Her website a(https://drkarenbecker.com/)lone has a tremendous amount of information and articles for your education. As with all holistic veterinarians, they go beyond what average veterinarians are taught and, in my opinion, have a far more accurate picture of what veterinary nutrition is all about.

[Dogfoodadvisor.com](http://Dogfoodadvisor.com) Is a place where you can go to look up ratings on most all of the dog food on the market. It explains why they gave the rating they gave IN DETAIL. This is helpful when you are overwhelmed with all the advertising and variety of products out there. They explain what are bad ingredients and what are good ingredients and why. A wealth of information for even the most uneducated dog parent.   At Castlebrook Shepherds we feed both a high-quality kibble and a raw fresh diet. We can discuss the details in person, so that you are confident and understand the reasons we feed the diet we feed and when we feed.