# Adopted a 9 month old GSD this weekend.



## Bad LS1 (Feb 2, 2009)

First off, what a great website! I'm glad I found it. The wife and I adopted a 9 month old male GSD this weekend. We brought him home saturday morning. A couple we are friends with bought him as a pup from a breeder. For personal reasons they could not keep him any longer and was looking for a home.

My wife has always wanted a GSD and we decided to take him in. We have an 18 year old daughter, a 9 year old daughter, and 4 cats! LOL We are hoping we didn't get in over our heads. Couple questions...

1. at 9 months old, is he still considered a puppy here or should I steer clear of the puppy section? 

2. Is it recommended to get him neutered? If so at what age? How will it affect him? 

If these types of questions belong in another forum please direct me there. I'm still getting used to the site.







I hope we didn't bite off more than we can chew. This will be our first large dog.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

Still a puppy, lol. 

You can neuter at basically any age, I personally don't like to neuter males until they're about 18 months old in order for them to fill out and physically mature a little









Good luck and be sure to post pictures in the pictures section!


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

1.) I think that they are officially a puppy until a year old although, wih larger breeds, they don't techincally reach maturity until 24 months.

2.) YES! I've never owned a male dog but I have heard it keeps the dog calmer and will help curb aggressive behavior towards other male dogs. Plus, you don't want your dog to have the ability to potentially add to the already LARGE number of dogs that are homeless... you would hate for your dog to get another pregnant.

Also, you'd hate for your dog to run away every time he smells a female in heat. It's just safer overall.

Congrats on your new baby!! Can't wait to see pics.


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## dd (Jun 10, 2003)

Congratulations on your new family member - yes, he is a puppy. Give him lots of structure and you should do just fine.

There have been many discussions about the benefits of neutering and the best age at which to neuter over in the health section. Sorry - I can't find a link for you, I hope someone else will.

Hope you will post some pictures of your new boy.


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

congratulations on your new puppy! Yes, he is a puppy and will be for the next 9 to 15 months!! Be careful in the puppy section though as he will need "adult" toys, food, etc...much like a teenager.

I will let someone else answer the neutering question...I dont know much about males being neutered.

If he has not been in any kind of obedience training, you may want to enroll him. There are people from all over on the board, so chances are there is someone who can recommend someone in your area that can help with training.

Have you posted pictures? If not, you should...we LOVE pictures!! Oh...and his name...what is his name?


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

Welcome, and congrats!

1) He will be a puppy physically until about 1-2 years. He will mentally be a puppy until about 18-24 months of age or more! 

2) A lot of people advocate neutering when they are fully mature. If you want neutering to have an impact on his behavior (calm him down a bit), neuter anytime between now (greatest effect) until about two years of age (least effect or no effect). 

3) If this is your first larger breed of dog, sign up for obedience classes NOW! You will find that a great obedience class is a huge help. Steer clear from classes offered at the big box stores like Petsmart. Look for a breeder who is experienced in many breeds (including strong herding breeds like the GSD), one who trains positively and motivationally but also uses corrections fairly and appropriately to the dog and the situation. 

4) GSDs need a lot of physical exercise but they really need MENTAL exercise more than anything. Mental exercise includes trick training, obedience training, agility, herding, object discrimination by name, "find it" games, etc.

5) Make sure you implement a program of fair, firm leadership! This breed must have good leadership (note, NOT alpha rolls) in order to be happy and well adjusted and to keep you from going crazy.









Got any photos?


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## chuckstar158 (Sep 8, 2004)

Welcome!









Everyone's got good advice. If this is your first GSD... you're in for a treat and possibly sold on them for life!









1. Still a pup. A big pup but he's still growing and he's a silly little boy in a big body. Physically a baby... mentally a baby. Actually... more like a big doofy teenager. 

2. We adopted my boy at 10 months. Had him neutered right away. I'm a a big believer in spay/neuter and volunteer in rescue. For me... there's no reason not to neuter but that's my personal opinion. There's a TON of threads on the topic so you'll see lots of varying opinions on it. 

3. Get into a training class. Good for you... good for the pup... good in general.

We can't wait to hear more about him (including names and pictures!)


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## LadyHawk (Jan 19, 2005)

NOTE 
(write this down somewhere that you can see it all the time) 


*****A TIRED DOG IS A GOOD DOG******

Exercize is your friend!

Congrats to you and your famiily, thank you SO much for adopting and 
when do we get pictures 

Oh yeah Welcome to the board!


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## sprzybyl (May 15, 2008)

Welcome!! I pretty much agree with everyone here (yepp... still a pup, get him neutered) and will second the get into some training classes asap! They will teach you even more than they teach him! GSDs are smart cookies and its good to learn how to keep their noggins stimulated (sooner than later!).

I bet you will be smitten with GSDs in no time! You've come to a good place for advice and support!

I too can't wait to see pics!!!


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## Bad LS1 (Feb 2, 2009)

Thanks for all the tips! I see we have a long road ahead of us. The original owners did not train him at all. I don't even think they really had him around anyone other than themselves. 

In just the past two days I have notice a lot about him. He does NOT like males. I had to hold him back when a couple male friends came over. He was barking and wanted to attack them. He doesn't seem to have a problem with the women that came over. 

Whenever he sees someone outside or another animal he wants to break the door down to get to it. 

They did crate train him though. We put it in our room next to our bed. He was up all night whining and whimpering, tossing and turning. He pretty much kept us up all night also. 

His name is Kaiser and here are a few pics of him. I'll also post them in the picture forum.


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

> Quote:In just the past two days I have notice a lot about him. He does NOT like males. I had to hold him back when a couple male friends came over. He was barking and wanted to attack them. He doesn't seem to have a problem with the women that came over.


Training classes now! A good trainer can help you work through this. To help work through this at home, next time you have guests over, have him on leash and instruct the guest to NOT look at Kaiser or talk to him. Have the male guest sit down and ignore Kaiser completely. Arm the guest with a favorite treat like fried bacon or some cheese. Have the guest toss the treats at Kaiser, again without making eye contact or talking. Kaiser may or may not come around at this time. If Kaiser does not, just keep tossing the treats and have the guest leave and repeat sessions like these over and over until Kaiser clearly gets a little excited about the Human Vending Machine coming over. Reserve those special treats just for male guests. If Kaiser gets inquisitive, you can have him sniff the male guest but the male guest should NOT look at him, NOT try to pet him, and SHOULD continue to breathe. The male guest can talk to you so he remains normal. Freezing up and not breathing = bad signs in doggie communication! 

Of course, you should conduct these exercises under the advice of a qualified trainer. If you don't know what you're doing, your guest may get hurt and Kaiser will pay the price. He's probably never been socialized to men or has been abused by them before you got him so he has a lot of baggage to unload. Do remember that you JUST got him so please don't have people over to work on this problem for a few weeks while he settles in and learns to trust you and bonds with you. Take it slow.

And sign up for classes.







You have a gorgeous, athletic-looking boy.


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## Bad LS1 (Feb 2, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: DianaM
> 
> 
> > Quote:In just the past two days I have notice a lot about him. He does NOT like males. I had to hold him back when a couple male friends came over. He was barking and wanted to attack them. He doesn't seem to have a problem with the women that came over.
> ...


Thank you for the awesome reply. I have a bad feeling we may have done this weekend all wrong. My sister and brother in law live next door. They have two sons. My mom lives down the street. Everyone wanted to come over to see him and watch the Superbowl. I have a feeling he just got overwhelmed with everything.


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