# Help!



## Alyssa Pullen (Jul 3, 2018)

I'm going to be adopting a male German Shepherd Puppy 6 or 11 weeks old and I have already done a whole bunch of research on German Shepherds but now comes the hard part. Picking a German Shepherd breed! So I have been looking at all 5 all day and can't decide which one is best for me so I need help! So I live in a family of four and is going to be a family of five soon when my stepdad comes back home. I'm 14 years old and I still go to school so I won't have all the time in the world but I'm going to spend every second with him in the morning and when I get back from school and I'm going to exercise him around two hours per day and give him lots of loving. I need a German Shepherd that doesn't need a ton of training just enough training to give him the best life that he can live and always make him happy and well behaved! I have heard that Working Lines are too much for families and and need tons and tons of training so I don't know if a Working Line German Shepherd will be best for me. If I got a Show Lines German Shepherd do I have to enter him in shows for his lifestyle? Or can I just exercise him and give him lots of loving and will that be good and healthy for him? Can I train a Show Lines German Shepherd to defend me and my family or no? Please help!


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## Rubyjane77 (May 27, 2018)

You don’t need to enter showline in shows. Spending time with him and giving him exercise is enough. Seems you have that covered. 

But be aware that unless he is trained you can’t trust him wandering in the house alone. No telling what sort of mischief the pup would get into. 

I find GSD are easier to train than even Labradors. Have fun.


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Are you off school for the whole summer? If so that will give you good bonding time with your new dog. If you have extended school year, keep in mind that 7 hours will be too long for pups that age range to be crated or unattended. Crated is best. Will someone be home to let them out and feed them often enough? 

Just a few questions- are you choosing between 5 German Shepherds puppies that are up for adoption? What is their back story? Sounds like quite an age range, 6 to 11 weeks. Are these in a shelter or foster care?

If that is the case I would ask which one has spent the most time with it's dam? The longer the better. If they are adoptees you probably would not get very accurate info regarding the lines, I would just spend time with each and see which one likes to focus on you the most. Getting their focus is the foundation of all training. 

And I hate to sound condescending, I don't mean to be, but I assume your mom and step dad are involved in the decision making for picking the new family members? Everyone here will try to help you best they can, but it is real important for all family members to be on board with the choice of new pup


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## Pytheis (Sep 23, 2016)

Please do not bring a puppy home before he/she is 8 weeks old. Bringing them home sooner generally causes issues that you do not seem equipped to deal with or want to deal with. They require more training in a lot of cases! If you are in the United States, it is also illegal in some states to bring a puppy home before 8 weeks anyway. Make sure you double check your state.

Also, I am very concerned that you want a GSD to do the bare minimum training with. That will not work. This breed is one that needs LOTS of training for its entire life. You cannot have an out of control German shepherd, and if you only want to do a tiny bit of training, you will have an out of control dog. We really don't need more of those running around. All German shepherds need a lot of training. All of them.

I think you may need to look into another breed or seriously reevaluate. I'm not trying to be negative or come across like I think you don't know what you're doing, but I am concerned for you, your family, and the dog.


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