# GSD puppy advice



## steve617 (Oct 20, 2012)

Next spring we are planning on getting our fist GSD. We live onafarm in east TN and have had several dogs in the past mostly smaller dogs such as border collies and shelties. Our new pup will mainly be my daughters who is in college but lives with us. She wants to wait till spring since her school schdule will gives her several off days and she is taking the summer off. We looked at 2 local breeders one had 1 male and 1 female. He did not pay much time to the dogs and said that is their first and last litter. Another had 2 studs and 4 or 5 females. The one male that they used mostly was huge probably 150 lbs no ofb and just had a bad feeling about them. We arelooking for more of a companion but also smart don,t want one thats goin gto be 150 lbs. Mostly looking for smart, healthy and good quality but want something that has good diposition. Just wondering the the breeders that competes in the shultzhund still produce good disposition pups for companion pets. Thanks for any advice.


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## jnr (Feb 3, 2012)

*Look at the "sticky" on choosing a breeder*

This has been covered extensively, but to restate, avoid the folks who are doing a one time mating, and I would also avoid a breeder with huge dogs, which are far outside of the standard. 

Take a look at the advice here as a start:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/choosing-breeder/137533-things-look-responsible-breeder.html


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## Jrnabors (Sep 7, 2012)

We got ours from a Tennessee breeder whose dogs are known for protection sports. Ours is a mixed bag. She is neither aggressive nor affectionate to people, and is about the same with dogs, although she is very food protective around our other dog. She is pretty big and powerful and I had to use a prong collar and will probably be moving on to an E-collar for remote correction of some things like staying in the yard. She hasn't been hard to train, but hardly self trained. She would have been better off as a police dog or Schutzhund dog, which is what she was bred for, and not the family companion we needed. I totally understand looking at these breeders because they are good and in the area, but I really wish there had been a reputable breeder in the area that specializes in companion, family GSD's with less drive and a more affectionate disposition. So I don't blame the dog for being the way she is. If I had it to do all over again I probably wouldn't do it unless I specifically wanted a dog to compete in Schutzhund.


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