# What a temperament ...



## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

Just wanted to talk about my boy a little bit. (This will likely be a long thread...)

I love this dog. I really do. He is my heart dog, and he is everything I ever dreamed of and more. His temperament is something I am really, really excited to talk about. Huge kudos to Bill Kulla and Jennifer Acevedo for this exceptional breeding between Hilde and Cayos. Very excited to get my future female from them within a year's time.

He has incredible drive, which was very high in prey at a younger age but maturity is finding him balance between all drives. Training in Schutzhund and obedience (my main focus right now) is incredibly easy and very enjoyable, he loves to work and lives to please me. 

Working ability aside, his temperament is so incredible. Nothing phases him, he is rock solid in terms of nerve. Can do anything, go anywhere, experience any situation. We are always at the farmers market, outdoor festivals, pet stores, he's been to the mall several times, high traffic areas, busy, loud, crazy areas - he is always my stable, clear headed boy. Just the other night he happily walked under a concrete walk way in the middle of the night where the ground was layered in stones of every size. Couldn't see well, had never been there, very uneasy footing, small space, very dark, etc - no problem, no hesitation. Just alert, happy and excited to try something new.

The other day we went to the vet for an examination, and the vet was so impressed with him. He couldn't believe his disposition. I asked Hunter to lay down all the way on his side, and the vet towered over his head and checked him out all over. Hunter just lay there quietly, no concern visible in his body posture. The vet was so impressed he started telling us about his previous German Shepherd. The vet visit before that, we waited in the waiting room with a small jack russell barking non stop at him, a cat and dog wandering around behind the desk, a very sick dog in it's owner's arms - just sat beside me, alert and attentive to me, ignoring the barking dog and waiting for me to be done. I was the one irritated and feeling anxious in the clinic that day, but he was perfectly fine.

He is so driven and lively when we work, but man he is the biggest couch potato and easy going guy at home. When we go on walks (provided he isn't walking with his best friends Stark and Zefra), he calmly walks beside me and ignores the many barking, unstable dogs in our neighbourhood. Doesn't even give them the time of day. He settles beautifully off the field, his on/off switch is utter perfection. Very easy to live with.

He will work with me anywhere. On a field, on the sidewalk, in the pet store, in our building, in our home, at my dad's, in the middle of the city - doesn't bother him. His attention and focus when working is beautiful.

Never, ever, ever shown any degree of aggression to any dog or person. He has laid next to/slept next to a 6 month old baby in my family while she played with her toys, stood over him and touched him. He's great with dogs of all sizes, and for some reason is incredibly calm and gentle with little dogs. 

We like to sit out on the bench in front of our apartment building, right in front of the play ground. Two very young children are his best friends, they like to poke his tongue and talk to him, burying their hands in his chest fur. Hunter just sits there, calm and quiet, watching everything around him.

People are terrified of him. Hunter looks the part of scary police dog - everyone always asks me if he is a police dog. They jump away from him, scream, make loud sharp noises of surprise, and Hunter doesn't seem to notice. Someone on the elevator today jumped away from him and made a loud "OH!!" of surprise. Hunter didn't notice or mind. Then they always say "oh, he's a really nice dog!" after we chat a little and they work up the courage to pet him. 

Have to say though... I have to tell him to "leave it" when we see squirrels and rabbits outside. He's got high prey drive, but has never ignored my 'leave it' command. He'll just throw his tail and head up and watch it while we pass by. If I give him his release command, he'll chase it and try to catch it. 

At the park when I take him to play ball and do some obedience, it doesn't matter if there is a group of dogs playing on one end, and people and kids all over (which is common), he will focus on me and even if I whip that ball across the field and he has to go all the way over there to catch it, he always turns and immediately returns. 

Okay, I better stop... this is getting really long. 

Maybe the reason I am so impressed by him is because I spent five years of my life before getting Hunter working with problem shelter dogs. Maybe it's my career in Animal Care, years of experience working in boarding kennels with dogs that always seemed to have a handful of their own problems, that makes me truly appreciated a good dog. 

Either way, Hunter is a dream dog for me. I am very excited for our training and competitive career - and while I wait for his DM results to come back (which will be normal) I am already excited to do hips and elbows when he turns two. He and I are going to have a lot of fun in the next 13-14 years... (he better live as long as Ufo and Ufo's family!)

I love this dog. He is everything I think a German Shepherd should be. No dog is perfect, I say that over and over again - but he is truly great.

Thanks for reading. 

On Sunday, Hunter is doing his Temperament Test. At the end of next month of October we are hopefully going to get his CD title.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

excellent -


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Wow, you are describing my Wolfy Dog (7.5). Isn't it magical to have a dog like that? I too waited for my dream dog and WD is him!!! Sometimes when I see him running up to me with a retrieve, ear up, eyes focused intently, looking gorgeous, I cannot believe that this Godly creature is my dog. Luckily he behaves like a filthy dog sometimes and eats poop, I guess to keep my feet on the ground.
Enjoy him (I know you do)


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

carmspack said:


> excellent -


!!


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

wolfy dog said:


> Wow, you are describing my Wolfy Dog (7.5). Isn't it magical to have a dog like that? I too waited for my dream dog and WD is him!!! Sometimes when I see him running up to me with a retrieve, ear up, eyes focused intently, looking gorgeous, I cannot believe that this Godly creature is my dog. Luckily he behaves like a filthy dog sometimes and eats poop, I guess to keep my feet on the ground.
> Enjoy him (I know you do)


It is magical. We go to the pet stores and people rave over him. They "never met a German Shepherd like him". I feel so honoured and fortunate to learn from him. He is a great teacher.

Then when Hunter and I work... man, that is beautiful. He does anything I ask of him, he will try anything. He will be a wonderful competition partner in Schutzhund, we are nearly ready for our BH title. We will go for our BH this spring, and shortly after I hope to get his IPO1. He is so enthusiastic about the protection part of it... as most dogs are. His ball drive is really impressive, which makes obedience really fun for me. He is the type of dog who wags his tail while we work, staring deep into my eyes and just waiting for that praise and the ball. 

He will work JUST for praise, which REALLY impresses me. On one of our daily walks we will stop and do the BH routine in the field by the park, and he gets very excited when I praise him at the end and love him up for doing so well.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

I think I may have seen your dog at the "Regionals" - sable dog (confromation) -- drew attention to me noting his prancy confidence .


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

carmspack said:


> I think I may have seen your dog at the "Regionals" - sable dog (confromation) -- drew attention to me noting his prancy confidence .


Yep... lol... don't pay attention to me, please. I was very, very sick that day. My husband had to take over for awhile. We had zero ring experience, just wanted the experience and try for his show rating. He did get his SG despite my terrible newbie handling skills. Was super proud of him, at 13 months old, zero experience, still physically immature. Next show for him will be breed survey - handled by someone who actually knows what they are doing. 
:blush:


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

from the observers point of view -- the dog was pacing the majority of the time -- but so were the others - 
I was not impressed with temperaments over all - so the good ones stood out . Juergen Fischer had a very impressive young newly imported black female.


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

carmspack said:


> from the observers point of view -- the dog was pacing the majority of the time -- but so were the others -
> I was not impressed with temperaments over all - so the good ones stood out . Juergen Fischer had a very impressive young newly imported black female.


I just re-watched the video we took of Hunter doing his show - I don't see him pacing at all, We kept him in a stack up until the end. Then he just stood there. 

I was not impressed with temperaments either, but that's already been discussed in the thread about regionals.

Anyway, if you ever are in the area and want to meet him I'd be glad to meet you! I believe you're in GTA area?


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## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

Angel--

I loved reading that! Your bond with him is evident; and to think it will only get stronger. It makes me even feel good about my pup because he sounds so much like Hunter! He is more social though, and would not yet pass other dogs by on a retrieve off-leash-- I suspect some has to do with my lack of training expertise, in how I socialized him when he was younger (if only I'd known then what I do now, sigh) but genetics too I'm sure. Sometimes show lines get so bashed here that I feel like I have an inferior pup just because he's WGSL. But then I read something like this, see so much of my pup in this (the nerve thing especially- Rocket is phased by nothing and he too goes everywhere, including running with me on a highway with cars screaming by at 70+mph 4 feet from us) and it gives me hope. 

I hope you and Hunter enjoy many wonderful years and adventures together.


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

RocketDog said:


> Angel--
> 
> I loved reading that! Your bond with him is evident; and to think it will only get stronger. It makes me even feel good about my pup because he sounds so much like Hunter! He is more social though, and would not yet pass other dogs by on a retrieve off-leash-- I suspect some has to do with my lack of training expertise, in how I socialized him when he was younger (if only I'd known then what I do now, sigh) but genetics too I'm sure. Sometimes show lines get so bashed here that I feel like I have an inferior pup just because he's WGSL. But then I read something like this, see so much of my pup in this (the nerve thing especially- Rocket is phased by nothing and he too goes everywhere, including running with me on a highway with cars screaming by at 70+mph 4 feet from us) and it gives me hope.
> 
> I hope you and Hunter enjoy many wonderful years and adventures together.


Thank you for reading! I love hearing about stable GSDs... I think my area is really bad for poorly bred GSDs... there are one or two really quality breeders here. 

Yeah, Hunter is great with dogs and people - loves to be social, but he is becoming more and more aloof with age and when it comes to dogs he would MUCH rather play with me, work for me and be with me than other dogs. I really value that. Hunter held a long down (10 minutes) the other day while his best doggie friend ran around him, played ball and such. I was really impressed.

Sounds like Mr. Rocket is a solid boy, too!

Here's to many, many fun years with our dogs.


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## RocketDog (Sep 25, 2011)

Not to mention you know how I feel about Hunter's looks.... He is stunning! How old is he again?


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## Wolfgeist (Dec 4, 2010)

RocketDog said:


> Not to mention you know how I feel about Hunter's looks.... He is stunning! How old is he again?


Don't even get me started on how gorgeous Rocket is. What a man!

Hunter is 16 months on the 26th. Still has a while to fill out, but he's 80lbs now. Hoping he doesn't get TOO much bigger as he fills out, but we'll see. 

Thank you for the compliments!


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## utsavized (Feb 25, 2013)

Wild Wolf said:


> Just wanted to talk about my boy a little bit. (This will likely be a long thread...)
> 
> I love this dog. I really do. He is my heart dog, and he is everything I ever dreamed of and more. His temperament is something I am really, really excited to talk about. Huge kudos to Bill Kulla and Jennifer Acevedo for this exceptional breeding between Hilde and Cayos. Very excited to get my future female from them within a year's time.
> 
> ...


I have been reading about top breeders near Chicago, as well as Show Lines vs. Working Lines for months now. And I have finally narrowed down to two: Bill Kulla and Robin Huerta. After reading tons of amazing stuff about both of them, and hundreds of testimonials, I have come to respect both of them immensely as great breeders. The only reason I am at a dilemma is because I still cannot make up my mind between the working or the show line. I am visiting Bill this Saturday and Robin perhaps mid-March -- Rather than me choosing one of them, I will now rather leave it up to the dogs and the breeders to choose me.

I am looking for a low drive puppy as a companion/pet, as I work full time. I will give him the exercise he/she requires and will train him but probably not go the competition route. It is a great story that you shared, one that exemplifies the German Shepherd as a breed, an ideal pet, and the perfect companion. I would be lucky to have even a shadow of the dog you have in Hunter.

Thank you for sharing.


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## Tom888 (Nov 18, 2012)

Impressive. Now after reading through what he's like I'd be happy to see a post of similar length about how you got there, how did you raise your dog 

(Also, pics are always welcome  )


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