# What is the number of dogs on this forum with issues of some kind



## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I have been here for quite awhile now and as time goes on it seems as though most here have dogs with issues. I am looking to see just how many people here have a GSD with no health and/or temperament issues.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Actually, most don't have issues. What you have to realize is that you're just going to see more questions/threads about dogs with issues than you are about dogs without issues. Like...there's just no reason for me to post questions about my dog since I don't have any issues with him to ask a question about.

So, in summary, my dog is perfectly healthy with no temperament issues. Hips/elbows tested and good, also GSDCA temperament tested, and working on obedience titles.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

Echo has both health and temperament issues (allergies and weak nerves). 

I think that online forums may always be skewed towards more people having dogs with issues, as people come on specifically seeking advice, rather than those with no issues coming on just to share stories, etc.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I am hoping that there are lots here with perfectly healthy GSD's and that they come here to read and do not post as often. I myself have had two GSD's, Floyd RIP had multiple problems and now Gus who has no issues of any kind. They couldn't be more opposite.
As a family we were always stressed somewhat with Floyd mostly worry. He didn't eat well, had EPI, allergies, Dog Aggressive, weak nerves so he did not recover from negative experiences, I could go on and on. He was a big responsibility from waking up to going to bed each night.
Gus however has been so very easy. LOVES his food, no allergies, no health issues to date, no temperament issues, doesn't react to negative situations at all. Stress free and what a difference and impact that has on our family.

I am curious to see what the results show.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

No health issues, in a few months he'll be going for his official OFA's, otherwise healthy as a horse and never had a sick day in his life.

Temperament: rock solid in all aspects (crowds, fireworks, gun, elderly, children, never shied at anything so far). Biddable even when in drive and will cap when needed and loves to learn. He does have a lower threshold when it comes to dogs however, he will bark at most if they're within a 5' radius but responds easily to redirection and a correction if needed and will settle. Knowing the breed standard now I don't think he's completely out of the ordinary in that way but my goal is 100% neutral all the time. It's a work in progress


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

I put not sure, so far so good with Tuke 3+Yo and Ranger 1+Yo, but Zoey does have allergies.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Every once in a while we have icky poop, I'm guessing due to digesting something that shouldn't be digested of at least that is my conclusion. Robyn gets eye boogers every now and then, which I would think is environmental allergies. I don't consider either health issues and both dogs have great temperaments and solid nerves.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Lucky- he has really weak hocks ,and not the best hips but he is almost 12 we think and he's healthy and pretty mobile . He has some fear issues however he is pretty manageable. Daisy lousy nerves but lived to be just shy of her 13th birthhday. She was happiest with her family in her yard and her couch wth an occasional romp in the local park's pond. Neither have or had allergies. Chevy, healthy little girl, great w/ humans but has some allergies . Appears to have nerves of steel however is dog aggressive with unknown dogs. She bite the dog statue at the vets. Thunder great to the point of almost being too friendly with humans. A saint with toddlers. I have never had a dog with serious health issues or rather chronic ones so I cant really say what that would be like . I have to say though Thunder and Chevy's reaction to humans is a blessing. Lucky is much calmer w/ them around in his reaction to folks coming in and out of our house. I didnt vote yet but will say temperment issues with all three. Dog Reactivirty w/ all three and minor health with all three.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I'm probably going to vote the first one, however, a question

When you say no health issues, are you referring to a health issue that is on going? Such as allergies, IBD, Sibo, bad hips, that type of thing..

Reason I ask,,my dogs have gotten 'sick' at times, such as Masi had some mystery illness in the spring and almost died, but I wouldn't say it is something that is ongoing.She's always been otherwise "healthy"..I'm assuming you mean an "ongoing" health issue..(maybe I answered my own question LOL)..

Temperament, I'd say Masi has pretty normal temperament for a gsd..She's no social butterfly that's for sure, but I think, in my opinion her temperament is what a gsd should be.. OK, I'm voting number one)


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Niko, although very healthy, does have some temperament issues. He is very sharp, a bit underconfident, and can be reactive. He is also dog fear aggressive, mostly due to bad puppyhood experiences.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I didn't vote in the poll, but out of my three dogs, only one has allergies and her temperament is not the greatest, but with maturity she's ok...I just can't have her around young children because I haven't been able to train out the reactivity to them. Who wants to subject their child to a reactive GSD? 
None of my dogs have sensitive guts or digestive issues at all. And none have HD. One has a bad dentition, should have been corrected when she was young(if I had her as a pup, I would have gotten her braces!)


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## TAR HEEL MOM (Mar 22, 2013)

I am so lucky. Other than terrible behavior with recall if she gets out, my guy is perfectly healthy and has a great temperament.Of course he is young and who knows what might show in the future?


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## TxQuax (Jul 13, 2013)

Quax will be 6 months on November 3rd so no temperament issues that we are aware of.... our first WL puppy so not sure what to look for at this age. Only real behavior problems are when we are unable to give him enough exercise, which we recognize and do not label as a problem or his fault. He is having a skin/allergy issue we have been trying to identify by eliminating items in his diet....not seeing improvement so made an appointment with a dermatologist for next week. Sure hope it helps....I read so many threads that say many results are inconclusive. I also suspect some bahavior / puppy tantrums could be due to he is itchy and miserable at times. 

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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

JakodaCD OA said:


> I'm probably going to vote the first one, however, a question
> 
> When you say no health issues, are you referring to a health issue that is on going? Such as allergies, IBD, Sibo, bad hips, that type of thing..
> 
> ...


Yep I was thinking same as you, ongoing issues that really shouldn't be there in any dog...not just GSD's.


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## Springbrz (Aug 13, 2013)

Although I haven't been able to afford the testing we are fairly confident that our girl is allergic to chicken and I suspect all poultry/fowl.
We got her at 7 weeks. She's only seven months now so we don't know about her hips/elbows yet. We did notice after we got her home that she had a funny spot (quarter sized)where her fur wasn't the same as the rest or her fur. She still has it and it has grown with her. The skin in her left armpit is different...it looks like scar tissue. And, on the left near her armpit she has a defect in her ribs. All birth defects we assume. But none seems to affect her overall health that we now of. 

Temperament: I think she has weak nerves. She can act fear aggressive toward some dogs but if allowed to meet them she is all fine and puppy plays. Sometimes she is super submissive with dogs. Again, she isn't mature yet so who knows what she will turn out like. Training and management 24/7. 
I feel she could have better temperament but at the same time I know it could be a whole lot worse. I love her with all her imperfections.


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## Jaxx's mom (Jul 14, 2013)

Jaxx has no health OR temperament issues. I mean, if you count barking at dogs when they are outside of our fence that are "playing" with him by running along the other side back and forth with him then he does. I haven't actually seen that many dogs here with health/temperament issues, well at least compared to how many don't  


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## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

My dog and i are working on many behavioral and medical conditions!
*
Behavioral:* 
1.) Cat drive and cannot calm down- she scrambles and whines and scratches to get to them.
2.) Separation Anxiety (seems to be getting better than when i first got her though) 
3.) Fear Aggression to strangers- still working on this one, its very hard to find the right people who want to do it and also for people who can do it, because i ask people not to look straight into her eyes and they do it anyways, etc. So there is however, some improvement!  But there are set backs, like going to the vets,etc.

And i know im forgetting some other behavioral problem, i think its time for bed.. haha 

*Medical:*
1.) At first, Diarrhea most of the time (is all good now)
2.) She has something wrong.. HD, pano, or something (going to be getting x-rays soon to find out whats going on- as she cant run at this point.
3.) Usually a new thing at least once a month is found i feel like! Always something with this girl.. 

*sigh* I need a vacation.. Anyone want to trade dogs for a day?  haha jk I still love her and would miss her immediately after she left!


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## lyssa62 (May 5, 2013)

Roxy has no health issues that I am aware of. Vet says she appears perfectly healthy for a 9 month old german shepherd.

as far as behavioral? -- all sounds like we are right on track for what normal german shepherd puppies behave like. Sometimes she is brilliant and other times her brain goes to mush. But she's perfect to me and that's what matters.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Woolf is healthy. Xrays done a few weeks ago showed good hips, no sign of HD. No allergies unless you consider fish based food makes us open the windows an allergy. Only time we see any limping is when he rounds a corner to fast and smacks his paw, then we see the sad eyes and paw held up, hold some ice to it for a few minutes and he is ready to go again. Nah, he isn't spoiled lol

Temperament - Woolf is my troubled child. Genetic probably, definitely early environmental. FA - DA and can be HA, huge improvement on that. With some maturity at 3 yrs, he has developed some coping skills that doesn't include the cujo dog he was. He is a work in progress.


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## Rbeckett (Jun 19, 2013)

Both of my girls have "Issues". One is reactive to thunder/lightning and the other is very slow to transition. Neither would have been good PTSD dogs, but make excellent pets. 

Wheelchair Bob


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## Arlene/Archer (Mar 7, 2013)

I am the luckiest sucker. Archer is my first GSD. He's an intact male, healthy, fit, and lean. He's extremely easy going, good off and on lead, responds well to training and at 20 months is close to bomb proof around other dogs, even dogs barking up in his face don't phase him a jot. He was never crated a day in his life, has the run of the house yet never destroyed anything, he was house trained at 13 weeks and he really like people, particularly children. I actually love this dog and would never get a different breed again as long as I live.


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## heronponie (Sep 27, 2011)

My guy has no notable health issues, and a good temperament. 

Every vet that's seen him (4 so far) have gone out of their way to comment on how good his temperament is. Our trainers have commented favorably on his temperament as well. 

He's missing a few doggie-social-graces because I failed to socialize him well as a pup. That's hardly his fault, and I wouldn't count it as an "issue".


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

So far it looks like there's a fairly even split of dogs that do and don't have issues.

The fact that every other GSD has a temperament or health problem speaks to why the average joe should NOT be breeding these dogs. We are seeing the fallout of bad, careless, ignorant breeding. Even with good and careful breeding we can still get problems, so if we take out all restrictions and breed willy-nilly, this is what we end up with. Sad.


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## ken k (Apr 3, 2006)

Max has EPI, best temperament & intelligence you can get, Heidi and Lilha both have mental problems, and could not be adopted


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

Man, every dog _alive_ has issues.


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## Sarah~ (Apr 30, 2012)

Eko has few health issues, except he is allergic to fleas and can get skin infections from it. His temperament I am sad to say is not great, he is anxious and is aggressive in a few situations but we are working on it.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Freestep said:


> So far it looks like there's a fairly even split of dogs that do and don't have issues.
> 
> The fact that every other GSD has a temperament or health problem speaks to why the average joe should NOT be breeding these dogs. We are seeing the fallout of bad, careless, ignorant breeding. Even with good and careful breeding we can still get problems, so if we take out all restrictions and breed willy-nilly, this is what we end up with. Sad.


Actually it's *25* dogs without issues and *36* dogs with issues (health/temperment)


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

For my BYB shepherd adopted as a stray.

Temperament= perfect for a GSD. Couldn't ask for a nicer dog.
Health= no genetic issues that I have seen at 7 years old. Hips looks good. No allergies. Has run over 25,000 miles and climbed 100's of mountains. 

All in all, I'd get another like her if I could. Sure, the breed has its problems but there are plenty of solid, healthy GSDs out there.


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## Kaiser2012 (Mar 12, 2012)

Kaiser has reactivity issues but not because of his breeding. They are my fault due to forcing dog parks on him and allowing dogs I didn't know to be around him. He was attacked several tkmes amd now he tries to finish things before they ever start. Now he does have dogs he is perfectly fine with, but if I could go back in time I'd take out the dog parks completely.

He has weak enamel. He has a few crooked teeth (the small ones in his lower jaw between the canines). He is a east-west in his front legs. He has a washed out tan under his belly and his on his lower legs. So...all this is genetic. Parents weren't washed out nor were they longcoats. I personally love the lc so I'm glad kaiser popped out! He was bred from lines that worked and weren't shown. Not good or bad...just is. Could he be more structurally sound? Sure (though I love his topline and withers). Could his nerves be better, yes. However I blame some of it on me. But in the end...he's a freaking awesome dog and has been a wonderful advocate of the breed.

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## LifeofRiley (Oct 20, 2011)

I voted "my dog has health problems." Riley has a lovely temperament. He is, however, epileptic. Thankfully, his seizures are under good control. I often forget that he does have a health problem - but, it is there.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Can't take the poll. On my phone. 

But let's see. 

1st GSD- had one baddish hip. But it never caused her a problem, she lived to 16. Wonderful temperament. 

2nd- healthy as a horse. No health issues, until he passed of Hemangiosarcoma. Great temperament. Once I learned how to deal with him. So not a genetic temperament issue, more a handler issue. 

3rd- very healthy, until this year when she got a horrible stomach infection. But it's not genetic. Just one if those things. Temperament is great, but she can be reactive to other dogs. But not to the extent that she cannot be in public or around them. And she has always been great with foster dogs. 

4th- too young to know for sure yet. But so far, temperament is amazing. Having some teeth issues, but as he grows his jaw is evening out, so I don't think it will be an issue. Don't know yet about hips/elbows. So far not allergies, or any thing else. He is 9mo. 

I think a lot of what we see and call temperament faults are not. They are training issues. They are the culmination if innattentive and improper handling and training. Had you asked me this question 10 years ago, I would have said my male is dangerously dominant and sharp. But proper training and guidance and he was not. 


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I would agree many behavior issues are not genetic but many people will state a bad experience was the cause of a poor behavior when in essence the dog should have been able to recover from the experience thus back to genetics.
I blamed myself for my last GSD's DA but after doing much reading and being able to now understand some of his other behaviors, he was weak nerved and reactive. He did not recover properly from many other experiences.
It's not always easy to link or put together.


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## TrickyShepherd (Aug 15, 2011)

2/3 have issues here. Both health and temperament.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

it honestly boggles my mind that there is almost as many temperament issues in this poll vs dogs that are ok Kinda sad. 

None of my dogs have / were perfect, and I had one 'fear biter', who was managed very well, and I count myself lucky that I've never had a dog with constant health issues...sure an illness here and there, usually each dog I've had / had one major illness/sickness in it's lifetime that was not a death sentence. 

I dunno, just sad reading that so many have 'issues'


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

A year ago, I would have voted allergies. But this year he's fine. Did he outgrow them, lol? Or were his symptoms exacerbated by his (assuming chicken) food intolerance? IDK, but whatever did it, he's fine now. I want to give him the benefit of maturing before commenting on his temperament, because he's silly right now and I know from past experience that they do change considerably.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

You do have to question what some people consider a "temperament issue" tough. Like...my dog is pretty social. He'd be considered a social butterfly which is technically not the breed standard...but is that an issue? IMO its not...I'd rather have an overly friendly dog over a DA or reactive dog any day. And...as social as he is, if another dog gets on his nerves, or crosses the line...he can give the dog a correction and has no problems getting into a scruff. Do I like it when he gets into a scruff? Not at all...but he's a confident, intact male, GSD, and I feel like that's something that is also alright. I try to manage it and make sure that it doesn't get to that level...and at the end of the day I don't think its a true issue.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

I agree, but I also believe (from my own experience) that we can train our dogs to be friendly in certain situations. My previous GSD was a Therapy Dog and everyone who met him in that context thought he was super friendly. He was very gregarious when he was with me at work too - he could have been a Walmart greeter, lol. But when he was loose in our yard he was totally different, and could scare the dickens out of people. I don't think many of the dogs get the opportunity to show just how versatile they can be.


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## Mikelia (Aug 29, 2012)

My boys are both healthy and have good temperaments. I have a hard time keeping weight on Cajun but there is no medical reason for it - I think he is just really high energy.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would also wonder, if some of the temp/behavior issues seen are handler issues and/or dogs that are not a good match .


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

JakodaCD OA said:


> I would also wonder, if some of the temp/behavior issues seen are handler issues and/or dogs that are not a good match .


I would also say that a lot of " temperament issues" are labeled as weak nerves and such because it takes some responsibility off of the handler. " it's genetic" is easier to handle than, "man I messed this pup up". 

Not saying that there are NOT a number of dogs with weak nerves and true temperament issues. But I have some dogs that were labeled as such change and thrive in a proper environment. 

There is also no such thing as a dog that has zero issues. Every dog has their quirks. I have never met a single dog that only ever went to vet for well visits. Everyone ends up with something. But it's not all genetic. 


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## ladyb (Oct 11, 2013)

My vet says that my GSD is the "nicest she has seen in a long time." Just turning 1...no issues, lovely temperament...she's wonderful!









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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

ladyb said:


> My vet says that my GSD is the "nicest she has seen in a long time." Just turning 1...no issues, lovely temperament...she's wonderful!


Mine has said the same thing about my dogs. I like that.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

My Vet was astonished with Gus. Didn't like the mouthing when she examined his feet and ears. He was 20 weeks...meh I corrected and moved on.
She was amazed at his coat, muscle and health until the feeding discussion came about. She clearly stated I was putting him and my family in danger by preparing raw meat in my house. I proceed to ask if she was a Vegan....not funny it seemed.


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