# Purebred puppy? Opinions



## pvolb (Jul 1, 2015)

Hello all,

I've read through several posts and various spots on the forum and I'm not positive if I'm posting this in the correct place, so please feel free to correct me and move if I've guessed wrong.

Attached is a picture of a 5 month old boy that we're told is a purebred GSD. This puppy was neglected by it's owners who surrendered the dog to a friend that is involved with a rescue without its papers because he chewed a few things inside of their home, though supposedly papers do exist (I have my doubts, but can't verify). My wife and I are picking this dog up for free tomorrow and going straight to a vet to make sure he is in good health, but my question for those more knowledgeable is does he "look like a purebred" to you? We recently had to put down our 10.5 year old purebred girl, and have just put a deposit on a purebred girl to pick up on 7/25 from a very reputable breeder. This guy kind of fell into our laps though and if we can get him into our home prior to his making his way into the rescue system then we'd love to do it.

We're not looking to breed our dogs or anything like that, so technically it does not matter if he's a purebred or not, but having had experience with the breed before and getting ready to welcome a new puppy into our home at the end of the month, I'd like to have as good of an understanding of what this new puppy is as I can. He looks purebred to me, but it's just a hunch, and I am fully aware the only way to really know is to have documentation through paperwork with the AKC (or other agency).

Thank you.


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## lexiz (Apr 4, 2015)

Hello! Welcome to the forum! In my un-professional opinion, he is purebred. Our purebred girl looks just like him. Such a sweet face!


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

You say you don't care. You mention "purebred' 6 times in your post talking about your past, present and future dogs,yet you say it doesn't matter?

You mention "your getting it for free". You say you have no intention of breeding. 

Sorry- this doesn't pass the sniff test.....


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## lexiz (Apr 4, 2015)

Stonevintage said:


> You say you don't care. You mention "purebred' 6 times in your post talking about your past, present and future dogs,yet you say it doesn't matter?
> 
> You mention "your getting it for free". You say you have no intention of breeding.
> 
> Sorry- this doesn't pass the sniff test.....


I got the vibe that the poster was trying to explain that he/she doesn't have experience with any dogs other than GSDs, so it would be helpful to know if the dog is a mix so that he/she could know what to expect a little more fully. That was my perspective, I could be wrong.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

lexiz said:


> I got the vibe that the poster was trying to explain that he/she doesn't have experience with any dogs other than GSDs, so it would be helpful to know if the dog is a mix so that he/she could know what to expect a little more fully. That was my perspective, I could be wrong.


So, if the pup is so close to pure GSD that he can't tell and we can't tell without better photos, the deal's off, because he's concerned about a small mix? What part of expectation on training could be a concern when you're most likely talking about a 90% pure???? How could you train differently or prepare differently?


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## lexiz (Apr 4, 2015)

I find it comforting to do extensive research about any breed I might adopt. It just helps to feel prepared.


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## pvolb (Jul 1, 2015)

lexiz said:


> I got the vibe that the poster was trying to explain that he/she doesn't have experience with any dogs other than GSDs, so it would be helpful to know if the dog is a mix so that he/she could know what to expect a little more fully. That was my perspective, I could be wrong.


Lexiz is correct. We've got limited experience with dogs other than our girl who passed very recently from cancer. I noted purebred so many times because I want to make it clear that is what I'm familiar with, and if he's pure then I feel I have a decent expectation of his temperament. Actually, my big fear is that he'll be aggressive to the new puppy coming home at the end of July and I want to go as far as I can with ruling out that as a possibility beforehand. If there is a chance that he is ill or violent then we will not bring him home.

My apologies if I came off as anything other than wondering what we're getting. This dog was literally brought to our attention about six hours ago and since we had such good luck with the breed the first time, we'd like to stick with it if at all possible.


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## lexiz (Apr 4, 2015)

pvolb said:


> Lexiz is correct. We've got limited experience with dogs other than our girl who passed very recently from cancer. I noted purebred so many times because I want to make it clear that is what I'm familiar with, and if he's pure then I feel I have a decent expectation of his temperament. Actually, my big fear is that he'll be aggressive to the new puppy coming home at the end of July and I want to go as far as I can with ruling out that as a possibility beforehand. If there is a chance that he is ill or violent then we will not bring him home.
> 
> My apologies if I came off as anything other than wondering what we're getting. This dog was literally brought to our attention about six hours ago and since we had such good luck with the breed the first time, we'd like to stick with it if at all possible.


I know how you feel. It's always nerve wracking to bring a new dog into the home. Good luck!


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## pvolb (Jul 1, 2015)

Also, that is the only photo we were provided, so yes I am flying blind a little on this one. I can post more photos tomorrow evening once he is with us. We've got very little to go on with this and "rescuing" wasn't even on my radar earlier today. 

Again, my apologies if I came off as less than genuine.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

Sorry for the concern about your intentions. I'm just not sure how a pup that may be 90% or 95% or 100% would make that much of a difference? You are concerned but you have plans to bring a 2nd GSD pup onboard shortly. I just don't get it. ?

Can you take this free one on and get another one when this pup's trained? As far as judging temperament in any GSD puppy. I have owned four in forty years and each have been totally different in temperament, methods of training etc.

To me, taking two GSD pups on at one time would be a challenge I would not attempt, even if one was only 95% - it would be very difficult, expecially if you had very different temperaments.


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

pvolb said:


> Lexiz is correct. We've got limited experience with dogs other than our girl who passed very recently from cancer. I noted purebred so many times because I want to make it clear that is what I'm familiar with, and if he's pure then I feel I have a decent expectation of his temperament. Actually, my big fear is that he'll be aggressive to the new puppy coming home at the end of July and I want to go as far as I can with ruling out that as a possibility beforehand. If there is a chance that he is ill or violent then we will not bring him home.
> 
> My apologies if I came off as anything other than wondering what we're getting. This dog was literally brought to our attention about six hours ago and since we had such good luck with the breed the first time, we'd like to stick with it if at all possible.


I can see what you are trying to say. Would the deal be off if he wasn't a purebred or is this just wanting more information??

In the end, IMO, this looks like a purebred, but even if it isn't you would and should be able to tell it's temperament when you meet him and go from there.. the other breed that could possibly be in there shouldn't have much effect on whether it will be good with your new puppy. That determination will be due to how it was raised for the first months of it's life so far and what you continue to do with him afterward. If he is pretty stable and you have a good handle on training, I think you will be just fine. 

Second, I feel it's necessary to bring up since I know that others will eventually, you said you were getting another puppy at the end of July.. are you going to be able to properly deal with two growing puppies at the same time? Seperate everything with supervised play time. That seems to be a common theme recently. A lot of people don't realize the difficulty of 2 puppies being raised together. They tend to think of the other puppy as a good friend and they can just do everything together which isn't really a good idea until they are older. Have you also considered the gender of the puppy you are getting? Sorry, not meaning to pry or insult, if you've already thought this out, but those are my first questions when you started to mention another puppy you are getting in July.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Good luck, you sound like you will be committed and provide a good home. I know of hundreds even thousands of people who have 2,3, or even 4 dogs that live with them. German Shepherds I haven't found to be so difficult that two cant be raised well with a committed and earnest owner. Your dog appears purebred and if this is your first one familiarize yourself with the standard and see if you can enroll him/her in obedience or AKC activities....you will find others there with 2,3,4 GS also. Best of luck!


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Your puppy looks pure-bred to me.

I'm sorry that some posters feel the need to challenge new members on a regular basis, THAT I don't get. Being curious about the background or a rescue is normal, doesn't mean that the owner is not going to love the dog and value it any more or less.  

Hope you stay on and share pics!


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

Castlemaid said:


> Your puppy looks pure-bred to me.
> 
> I'm sorry that some posters feel the need to challenge new members on a regular basis, THAT I don't get. Being curious about the background or a rescue is normal, doesn't mean that the owner is not going to love the dog and value it any more or less.
> 
> Hope you stay on and share pics!


Hope I didn't come off as challenging the OP  Not sure if I was included in that or not, but I do hope the member stays around, I just am a very inquisitive person.. sometimes it's comes off wrong (especially with just text).


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

LOL! No, not you at all! Your post was very helpful and brought up some good points.


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

Castlemaid said:


> LOL! No, not you at all! Your post was very helpful and brought up some good points.


ok good, lol. I hate when I say something that gets taken the wrong way.. lol.

Back to the OP


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## pvolb (Jul 1, 2015)

wyoung2153 said:


> ok good, lol. I hate when I say something that gets taken the wrong way.. lol.
> 
> Back to the OP


Thanks for all of the responses.

Wyoung, your post was extremely useful and brought up concerns that neither myself nor my wife had considered regarding two puppies at the same time. Reading it prompted me to further read into raising two and I was not previously aware that many (most) experts recommend against it. We're leaning heavily towards briefly fostering this guy until he finds a permanent home due to your note and the reading that I did subsequent to seeing it. Had this situation come up last week we would have taken this guy and not had a second thought, but we've since put a deposit down on another and I'm really questioning whether we can give two puppies the attention and training they need. Having fully trained dogs is our intent since that's what we're used to and it never crossed my mind that having two may be detrimental to their training/our relationship with them/their relationship with each other/etc. 

Thanks again.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

I think your biggest concern should be with raising two puppies. Be prepared in advance for a long, uphill battle.


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## Kahrg4 (Dec 19, 2012)

LoveEcho said:


> I think your biggest concern should be with raising two puppies. Be prepared in advance for a long, uphill battle.


This was my thought as well. I would pick to keep only one of the pups. Maybe the breeder can hold your deposit for a year or so and put it towards a different litter then. I would not choose to have two puppies so close in age at the same time. Recipe for disaster in my book.


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## wyoung2153 (Feb 28, 2010)

pvolb said:


> Thanks for all of the responses.
> 
> Wyoung, your post was extremely useful and brought up concerns that neither myself nor my wife had considered regarding two puppies at the same time. Reading it prompted me to further read into raising two and I was not previously aware that many (most) experts recommend against it. We're leaning heavily towards briefly fostering this guy until he finds a permanent home due to your note and the reading that I did subsequent to seeing it. Had this situation come up last week we would have taken this guy and not had a second thought, but we've since put a deposit down on another and I'm really questioning whether we can give two puppies the attention and training they need. Having fully trained dogs is our intent since that's what we're used to and it never crossed my mind that having two may be detrimental to their training/our relationship with them/their relationship with each other/etc.
> 
> Thanks again.


Very happy that you got what I meant  I know we tend to think better 2 than one.. and I was of the same mentality of it not being too big of a deal. "they could be friends, and have company when I am gone!" and of course many of us grew up that way too, my parents did it, so I can too.. not realizing that what I want out of a single dog takes complete dedication and undivided attention. It is very possible to have 2 with someone who understands the true difficulties and can dedicate all the time and rotations between the pups. 

The fostering sounds like a good idea. I might even offer a time limit to the fostering so they can expedite finding the right home before it's time to bring your new pup home. That or as another posted, see if the breeder will hold the deposit for another puppy down the road when this guy is a little older.


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