# Adopting a Puppy



## jj1987 (Apr 8, 2013)

I'm not sure that this is the right place. My previous GSD passed away not too long ago, after 14 years of amazing memories. I have contacted our breeder, but she had moved out of the area and no longer breeds dogs.

So moving on, my partner prefers adopting a dog for ethical reasons. After my experience with my first, I strongly prefer getting another GSD. I was referred to someone who didn't get his two GSD's fixed because "they never showed interest in each other" (sigh), and they had puppies. Before these guys end up in shelters or crappy homes, I was hoping to adopt one. When I heard about this, it seemed like a happy medium between adopting/rescue and getting a breeder dog. At least this way I have the opportunity to meet the parents, and we both still get the good feeling of knowing we're likely saving one of these guys from a shelter.

I visited the dogs yesterday, and got to meet the parents. The male was very friendly, but the female was growling when we played with her puppies. We requested to play a bit with the male, who was happy to play fetch, go swimming, etc. The female (who was the runt, oddly enough so was my first GSD) was the one that stood out to me, so I attempted the following, going off what I seem to recall from the breeder first visits before and doing a bit of online research.


Clap my hands, she ran over and greeted me.
Picked her up, no squirming.
Rolled her over, no issues at all giving belly scratches.
Eye contact, no hesitance.
Rubbed ears and paws, she didn't seem to mind.
Playfully pushed her around a bit, she didn't seem scared but played back.
Brought a ball and tug a war rope, which interested her, but her mouth was too small for either.
The mom has papers, but the dads papers are "lost". That makes me a little nervous, but the owner was in the process of moving. Judging by the boxes laying around and the fact that I just bought a house recently, I can sympathize with that. I don't plan to show the dogs, but I do expect a German Shepherd desire to please and I really want the intelligence so that they're easy to train for both safety obedience and a few backyard BBQ tricks.


Here's a photo of the parents

















Puppies

















A few questions-

Does anything you see here make you question the pedigree?
Can someone confirm these puppies should be short hairs?
Is there anything else I should look for when playing with the puppies?

She found a lab at a shelter that we're seeing Saturday, so I asked that they hold the puppy I wanted until then. She was already picking out names "in case" we get the GSD, so I think the puppy won her over


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