# Public Perception Issues with German Sherpherd - New to the Breed



## Robert Moeller (Mar 21, 2017)

Hello. Hopefully this isn't too crazy for a first post. My wife and I are experienced dog owners, and about a month ago we adopted our first german sherpherd (Blue). She's a four year old female blue shepherd - about 55 pounds.. Absolutely great temperament. We have no idea why she was surrendered. 


We travel with our dogs a lot. We took Blue for her first big trip to Key West. We did muzzle her, just as a precaution. She has not misbehaved, nor shown ANY signs of aggression on this trip. However, the past two days we have had the worst comments from people, been told to leave public sidewalks by shop owners on Duval, and have basically had our trip ruined by being cursed at and bad comments almost hourly. Believe me, my wife and I have a thick skin, but this had been ridiculous. A black female security guard outside of the Bull told us never to walk Blue by her bar sidewalk again since back during times of slavery, german shepherds were used to hunt down runaway slaves and you won't find a black person not afraid of a german shepherd. I've been standing outside of multiple stores (on the public sidewalk) with Blue standing next to me, and shop owners came out and told me (with a few cursing) that I need to get that violent dog away from their storefront. (One even told me that it's clear I can't control my dog since I have to muzzle her.) Another couple at dinner (where dogs are allowed) told us Blue was disturbing their dinner since she was "looking at them." What the heck is going on? We're scared to take her out anymore. In the past we've had a corgi, a lab, and currently own a pug. We've never had any comments even remotely like this. Does anyone have any advice? Ironically, Blue is the best behaved of all the dogs we've ever owned, but so many people seem to hate her. Is this just something we have to get used to?


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Wow, I don't know what to say about people's behaviour. I've never had negative encounters over my dog(s) - but I live in Canada, we're just a more polite bunch, LOL. 

The "Black being afraid of GSDs because they were used to hunt-down run-away slaves" is just a bunch of bull, since the GSD breed was first founded at the beginning of the 1900's, a good 40 years after Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation, and no GSD even existed then. 

Just weird, I think?


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

The muzzle may be what is scaring them, making them think she is a biter or could bite.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

Yeah that's what I thought too, Deb.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Julian, I deleted your post - I was specifically addressing the "run-away-slave" issue (historically innacurate). Let's not go into other socio-political topics, as for one, these kind of political posts are against board rules.


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

The muzzle, her coloring and her size, I suspect. Not to excuse or justify the rudeness you encountered, but some folks don't know what blue is and mistake it for black which is often perceived to be a threatening color in dogs. So, it's not surprising that folks would perceive a 'black' shepherd wearing a muzzle to be a threat and behave, unfortunately, very stupidly. My Rachel, who's on the smallish side and still clearly an adolescent, can clear a sidewalk, especially if she's "on the muscle." She's got an almost black mask with a good deal of black in her coat. Has nothing to do with the dog's actual behavior and is almost a classic example of projection.

Nothing excuses the rudeness though. I'd complain to whatever department promotes tourism. 


Aly


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## KaiserAus (Dec 16, 2016)

Could it be because she is muzzled that people think she is a dangerous dog... maybe she would get a better reception from people if she wasn't wearing a muzzle?
Does she have to wear one?


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## kimbale (Mar 7, 2017)

I agree with what everyone else is saying here about the muzzle. A friend of mine lives in Key West and has a German Shepherd, a Belgian Malinois and a Pitty and never gets that kind of reaction when she's out with them. I'd be concerned the muzzle is causing the wrong perception. 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

I think there's more going on here than the muzzle, but it was part of it. I think there's something much more complicated (and Southern) going on. Robert, I sent you a PM with my attempt to explain and translate. You may have to post a few more times to be able to read the PM though.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Robert Moeller said:


> you won't find a black person not afraid of a german shepherd.


Oh???? WOW ... that is certainly going to come as news to "Rocky???" Hopefully he'll be able to get over the shock??? :surprise:


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## cdwoodcox (Jul 4, 2015)

Sounds like you need to find a new place to vacation. These people sound like a bunch of whiny fruit cakes. If you make it back by the sidewalk bar with the crazy lady scared of dogs. Tell her that you did indeed find a black person who isn't afraid of GSD's. He's in Ft. Wayne IN. His 12 yr old daughter isn't scared either. His name is Ronnie. Daughters name is Paige. I never knew how brave those two are. Amazing.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I agree that it might be the muzzle. I know that just putting a black working harness on my black and tan can change people's perception. My long haired dog gets a welcome more often than my stock coat (granted, he is better behaved, too). 
I understand why you muzzled her. You need to make sure she is bomb proof. I wonder what would happen if you took small walks with no muzzle but put a pretty bandanna on her instead. Just an experiment.


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

I'm calling bs on the post.


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## Remo (Sep 8, 2004)

Swap the muzzle for a brightly colored bandana and I bet you will get fewer bad reactions.

Remo, my heart and soul dog, was an abnormal giant of a dog. His size alone made most people cross the street to avoid walking by us. Once I started letting him carry his beloved hot pink Frisbee along on our walks, it really seemed to make him less intimidating to others. The "stink-eye" factor was almost eliminated.

Other suggestion - take your next vacation in Corolla in Outer Banks NC. Lots of dog friendly places to rent are available right on the beach!


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

Wow, that's awful. I've never had such hostile reactions from people. When I've told work acquaintances I was planning to get a GSD puppy, I've had people wrinkle their lips and say, "why"? I've had scared people ask me if my leashed and heeling dog was under control and then cross the road to get as far away as possible from us. But mostly we've had positive encounters. Lots of people like to stop us and talk about their own shepherds or shepherds they've had in the past, or ask to pet the dogs. Maybe there are a lot of poorly bred and trained GSDs in that area or something. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience.


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## John C. (Mar 6, 2013)

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Key West is one of my favorite places, although I've never visited with my dogs.

As a GSD owner you are occasionally going to get negative reactions from people, even people who own dogs themselves. Part of the problem is that there are poorly socialized nerve bag GSD's out there that give the breed a bad name. Over the years I've had at least half a dozen people come up to me and tell me that either they or their dog was attacked/bitten by a GSD.

And of course there is the fact that GSD's are often police/military dogs. And don't even get me started with the way GSD's are sometimes portrayed in movies - either they are evil attack dogs or they're good dogs that end up getting killed by bad guys/zombies

I also agree that the muzzle probably made things a lot worse, and like the suggestion that you put a brightly colored bandana on the dog.

Finally, as far as all black people being scared of GSD's - two of the top schutzhund trainers I know are African American, so that's kind of ridiculous.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I heard on this forum -there was specific type of bloodhound - Cuban bloodhound which that was used to hunt, track and attack slaves. They were not like the bloodhounds we know today. The breed is extinct. Possible the person views all dogs the same.


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## Shooter (Nov 19, 2016)

John C. said:


> ....
> 
> And of course there is the fact that GSD's are often police/military dogs. And don't even get me started with the way GSD's are sometimes portrayed in movies - either they are evil attack dogs or they're good dogs that end up getting killed by bad guys/zombies
> 
> ...


Speaking of black folks and GSDs in movies..... I had read somewhere that when Will Smith did "I Am Legend" that he fell in love with that German Shepherd and tried to buy her from the owners but they wouldn't sell.

Not relevant to the subject but that is your factoid for today.

Like one of my bosses told me once... I'm full of useless knowledge and that only makes me valuable at a party when everyone is intoxicated. :surprise:


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## Dracovich (Feb 24, 2017)

I would not muzzle a dog that has not showed signs of aggression, it also looks intimidating, despite actually being safer for the public.

I've only ever experienced desperate avoidance, most people compliment my dog, but I live in a very heavily 'Pit Bull' populated area and I think generally people are pretty accepting of dogs.

I have definitely experienced more avoidance with my black GSD than any other dog I have had. People think my Great Pyrenees is a cuddle bear they must touch. Countless times I have heard kids ask their parents or me if they can pet my dog (the GSD) and their parents either yank them away quickly or tell their child no. Fair enough though, they don't know my dog, but I'm willing to bet if it were my Pyrenees they wouldn't have said no.

Take off the muzzle and give us an update


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Fun fact from the movie -I am legend. The puppy scene. There was an original pup that did not work out so well so they found the Gsd pup from New Jersey. 
In the beginning of the movie -the puppy not the dog was from a breeder in New Jersey which one of the dogs from Max's breeder was part of that breeding.


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## Robert Moeller (Mar 21, 2017)

cloudpump said:


> I'm calling bs on the post.


Wow. That was completely unexpected. I'm reaching out for help and now being accused of lying. I'm military, past law enforcement, and nothing close to a liar. Is this going to be typical on this forum? Hopefully not. Comments like that are inappropriate and not productive. Trust me, I have more important things to do with my time than make up some story to get attention. If you have something productive to say that will help my situation, I'd appreciate it.


Thanks to everyone else for the advise. We spoke with someone last night, and she said too that she believes it's the muzzle. Her muzzle makes her look like Hannibal Lecter. It's the giant plastic cage type where she can still eat, drink, pant, etc. We're going to try walking her without it. A couple of weeks ago by the beachfront in Ft. Pierce someone (who was drunk) came up from behind Blue and half picked her up from behind to take a selfie with her (before we could stop him) when she wasn't muzzled. All she did was try to squirm away. Hopefully, this shows she has a very good temperament to the unexpected.


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## Robert Moeller (Mar 21, 2017)

cdwoodcox said:


> Sounds like you need to find a new place to vacation. These people sound like a bunch of whiny fruit cakes. If you make it back by the sidewalk bar with the crazy lady scared of dogs. Tell her that you did indeed find a black person who isn't afraid of GSD's. He's in Ft. Wayne IN. His 12 yr old daughter isn't scared either. His name is Ronnie. Daughters name is Paige. I never knew how brave those two are. Amazing.



Small world! I grew up in Ft. Wayne. Went to Concordia Lutheran H.S. Yea, the slavery comment was ridiculous. That's why I mentioned it - to show the craziness of the comments I received here. :wink2:


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## goldenlyre (Mar 15, 2017)

I agree with everyone here about the muzzle. If there aren't any signs of aggression, don't put on a muzzle. In my experience with breeds that are *not* GSD, however, I've found that if my dog is so aggressive that he/she needs to wear a muzzle around the general public and is not trained enough to at least 'leave it' or some other training tool, I wouldn't be bringing my dog around groups of people in the first place. I don't know, maybe it's just me but I was raised around "aggressive breeds" and owned two APBTs myself and if you ask my opinion, the GSD doesn't need any bad publicity to be in public and a threat to just general passerby. That's just me, I've emphasized that I have zero experience with GSD when it comes to this, but I've had a world of experience with public perception when it comes to working dogs or those the media dubs as "aggressive".


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## SamsontheGSD (Dec 23, 2016)

Magwart said:


> I think there's more going on here than the muzzle, but it was part of it. I think there's something much more complicated (and Southern) going on. Robert, I sent you a PM with my attempt to explain and translate. You may have to post a few more times to be able to read the PM though.


I have lived in the South and had Shepherds most of my life. Never had anything remotely close to this happen. In fact, I've never been asked to leave anywhere with obe of our dogs, but have been allowed in many places dogs typically aren't welcome.

Never been to Key West, but S FL is generally only "southern" in cardinal direction.


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## Diegotxe (Feb 26, 2015)

OP it sucks you had so many negative encounters with Blue on your trip. I agree with some of the other people and think it was the muzzle. But I think it was good that you were proactive in not taking chances. I took my GS everywhere, including work. I never had such terrible encounters like that. But my pup was never muzzled and did occasionally wear a bandana ? The 'worst' was people going out of their way to not walk near us, wide berthing...And that was with me having him in a sit/stay position on the side of the trail or sidewalk. Or we'd get a scowling look from time to time. What's sad is he was well behaved and ignored strangers after checking them out. Not aggressive, lunging, barking or out of control. Nothing that would warrant negative reactions from someone else. People judge no matter what, right or wrong. Just take the experience and keep going head up. Enjoy your Blue, the positives of GS ownership far outweigh the bad. Well, to me anyway ?


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

I am in Canada. The snotty, ignorant comments I get about Shadow are beyond ridiculous. She is muzzled off the property because people feel a need to touch her. 
But Sabi was a lover and never muzzled and I had people scream and run from her. I think people are juat stupid. And you cant fix stupid. 
Tell them to keep their personal opinions personal and move on.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

GSDs were not used to hunt down runaway slaves, hounds were. GSDs were and are used by police for riot control. This may cause this racial perception. GSDs did not even exist until the beginning of the nineteenth century.


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## Dracovich (Feb 24, 2017)

In other countries they are used to enforce curfew, which means people from third world countries often fear them, but that doesn't have to do with slavery. My Japanese grandmother is afraid of black dogs, not GSDs but black dogs in general, my grandfather (her husband) owned a lot of GSDs and she didn't mind them. Dark coated dogs have a stigma, they even have a much more difficult time being adopted than lighter dogs.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

> GSDs did not even exist until the beginning of the nineteenth century.


I'm sure you meant to say the beginning of the 20th century.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Thanks. I meant to say the beginning of the nineteen hundreds. *** Removed by Admin ***


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

I removed general comments about how different people react to GSDs - it is racist and is off topic from the historical discussion of the time frame of the Slaving Era, and the introduction of the GSD to the United States.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

Castlemaid said:


> Wow, I don't know what to say about people's behaviour. I've never had negative encounters over my dog(s) - but I live in Canada, we're just a more polite bunch, LOL.
> 
> The "Black being afraid of GSDs because they were used to hunt-down run-away slaves" is just a bunch of bull, since the GSD breed was first founded at the beginning of the 1900's, a good 40 years after Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation, and no GSD even existed then.
> 
> Just weird, I think?


I'm too lazy to go look this up, but in my city there was actual public outcry over putting an off leash dog area adjacent to a park named for Martin Luther King, Jr. The reasoning given was that police dogs (GSDs and others) were used to intimidate civil rights protestors, and it was disrespectful to put a dog park there. I can't say I understand enough to say whether that feeling makes sense, so I don't really swing one way or another in opinion. I will say I would not automatically expect someone to be afraid of my dog strictly based on their background; that seems like an unfair judgment on my part.

OP, I run into plenty of people of all backgrounds who are afraid of my dog or don't like her or don't want her near them because she is a GSD. I also run into plenty of people who fall all over her because she is a GSD. All I can do is take her out and enjoy her, not let other people's fears dictate where I take her as long as she's allowed/invited to be there, and recognize that I may have to be a little bit sensitive sometimes if someone has a genuine fear, within reason of course (I won't keep her home from somewhere she's allowed just because someone's afraid of her, but I also won't force that person to keep close quarters with her and she'll be leashed so she can't get near them unless they invite her to say hello). This is simply life with a well known breed with a well known reputation. She and I are breed ambassadors everywhere we go, whether we want to be or not.


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