Posted: 8/18/2024 12:23:47 PM EDT
| For a few months the wife and I have been wanting to get a GSD puppy. We currently have a GSD that will be 8 in November. Which I have had since she was 8 weeks old, and several years before me and the wife got together. Found a breeder a few hours away. With the body characteristics and temperament that I like. Along with the fact she works with the puppies until they go to their new home. Instead of just producing puppies and selling puppies in the backyard. Now for the real question. What all do I need to be looking at when it comes to the breeder and the pedigree. These are working line GSD where both parents have participated in shutzhund events. Besides what the past generations breed into them have done, track record of good hips and elbows. What else should I be looking at? |
| Sounds like you're on the right track. I look at the breeder's philosophy and also feel them out as a person. If I can't trust them, I can't buy a dog from them. The last person I bought a dog from is probably a member on this site, thought we didn't discuss it. |
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: For a few months the wife and I have been wanting to get a GSD puppy. We currently have a GSD that will be 8 in November. Which I have had since she was 8 weeks old, and several years before me and the wife got together. Found a breeder a few hours away. With the body characteristics and temperament that I like. Along with the fact she works with the puppies until they go to their new home. Instead of just producing puppies and selling puppies in the backyard. Now for the real question. What all do I need to be looking at when it comes to the breeder and the pedigree. These are working line GSD where both parents have participated in shutzhund events. Besides what the past generations breed into them have done, track record of good hips and elbows. What else should I be looking at? Even IF the puppies ALL turned out to be exact copies of their parents temperament wise (and many wont...) - You could still screw that up as the owner that does not know what they are doing. The pedigree might make some things (behaviors) slightly 'more likely' to happen but there is no guarantee. Example: If I were to take my girls outside on an unleashed piss break right now and pull a handful of firecrackers out of my pocket and start lighting them and tossing them around the yard - At best my girls will walk away from from where they are going off at while looking at me like I am an idiot. There would be no 'bolting' from the area or major concern because of sudden loud noises. Try that same stuff with a dog that never been exposed to such stuff (regardless of their breeding) and let me know what they do in response...  Current girls get cleaned frequently with an air blower at about 120psi. They come running when they see it come out of my pocket and associate it with going for a ride in the truck (something they like). Not uncommon to see them jockey for position as to which one gets to get cleaned up first.   That same air blower on an un-acclimated (not desensitized) dog will usually result in lots of pissing themselves as they try to run away... Just because the parents were trained a particular way and managed to pull it off is no 'guarantee' the pups will be able to do the same. Especially so if the owner of said pups is not worth a shit as a trainer...   Same thing with respect to health related stuff. Show me a breeder that will 'guarantee' on a contract that the pups they are selling you will NEVER come down with this or that because of whatever 'testing' shit they have had done on the parents... Never going to see that 'guarantee' brother. I have had dogs in the past whose parents lived out to be a ripe old age and died of natural causes yet the pups both came down with (and died suddenly from) DCM. Spent shit tons of money testing the one girl after her sister died from DCM and got nothing but 'clear' test results for her for the disease only to experience the remaining girl come down with it a year later. There is no 'guaranteed' test for that stuff and any testing you do can do will only show you what is going on in that exact moment in their time... Good luck trying to predict that with a particular 'breeder' that is somehow 'more reputable' and get whatever claims they make to you in writing. have participated in shutzhund events. Not impressed. |
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Aaron56 you do bring up a lot of good points. Know health is never a guarantee and how you raise, train, and teach them is a big key to how they act. Just feel like I should be looking at more than what I’ve been looking at. Since this won’t be a puppy from an accident litter, or cow dog from a family friend like I have had in the past. Had a few true hardheaded catahoula cur dogs in the past. Always had a love for the GSD as my parents had one when I was born and was my protector/nanny for years growing up. Then my soon to be 8 year old GSD has me not wanting anything else. As she is just so different from any other breed I have ever had as an adult. Question I do have not related to the breeder since have read conflicting things on the internet. As I already have female that is fixed. Will there really be problems if I get another female or is that just a personal opinion people have? |
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Originally Posted By VAbull: Damn dude, you bring up some good points about exposing dogs to different things , which is good , but your attitude towards other stuff is a little off in my opinion. And you can't cite a single thing I said that was not 100% accurate can you now???  FYI - The breeder for my current girls is a practicing Vet (her own place here locally - not an 'employee' somewhere else). She 'could' have done all the random testing she had wanted to in house and at her cost (WAY less than what your 'breeder' would likely be paying) and then used all of that testing on the parents to make for a really, really good sales pitch for her puppies. Wonder why she would not do that??? Especially since it would not have really cost her much but time... Answer: Because she is honest AND educated. Will bet you money she is well aware exactly how extremely unlikely it would have been for dogs as young as the ones she was breeding at the time to fail a Holter Monitor (heart testing) test or a Thyroid test. (that stuff 'almost' never happens at only a few years of age) If a so called 'reputable' breeder tried to show me some Holter Monitor or Thyroid test results for her 2 to 3 yr old breeding stock and lead me to believe that somehow that crap was indicative of the future heath of the pups I would laugh in their face before walking away. They predicted absolutely nothing with respect to those pups.  My breeder before her was also a licensed Vet with his own place (over 50 years of owning his own practice) and Doberman breeder (for about the same number of years). Take a wild guess what sort of testing protocol he had for his breeding stock? The only Non-Vet Doberman breeder that I personally know that is a bit on the 'testing crazy side' of things is very honest about the testing she has done annually on HER dogs and spells it out very clearly in her contracts. More of less stating in the contract that regardless of ANY testing she has done on HER dogs (her breeding stock) - There is No Guarantee whatsoever that the pups will not develop whatever issue later on in their life. That lady will preach all day long about how annual testing is important and about how any and all owners 'should' be having it done to catch problems before they get bad but she will also stress how that testing is only a snapshot of what is going on right then at that moment in time for that particular dog and the next year things might be different... FWIW - My current girls both have Thyroid issues (starting at about 3 and 4 yrs of age respectively) and one has seasonal allergy problems. I get to see the parents every so often and neither has ever had any similar issues so far... It is my luck of the draw and has not jack to do with any potential testing the breeder may or may not have done. Stuff happens that simply can't be predicted with a simple test of the parents before they are bred.
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| I would ask them how many litters a year they have - see how much time they spend with each litter and ask them how they grade their puppies. Genetic testing for a few generations is important. You should ask for references as well. |
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Originally Posted By runs_with_scissors: Always had a love for the GSD as my parents had one when I was born and was my protector/nanny for years growing up. Then my soon to be 8 year old GSD has me not wanting anything else. As she is just so different from any other breed I have ever had as an adult. Question I do have not related to the breeder since have read conflicting things on the internet. As I already have female that is fixed. Will there really be problems if I get another female or is that just a personal opinion people have? I feel the same way about Dobermans. Currently raising the sixth and seventh and they just turned 7 yrs old a few weeks ago. First was a single female. Got a pair of females (litter mates) after she passed, then another pair of females, then this pair of females... Multiple females are a freaking horrible idea dude. SSA (same sex aggression) is what I am constantly reading about on the internet when I go to Doberman forums. 'Males fight for breeding rights but Females fight for BREATHING rights' is something I have read more times than I care to think about. Lots of warnings read from different people about why you should never be intentionally having a pair of Female Dobermans in the same home.  They will flat chew each others faces off when you least expect it dude...  No way you will ever be having control over a pair of females at the same time (let alone teaching them both their own individual names so you can be telling who you want to do what and when)...   This shit here might look peaceful but in reality they are giving each other the 'stink eye' and about to throw down (eat each others faces off) -  Can't even feed them in the same room without a fight breaking out...  Pretty much everything about that is a bad idea on your part.    Will be ten times the work on your part. I know the math does not sound right but seriously - When you take more than one female out to pee at the same time you got one more dog there and that makes the actual 'work' you got to do times ten at least.  |