Questions about German Shepherds

[CherylHampton]

For those of you who have read my posts about my dog Shiloh you know I lost him recently(someone poisoned him) I am still grieving this loss, but am faced with a unique situation. My neighbor who lives just down the way has a pair of beautiful German shepherds. They have a new litter of gorgeous little pups, and knowing what happened with Shiloh have graciously offered me one of the pups.I realize its quite soon,  but my heart also knows that there will never be another Shiloh. EVER. Also I'm getting older and need a companion/guard as I live alone. Shiloh was a German shepherd lab mix, and had the aabsolute most gentle easy going temperament of any animal I've ever seen. He was subtly protective as even though he never met a stranger he would always position himself between me and anyone he didn't know. He was the same with my mom. 

I have some questions(any help Adrienne would be great) I've never owned a full blooded German shepherd before. Will this be too much dog for me you think? Also is there any way as a pup you can assess for potential aggressive traits? Shiloh never guarded his food and was never possessive with his toys etc.. He was also by far the smartest dog I've ever had and trained easily, a few minor bumps in the road as you know but easily corrected. I suppose my biggest question is as a general rule do gsds have easy going temperaments as well? I had a friend who had one that tried to be a lap dog. He was just silly and all over the place but the friendliest dog you've ever seen.

Any of you who have shepherds who can offer your experiences would be helpful. 

I realize I'm blessed to have a neighbor who would make such a generous offer and I'm struggling with my decision.  I know deep down I can never replace my Shiloh whether its tomorrow, next year or ten yrs from now,   the pros and cons of accepting this offer is weighing heavy on my mind..thanks for any help you can give, I appreciate it truly😊

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Cheryl, 

Answering this question is not easy. As with other dog breeds, there are well-bred ones with awesome temperaments and the not-so-well bred ones who can have lots of issues (sadly there's an influx of these lately). There are also superbly-bred ones who can be "too much" for some families because they are more meant for work than being family dogs. 

So a lot depends on the breeders. Do you know if they have always bred this breed? For how many years? Or are they rather new in breeding? Have you been able to meet the parents of the pups? If so, how were they temperament-wise? Do they test their breeding dogs for health and good temperament? Where are the puppies being raised? Are the breeders willing to take the puppy back if things don't work out (more reputable breeders will)?

Afterward, you'll also need to carefully think about puppyhood. Is cleaning up messes/bending down frequently an issue (they are peeing/pooping machines in their first weeks)? Are you OK not getting a good nights' sleep for some time in the first weeks of potty training? Do you have the time to take the pup out for socialization purposes? Nipping can be quite pronounced in German shepherd puppies, so will need to factor this in as well. And then adolescence providing exercise, training, walks, brain games etc, but you are already familiar with all this, but the commitment may double with some dogs. 

How much time do you have to think this over carefully? Are the pups ready already to go to new homes? Would you consider an adult dog? Adults offer the advantage of an already established temperament and you can skip the challenges of puppyhood and adolescence.  A good shelter can help pair you up and possibly give you the option to foster/trial a dog. 

There are basic ways to assess for temperament, which shelters often do, but they're not super reliable, and with puppies, it's not easy to predict things as issues may not pop up until later on. Knowing the parent's temperaments can help gather some ideas in case of aggressive tendencies being passed down genetically (but even here, we have cases of poor temperaments jumping generations and popping up in others and even within a litter there can be significative differences between one puppy and another).