Got my first dog! Love her!

[silvergts1998]

I always wanted a German Shepherd. I was going to buy a puppy and was told to rescue a dog instead. I have two cats I love and did not want a older dog chewing on them. That's the reason why I wanted the puppy. I worked with a local dog rescue organization and told them what I was looking for. They found me a match and what an amazing dog! This dog was abused and neglected and taken away from the owners by the city. The city of Louisville, KY from what I understand puts these dogs to sleep with out giving them a chance to be adopted. They consider a German Shepherd a dangerous breed. Too much risk and liability so it's safer in the eyes of the city to put them down. I am so glad this organization saved this 1.5-2 year old German Shepherd female. She is soo smart and obedient! She follows me everywhere and does exactly what I say. Now maybe I can train her to help me find deer! Below is a picture of her when she was found. She looks pretty sad!




Here she is now!






And she needed to get exercise today but it rained and snowed all day. So we tried this out and she loved it!

http://www.vimeo.com/8285860

[cjg]

Nice looking dog, don't tell your home owners insurance.
The best dog I ever had was a stray, she was a shepard/lab mix? She hunted for me and I shot hundreds of birds over her she found and she retieved ducks for me. I had her for 14 years and I'm not sure how old she was when I found her. Good luck and enjoy her.

[Tony204ing]

beautiful pooch. heres mine this morning.

[DocHolladay]

Great looking dog!! I love German Shepards. We used to take care of the City PD's dogs and had one of our own. Great breed.

[silvergts1998]

Two weeks and she is doing well. Not bad for my first dog. I got lucky!

http://www.vimeo.com/8542710

[DocHolladay]

Great looking dog!!! Smart too. Just for future reference, dogs "heel" on the left since you are making her walk with you. Its also easier to give a "sit stay/down stay" command over a seperate "sit/down" and "stay".

My vet had a great training video that I rented for $2 and dubbed it off. Taught me alot about training.

[ironhead]

I am going to be in the market for a new dog soon. Both of mine died in the month before Christmas. They were litter mate brothers. I am thinking of looking for English Bulldog or back to Black Labs. That is a very good looking dog though..best of luck with her.

[DouglasSpear]

Nice! She kinda looks like mine (last picture has my dad's German Shepherd next to her who is about 8 years old).

8 Weeks:


About 1 year:


About 1 year:

[silvergts1998]

I am going to be in the market for a new dog soon. Both of mine died in the month before Christmas. They were litter mate brothers. I am thinking of looking for English Bulldog or back to Black Labs. That is a very good looking dog though..best of luck with her.

I would seriously considering a rescue dog. petfinders.com is a great place to look.

[silvergts1998]

Nice! She kinda looks like mine (last picture has my dad's German Shepherd next to her who is about 8 years old).

8 Weeks:


About 1 year:


About 1 year:

Nice looking GS. Are your dogs easy to train? My dog still has yet to bark.

[DouglasSpear]

Mine? Yes very easy. She is trained to ring a bell hanging by the back door when she needs to go to the bathroom. She can sit, stay, lay down, roll over, come, heel, jump, fetch, catch (a ball) and go to her pen on command. GS are so intelligent it's unbelieveable. When it comes to barking, she barks when someone rings the doorbell or knocks on the door, sees a deer, dog, or cat on TV (or outside), or if I say "whose that?" or "what's that?"

[silvergts1998]

I can't get my dog to bark at all. I would like her to bark if someone is at the door, but she just doesn't bark. I know she can bark because I heard her bark just once. Weird.

[Tony204ing]

be careful what you wish for.

[DocHolladay]

She'll bark when she is ready.

[DouglasSpear]

It takes time to reprogram an abused dog's personality. She has to learn that she won't get abused for barking. That's why abused dogs typically lay there and do nothing, they feel that they will be punished for everything they do, so they do nothing. When she does bark, say "speak, speak" then say "good girl" with a quick scratch under the chin or behind the ears and give her a treat. After a few times, she will learn and whenever something happens where you WANT her to bark, say the "speak" command followed by "good girl," scratch, and a treat and she should catch on. It will take time but the process works. You still have to make sure she knows the difference between right and wrong. For example "good girl" and "bad girl" (verbally praise her with "good girl" and a treat when she does something right and verbally say "bad girl" or "no" and either redirect the bad behavior like instead of chewing on a shoe give her a toy or you could have her go to her pen when she does something wrong). A big mistake (since she was abused) is to feel like you only need to commend her and never correct her - but the key is to correct, not scold. Do you have a "safe place" for her like a pen/cage? If not, you will need one. Dogs, especially GS, are very territorial and having a pen will give her a sense of entitlement and security. When you reach out to her, reach with one hand only (so she doesn't think you are going to grab her) and make sure you use an underhand (even if you are going to pet her) so she can smell your hand, then move your hand over to pet her. My parents had a GS before I was born so I grew up with her and then I went through extensive GS specific dog training and agility classes with my dad's second GS who was a pet store puppy that needed a lot of attention to get it to behave. Then, I used similar training methods for my GS so I've been around them all my life and have seen a bunch of different personalities and behaviors.

P.S. Make sure to play with her for 20-30 minutes a day. It's a wonder what play time does to the trust factor. When your dog really starts having fun at one point you'll both look at each other and you'll realize that she is happy and it's almost like a Christmas morning as a 4 year old feeling. Of course I don't know the extent of the abuse or if she is as bad as I am thinking but hopefully all these tips help.