Dax

I spend hours on the phone, counseling people who are enduring problems with their adolescent German shepherd dog. It barks and lunges at other dogs, stalks and even nips visitors in the home, attacks other puppies in puppy class, and drags the owner down the street on walks. In the worst cases, the dogs are suspicious, aggressive, reactive, fearful, and sharp.

I have had German shepherds since 1985. They are remarkable dogs: loyal, protective, majestic, silly. As working dogs, they are unparalleled. They are forward, bold, and forceful dogs. They need a job that gives them purpose and direction in life. They need clear rules and boundaries. They need plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, and they need the socialization as a puppy that teaches them to understand and accept normal human situations and behaviour.

Without these, German shepherds can be destructive and aggressive and even a liability.

Without even touching on the differences between well-bred and poorly bred dogs; or discussing the differences between German working lines, German show lines, DDR, Czech, or American dogs, there are some traits that just go hand in hand with being a German shepherd.

German shepherds are active

They were bred to be working dogs: police, military, herding, guide dogs, sport dogs. They have a genetic desire to work, and if they don’t have a job, they’ll find other ways to keep busy, not always good. They can be destructive and hard to control. In some, this need to work can turn into hyperness, where the dog is in constant, aimless motion and can’t settle down. If you are looking for a couch potato, you don’t want a German shepherd.

A good German shepherd is active, energetic, always eager to work, but easily capable of turning it off and settling down when the day is done.

German shepherds are protective

It’s their nature. That’s what they do. Isn’t that why you got a German shepherd?

But this protective nature needs guidance. Your shepherd needs a tremendous amount of exposure to normal people, different places, and other dogs. Socialisation helps develop the confidence to accept and be comfortable in normal situations.

Protectiveness without confidence gives you fearfulness. Many, many GSDs are fearful and their first reaction to anything different is to bark and lunge and otherwise threaten. If your dog is reacting like this because he’s afraid, you can’t correct him into compliance. Punishing a dog who is reacting out of fear just tells the dog he was right to be afraid.

You need to commit to getting your shepherd puppy out to experience as many new things as possible. If your puppy tends towards shyness or fearfulness, you don’t have to insist it meet and greet every person. He should not be forced to accept handling from strangers if he’s uncomfortable, but he should be calm and neutral in new situations.

A good German shepherd is reserved towards strangers. This doesn’t mean shy; rather the dog is neutral, neither fawning nor shying away. He ignores strange people and dogs, preferring to interact with and focus on his owner instead. He reacts to real threats with confidence and power, but calms as soon as the threat disappears.

German shepherds have high prey drive

Prey drive is the need to chase balls and sticks and play tug. It is the behaviour behind sheep herding. High prey drive has been part of the selection process in breeding working German shepherds. Prey drive helps increase confidence and gives the trainer a useful tool to motivate the dog in training.

Unchannelled prey drive can result in a dog that notices anything that moves — and moving things elicit the need to chase and catch. A bored shepherd learns to chase bicycles, horses, cars, sheep, skate-boarders, cats, etc.

A good shepherd has abundant prey drive and an owner who knows how to develop and channel that drive into appropriate behaviours while also teaching self-control, so the dog can contain the desire to chase when not appropriate.

German shepherds are possessive

“Mine” is their motto. Many GSDs are fulfilled when they have a toy in their mouth. They don’t need you to throw it, they don’t need to bring it back to play tug. Just carrying the toy and maybe doing a little “it’s mine and you can look but you can’t have it” dance is all the fulfillment they need.

Teach your GSD to out on command by showing him that the game starts again when he gives up the toy. The sooner he releases the toy, the faster the game resumes. Encourage him to bring the toy to you. Don’t let him play keep-away: you’ll never win, and he’ll have a great time at your expense.

German shepherds are territorial

Shepherds guard home and property with vigilance. This also means they can be obnoxious or even frightening when someone walks near their car. They slam the glass with their teeth and look for all the world like they’re coming through the window. Crate your dog or train them not to guard the car — this is a definite liability!

German shepherds are environmentally aware

They notice things. They might alert on a stranger who is all the way across a parking lot. They might be fearful of an object that they’ve passed by many times, but suddenly perceive as threatening. Many shepherds also have fear reactions to strange or new surfaces like slick, shiny floors.

Again, socialization is key: get your dog out and around as many different people, places and things as possible.

German shepherds are emotionally external

They don’t sit quietly and watch; they’re noisy and rambunctious complainers. They cry, they rooo, they talk, they have to tell you about everything. They hate being left alone and complain loudly. Have a friend hold your dog while you leave momentarily, and your dog will whine and leap and act like he’s sure he’ll never see you again. Some even have levels of separation anxiety which can lead to fence eating or other destruction. (Boarding kennels hate German shepherds.)

German shepherds are easily stimulated

It doesn’t take much to get them leaping and biting. And when aroused, they are loud and boisterous and tending toward the stupid. They have difficulties with self-control and containment.

German shepherds have “hard” temperaments

Traditionally, the Germans were hard trainers and they needed a dog that took corrections well, didn’t shut down, and indeed blossomed under demanding training regimens. GSDs don’t always do well with “purely positive” training. They need clear guidelines for acceptable behaviour.

German shepherds are body insensitive

They can be real body slammers. If you have a toy they want, they think nothing about slamming into you to get it. With other dogs, they play hard: they slam, chest-butt, bowl over and ram into their playmates. We have had a “no having fun rule” around the house for years because of injuries due to rough play.

German shepherds are reserved towards strangers

You want a dog that will be friendly with, and relate well with all your friends. But your dog treats your friends like “landscape”. Your friends can coo and coax, and your dog just ignores them.

German shepherds have to be first

They want to be out in front when you’re walking down the street. They want to be first to the door. Wanting to be first means that shepherds very naturally pull hard on the leash. Teaching your dog to walk calmly next to you on a loose leash is fighting a losing battle against the dog’s natural behaviour.

German shepherds are heavy shedders

They shed like an old couch losing its stuffing! The undercoat comes out in clumps. And when they’re not shedding, they’re still constantly losing hair.

German shepherds have many health issues

Even the name German shepherd is synomonous with hip dysplasia – a debilitating malformation of the hip joint. They also are prone to elbow dysplasia and many different types of spinal injuries. Big, fast-growing puppies can suffer from panosteitis. Skin allergies are extremely common.

Of course, once he’s in front, he’s not sure where we’re going, so he walks slowly (taking up the whole width of the hall) looking back over his shoulder to ask “where we goin’?”

And if he’s not jumping up to be the leader, he’s asleep in the hall, once again taking up the whole width. You can try to walk through him, and he wakes up and looks surprised, but doesn’t move. You can step on his tail, and that’ll make him move, but then he looks so hurt and offended, your heart immediately melts.

So, yep, the other day, while I was walking down the hall and Dax was charging to be in front, the little toe on my bare foot and his boney hock collided. Ow! %@!!& My toe went a direction it’s not supposed to, and now it’s all swollen and black and blue. I can’t wear shoes, and I can’t run (missed an agility practice).

But I tell all of this, not to garner sympathy for myself, but to server as a warning:

You DON’T want a German shepherd! Really!

Don’t get me wrong – I love my German shepherds. But when they’re vocalizing in excitement because I picked up the car keys, or body-slamming another dog in their version of play, or charging in front of me to be first to the door, I wonder why in the world anyone would want one!

You know how when you get up in the morning, you head for the bathroom and make use of the toilet. After flushing, you wash your hands and then stop at the mirror. You look at yourself, maybe make a face or two, inspect your teeth and run your hands through your hair before leaving. I think it’s a way of reminding ourselves “oh, yeah. That’s me.”

Have you noticed that dogs do the same thing? They head out in the morning, do their business, then turn around and give it a good long sniff.

I think this is their way of looking in the mirror first thing in the morning to remember who they are.