GSDs - soft or scary? Discussions

Having owned GSDs for the past 15 or so years, I know that some people have an irrational fear of German Shepherds. I have also come across a number of people who have a fear due to having been bitten by a GSD in the past, which I would consider a fairly rational fear ;-)

However, for those that are scared of the breed (without having been bitten) could you explain what it is about the breed that is frightening? Is it due to the fact they are classed as guard dogs, or perhaps that the GSD is the breed most often used by the police and so regularly seen barking and snarling at the end of leads on TV/Film or in public order situations such as football matches etc?

A lady who recently contacted me about possibly rescuing a shepherd finally decided against it mainly due to others perceptions of GSDs in the small village where she lives. I found that really sad, as they can be such fantastic dogs (the best!) in the right hands.

This doesn't really apply as I have been bitten, albeit as a toddler, but thought I'd give my opinion anyway!

Do you know what I've realised? I'm not actually scared of GSD's (or any other breed for that matter), I'm more scared of what they could do or have done to my dogs. I've had bad experiences with GSD's and WSD's (being bitten by both and had my dogs regularly attacked by both), but it's the dog attacks that stay with me.

I'd love to have a GSD and they always take my eye when out walking, but when I see one coming towards me on a walk all I can think of is the horrific attacks my previous dogs have sustained.

So for me it's purely bad past experiences. Perhaps for others it's the 1980's "Alsatian" thing?

I know there are quite a few people in my old village who have them for years as a breed and each and every dog has ended up aggressive. This says to me that the owners are doing something seriously wrong and perhaps it's the fact that they're such a complex breed when mismanaged end up being misunderstood?

My german shepherd Megan was bred by Fife police and is great with people of all ages , she would have made a terrible police dog a man managed to get into my house and up the stairs and she did not even bark ,on the other hand she is not good with other dogs until she knows them I notice when I take her out people tend to avoid her even though she is now elderly which is a shame as she loves people , when I explain that she is friendly they still appear unsure of her .It is a different story when I walk my springer and most people seem to trust him and want to fuss him and allow children to approach him .
I think it is due to their reputation going before them and the fact that they are a protective breed .

Do you think people saw the gsd in the past as many see the staff today ..??

I used to love them
But having Mia I now see how many people have really rude GSD's who they think are 'dom' and its ok for them to 'put other dogs in their places'
Lovely dogs but many people dont see how insecure their dogs are and are happy at how gobby and bullying they are instead of trying to help their dogs

So do you think it's an unfortunate mix of a particular type of owner choosing a particular type of dog to make their point? Much like the fcuk wit choosing the Staffy (no offence intended!)?

The German Shepherd. A breed that I have always admired

I did have one scary experience as a young child. On a coach trip with my parents, coach stopped at a service type station, out of the coach window, i saw a young man walk up to a fence, which behind was a then called Alsation. The dog was obviously very friendly to my eyes, as he greeted the man like a long lost friend. Me, always gravitating to dogs could not wait to get off the coach and do the same !! ahem. Said doggy did not feel the same about me, and let me know it in a very vocal, attacking the fence type manner. I learned a big lesson that day.

I always kick myself now though, when I was looking for my second dog, I seriously considered the Shepherd, and found a wonderful breeder, Madeline Pickup, Druidswood Kennels, I spoke to her at length, and she was the most helpful and down to earth lady, full of knowledge. I explained my circumstances, and she was amazing, saying that she would choose the best dog for my family.

In the end, I went for a Dominant Beautiful Belgian Shepherd, but that is another story.

Now 18 years later, I have a Cane Corso, and she just blows me away.

To answer the original question though, GSDs, in the right hands are amazing, and I have met so many that are incredible dogs. So not scary at all. I think they are beautiful.

I do not know, I always tend to evaluate the dog and disregard the breed, I've met horrible dogs of one breed and wonderful dogs of that same breed. I've never had a bad experience with a GSD. On the contrary I've only ever had good experiences with them

Thanks for your opinion Rips. I am sure there are a few doggy people who are concerned for their dogs rather than themselves when they see a GSD approaching, as they do seem to have a reputation for being noisy and bolshy towards other dogs.

Clearly your views are based purely on personal experiences of your dogs being attacked, as well as the breed in general in your village being aggressive. A shame, but all too common when people don't understand their dogs.

I do not judge them because they are GSDs , I look at the individual dog. However, I know someone who used to own one (I never met the dog) and she is not a fan. She says they are unpredictable. It didn't help when her current dog was attacked my one, (he was on his lead) walking down the street and the GSD (who was with his owners) launched into an attack. The Whippet, according to the vet, was within an inch of losing his life:-( Luckily, he pulled through, though emotionally scared.

I think it is down to the popularity of the breed. The size and the nature that they can be guard dogs, in the wrong hands, things can go as above.

I personally think there are some fab GSDs out there and would not rule out owning one.

Megan sounds lovely - have we seen pics? ;-) I think you are right in that, for many, GSDs are seen as an aggressive, protective breed. Of course they are protective by nature, but when trained and socialised properly they make the best of pets.

I think, to a certain extent, yes. I think in the past the popularity of the GSD was high, especially with those wanting a status type dog to appear "tough", and many badly bred dogs were being obtained by the wrong type of owner and therefore their reputation deteriorated. Unfortunately this reputation still seems to follow the breed around today.

What a shame your views have changed on the breed. Do you believe it is entirely the owners who are at fault, or could bad and widespread breeding also form part of the problem?

I think there used to be an element of that, but don't believe many have a GSD as a status symbol these days - a few certainly, but not as many as have (for example) staffs or rotts.

From the views I am seeing here, I also wonder whether other dog owners fear what GSDs may do to their dogs, following contact with badly behaved shepherds, rather than fear the breed themselves. However, I have had many comments in the past from non-dog people who are really frightened of GSDs - believing them all to be people-aggressive and about to bite at any moment. I wonder where that particular view comes from.

It is great you are so positive about the breed

That is good to hear as well Brenda. I think many dog-savvy people won't tar a whole breed after having a bad experience with just one or two, however non-dog lovers do seem quicker to judge a whole breed either by the actions of just a few, or else have an irrational fear due to who knows what.

I wouldn't consider myself scared of the breed, but I am nervous of what they can do, and they are just not my 'sort' of dog.

My dads friend had a number of them, I won't go into it but they didn't have any of them very long We looked after one of them for them whilst they were on holiday, (also looked after a border collie they had whilst they were away and it's the reason our first family dog was a border collie) they left him in the house all day, and we were supposed to let him out and feed him twice a day. Well that didn't really happen, we had 2 bitches but felt so sorry for the poor lad that we bought him home of an evening, he was a wonderful boy, so cuddly and sweet but very big, we took him for a walk in the large park next to my house (it's more of a country park than a grassy park) he was on a lead and my dad was holding him, a large group of runners passed us, we were right up against the edge of the path and they were on the other side and then some idiot decided to run past the others and squeeze between us and the other runners, Ben jumped up at him and bit him. :-(
We know he was probably only tying to protect us, and all the runners said how it wasn't our fault and how the man was an idiot and thankfully he didn't do anything about it but he did go to A and E.
It just unnerved me a little that this dog who was trying to protect us could cause so much damage. It could happen with any dog but it just made me really wary of the 'guarding' type breeds.

Well personally for me the GSD is my life long love . I was brought up with them as my grandad bred them so i learned at his knee to love and respect the breed. I have always, until recently owned one. My first dog as an adult was a rescue bitch, she was 3 years old and completley nuts, totally untrained,unsocialised and very vocal, growling snapping ect, this was all a fear thing displayed in an agressive way. She was HARD work........but boy was she worth every minute. I have never ever seen such a turnaround with a dog, she became a star. I had her for almost 11 years and she even used to go to the old folks home near us as a pat dog in the end, still miss her every day I also done Shutzhund with my GSD,s ( not Suzy my rescue bitch) and have worked handled and trained many dogs, including Fife Police dogs and hand on heart think the GSD are the most loyal, intelligent and superb breed of dog there is.
When i lost Rosco, my last boy i was absolutley devestated, and thinking i could never ever replace him, which i cant, i moved to a different breed. I now have 2 Utes who i love dearly but if truth be told I miss owning a GSD and I will no doubt have another one in my life again one day

Well, I`ve got a soft one and a scary one. Unfortunately the soft one is black and enormous so looks scary and the scary one is pretty and blonde so keeps getting people trying to stroke her. You can`t win.
The point I`m making is - it isn`t the light-coloured fluffies that provoke fear, it`s the darker ones with the full black mask. Up till I got Daisy, none of my short-coat black and tans had the public falling over themselves to fuss them. Quite the opposite. And they were all people-friendly, so it wasn`t their bearing or behaviour.
People are weird.

I notice the difference between my two and people's reactions too. Harley (long, fluffy, teddybear looking GSD) always gets the "ahh, can we stroke him" and people just coming up without asking (a pet hate of mine even though both of mine are fine with humans, if I had an agressive dog, it would be my fault). Jess however, is a short coat, very alert looking typical worky dog type look, and gets people crossing infront of moving cars to get past her, and we have kids screaming at her for just walking by my side

Jess was actually my first encounter of the GSD, and if I wasn't put off by her (she's a VERY vocal, intelligent, highly driven girl - but was highly undersocialised before I got her, wasn't walked, was kept behind a 6ft fence, was only 18kg at 20 months!!! and so on) then they can't be that bad hehe

One thing that amazes me with GSDs is the variation within the breed.

In a way
The people I know are lovely people, and in the main have lovely dogs but they just dont see the issues their dogs have
The big bitch here is great, but has to put every dog on its back
They think this is OK, and most of the dogs put up with this
unfort some dogs like Mia are not happy to be treated like that, but the owners have an idea in their head that their dog is dom sho Mia should submit to her so its Mias fault not their dogs

I know what you mean tho - there are also loads of 'ard men with dogs on prong collars that are so badly socalised they bark and lunge at everything
The owners think they have big confident dogs - all I see is poor nervous things

I have always wanted a GSD - too big for me at the moment - but one day
But I will work doubly hard to socalise them

The media representation of GSD's will have a lot to do with it IMO.