More working GSD questions! Working Dogs

maybe a combination

Zandi is the total opposite of yours - you can take him anywhere not bothered at all by new people, noises, situations nothing fazes him deffinately not windy, the ony time he can be a bit grumpy is when someone brings an adult dog into my house, 2nd time they come he is fine. He loves any vets even if not met before you can hand the lead over and he will go with them, suppose thats why he made a good blood donor and therapy dog.
I have always find my WGSL have realy high prey drives, some more than others but never lacking in that, Zandi is low in defence with high threshold, but I have had ones that have been extremely high defence with low threshold, I dont mind High defence with a high threshold. The only WGSL that I have had that was slightly nervous was due to numerous attacks by crossbreeds/mongrels and a couple of Rotties needless to say he didnt like certain types of dogs or people and was nervous on the estate off he was a different dog.

There was a lot of bribery and repetition involved though. Wasn't as easy as it sounds but he's so food oriented it's amazing (also I think MNJ did a bit of work with him before I had him).

Zandi sounds like a real ambassador for the breed. A shame that he doesn't appear to be the norm in many cases - and not talking WGSL here, just GSDs in general.

Really interesting to read the differences between your gang Stumpywop.

I like both the SL and the WL (or what I have seen so far) - and it will be interesting to see how Zak works out compared to Flame and Yogi. Flame was never that interested in work (although we trained hard enough!), but Yogi has plenty of "oomph" and is making a fab tracking dog. He didn't enjoy certain pieces of equipment on the agility course so we had to give that up. Flame adored agility! I am sure that their different lines will play a part in their enjoyment/aptitude for certain things, but their individual temperaments must also play a very large part I would think.

Zak doesn't appear to be any higher drive than Yogi at the moment. Of course, he is still only 9 months and Yogi was conditioned for training from a young age, whereas I don't think Zak has had very much done with him so far in terms of training and building his drives.

And I wish I had near perfect heelwork already lol! Heelwork is something that unfortunately I find really dull to train, and as Zak walks really well on the lead already I have been a bit lax so far! Must do better!

Don't worry, with only 7 years under our belt, a few qualifications, our heelwork is still far from "perfect" which is why I suppose I keep attending training with this!

That is encouraging ;-)

I wish I were a better dog trainer! I really like to see a well trained dog and I always train mine to be well behaved and obedient, but I never seem to be able to get that polished finished look to it

My friend brought her 16 week old puppy with her when she came for a visit yesterday. After about two hours I shut my two away as I wasn't sure how my male would react & i didn't want the pup upset on his first visit. Bare in mind this was not just my friend there were two other friends there & myself. In he came greeted us all, tollerated my one friend picking him up & cuddling him, then marched to my two's toybox helped himself to a toy & played with it happily. He played with most of their toys & then pinched my screen cleaning cloth for my lap top. When she called he went straight to her & gave it up on command. She then showed is how he knew sit down & stand. It was lovely to see such a confident happy puppy, not reliant on his owner & happy to amuse himself. Took no notice of my two barking in the other room either.

Sounds a fabulous, confident little pup. Very much like our plucky little collie pup But where are the pics??!!

I think Smokeybear hit the nail on the head with his first post.

Working GSDs (well-bred ones) should have higher prey drive than show lines. Though, there are always exceptions.

There are many different 'types' of dogs and bloodlines, and even within a small part of Germany, you'll have variation in their temperament, personality, drive, protectiveness, aesthetic, colour etc.

Depends on what you want - for sport or just a pet - or just so you can tell your friends you have a 'working GSD' at home......

Also in answer to:

2) Are working line shepherds harder to "switch off" than their show line cousins?
Depends on the dog - I had a female before that can turn on and off whenever. At home, the best dog. Quiet as a mouse. Outside, on command, mental for a toy.

4) Are the working line more like to develop an over protective nature (with people and property)? Are they more suspicious?

Again, bad breeding can make any dog 'seem' protective. Working lines SHOULD have some/various types of aggression in certain situations - however, there are always exceptions to genetics - I've seen many 'working line GSD dogs' with very little/next to none protective behaviour.

Hello and thanks for your input. I think you perhaps need to re-read Smokeybear's post. To the higher prey drive question she said "not necessarily"

I wanted a WL GSD to be mainly a companion but also for training in obedience, agility, tracking and possibly working trials. I would love to try Schutzhund but the nearest club is 2 hours drive away and I couldn't commit to attending every weekend.

The good news is that I appear to have found the WL GSD that is right for my home and circumstances. He has been here for a month and is just what I was after

Would love to see pics of your WL GSD and hear more about his lines etc.

Oh and as for this comment "or just so you can tell your friends you have a 'working GSD' at home......" ...

Thanks for your insight and it certainly concurs with the research I have already done

"Oh and as for this comment "or just so you can tell your friends you have a 'working GSD' at home......" ..."


I didn't mean you! And i didn't intend anything.... you seem like someone who knows what you want from a dog!

I'll get some pics for you in a couple days, I'm in the middle of a house move, and everything is well, everywhere....

Kirsty, if Zak walks nicely with you off lead or next to you on a slack lead, you don't have to do the heel work unless you need to for obedience etc.
LIke I said, Margaret had done some with Koda before I got to him and teaching/training heelwork is the one thing I'm really good at. Am completely naff at the rest of it though!

Edidasa - why would someone have a WL GSD just so they can say they have one at home? I don't understand your point.

Haha thank you. Glad you didn't mean me I didn't think I was just as shallow as that

Look forward to the pics. Is your dog on the pedigree database?

If I want to do working trials with Zak though I will need him to do a decent heel, but it is great that he walks well on the lead already One less job for me ;-)

I think Edidasa's point was that there will be certain people who would choose a WL GSD simply for their ego. Unfortunately, I am sure there are people out there like that :-(

I know of someone who has a SL GSD from a rescue. She's never done any training with him formally but will allow him to behave inappropriately out in public. When he's with her, anyone who gets a little too close will get barked and snapped at. If the dog is with someone else, he's fine.

She thinks this behaviour is OK and she encourages it. Such a shame because he's a good dog, but I can see him losing his life all too soon if she doesn't do something soon.

I just wish that when he does bite someone (because it's a "when" not an "if") that it's someone like me he bites. I know that sounds silly, but what I mean is that I wouldn't request PTS. I'd force the dog to be removed and palced in a home where he'd be treated proeprly and trained to be the great dog I know he is.

It was through a phone call last night to someone that I realised that she had him purely for status. Such a shame!

I am afraid you would not be in a position to FORCE anything, that is not within your remit, only that of a court.

Yes I understand that from a legal standpoint. The dog in question is a rescue dog and the rescue he came from has an agreement that shoudl they feel that he dog isn't being trated properly, kept properly, trained properly - in fact anything they're not happy with, they can take the dog back.
It would be easy, should the dog bite, to contact the rescue concerned to have the dog rehomed to someone who can deal with him properly if the alternative is PTS.

Having said that, one would have to consider whether a dog with a bite history could be rehomed properly to an experienced GSD home where he wouldn't be hit with his lead for trying to sniff at something, shouted at for the slightest little thing, encouraged to be aggresive towards people etc. I don't believe that where he is right now is the best place for him, but it's better than PTS should he bite, or is it.
Difficult one!

Sorrry I don't have a camera, only pictures I hav of my lot are ones others have taken. Will see if she has a picure of him I can post though. Must say though looking a him, if he goes on the same way I'd enjoy taking him in the show ring, He's a sable & Mascani breeding.