Is your German Shepherd a one man (or woman!) dog? Discussions

As the title says really

I have two German shepherds - a 7 year old bitch and a 11 month old dog. Both are very affectionate, loveable dogs.

However, my bitch is more of a *family* dog and is happy to be exercised by either me or hubby and played with by either of us. Surprisingly really, as I have had her since she was 8 weeks old, and she has only known my hubby for 4 years.

My dog however is very much a one woman dog. He is affectionate enough towards my hubby (especially if he has a gravy bone in his hand ) but won't really engage in play with him and will only walk with him if I go, or my other three dogs go too. He was brought into our family home as an 8 week old pup, but I have done everything for him from day one.

Be interested how your shepherds act. With pics too - any excuse for piccies

My first GSD was MY dog. She refused to have anything to do with my then husband (excellent taste). My first soul-mate. Definitely a one-person dog but protective of the kids.

The next was TBH more her own dog. A bossy bitch who challenged me avery day till she was 8 and got arthritis. But yes, she`d only defer me. Although the boys could take her out as she`d look after them.

With the next one I made sure all the family took her out. It worked fine...till she decided she was MY dog! Yup - another one-person girlie. I even had to take her into loos with me when out because no-one else could hold her if Mummy walked away.

And now I`ve got Daisy...and Daisy`s got me. No-one else handles Daisy. I have tried it and it ended in tears. So yes - she`s a one person dog.

Thanks Claire - you have had some smashing looking dogs, but Daisy is my fav

My friend has a GSD. She was always the dog person between her and her hubby. They bought their GSD puppy together 8 weeks, (bitch pup). She feeds the GSD and does most thing for her , though they walk her together, generally but the GSD is hubbys dog, even though he was never a dog person.

I only have a GSD cross but she has all the traits of a GSD. She is very protective (but not in a nasty way) and patrols the house checking the where all the family is and making sure we are all ok!...she has a lot of weight on her shoulders poor girl!
So she is a family dog but she is certainly MY dog. She will let OH walk her if he is by himself but if i am there i HAVE to do it or she will not move, lol, and she looks at me as if to say "why is this man trying to take me away from you!".

Could be cos she is a rescue but got a feeling its the german shepard in her that makes her so loyal to just one person.

Hope you dont mind me adding a cross to your thread ?!

Hi,

All my GSDs until now have been MY dogs. Nobody else's and even on walks, nobody else could handle them. They jsut wouldn't stand for it.

Now, although basically they're all "family" dogs, Ellie (although a GSD/Akita) is definitely Oscar's dog and Zane is my dog for sure.Yiannis is mine when it comes to walks and food. When it comes to playtime and (surprisingly) training, he's definitely more Oscar's dog.

I kinda think it's amusing that he'll respond during training better for a 4 year old than me but it's also helping Oscar learnn HOW to handle the dogs properly. In fact, regardless of the split and who THEY think they belong to, they'll all do anything for Oscar whereas for me, at times they trhink about it first!

Laura xx

Best photo I have of all of 'em.

She is lovely xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aww what fab pictures

I've had 2 GSD 1 bitch, 1 dog. Cassie was very loving and loyal to me although when she was in a very mischievious mood she would never take notice of me, only my OH at the time,but she would never take any notice of him at any other time.

Kyser on the other hand,(and now am sat here with tears in my eyes as he's no longer here) was my prince, I'd do anything for him an he'd do anything for me.We were inseperable.

I got him from friend who had bred him and sold him to a scrap yard dealer as a "family pet". She did a 3 month check on how he was being looked after and was appalled to find him starving and deprived of any kind of love that the "owner" had said he could and would give. She knew I'd had a GS before and turned up on the doorstep with him.I still dont even know how she got the dog back, saying that mind she is 5"11 and rather a large build, I doubt I'd have argued with her either.I couldnt turn the dog away though.

We called the RSPCA who came out to us(grr eventually),took the details of the man involved and they ensured the dog was being well looked after now. Kyser had lots of vet appts for weeks to see his progress and he came on in leaps & bounds.My ever faithful friend for 6 years

We could read each others minds.He would never even think of taking any notice of my ex OH(bit like me really )He was my shining star in every way imaginable.

So, yeh after all that , my dog was indeed my dog,he is so sadly missed.

I cant upload pics atm but when I can I'll be sure to share them with you.

Lou x

Jess is my dog through and through.

If me and hubby are out with her, and he holds her and I go to walk off, all hell breaks loose lol.

Saying that, I do everything with her, so I don't blame her. She is very cute as she will always wait outside my bedroom door until I get up (even if hubby gets up first) and then when I go in the shower, she will be lying outside the door waiting for me when I get out.

Haha, Jess has just proved she's more my dog... Hubby has just got up and called Jess so she could jump up next to me, and she stayed on her bed, just looking at him. He called her about 4 times. He told me to call her, I said Jess come, and she came straight away lol. I love this dog

Thanks very much werewolf xx

I bet that annoys her a bit!

Not at all Honeysmummy - she looks and sounds lovely

I bet Oscar is going to grow up to be a fine dog handler, getting all this practice in now :-D

I am so sorry to hear your lost Kyser :-( He sounds as though he was a wonderful, much loved lad. I look forward to seeing photos when you manage to upload them

Jess is lovely Does your hubby get jealous or not mind Jess adoring only you?

LOL!!!

Both my gsds are definitely one woman dogs.

Cox is a little more extreme in this respect. He doesn't listen to anyone but me and also won't walk with anyone else if I am on the walk too as he is lunging and crying to get to me. He tolerates others stroking him but doesn't enjoy it and tries to avoid it, but is as cuddly as can be with me. He never goes up to anyone but me looking for affection and refuses food from others usually.

Belle is again a one person dog in that she only really wants to walk with me and be petted by me, but if another family member calls her over for a pet she will go for a bit. She also takes food from anyone. She sometimes takes commands from others but is not as consistent.

Both dogs ignore people they do not know calling them by name. Although Belle will approach if they are waving a bit of food lol

Oh and the picture

I grew up with a gsd and he was no doubt my mums dog he would sleep across their bedroom door would pine when she was late home ..i could walk him but as soon as she would show up off he went to her ...jj

My first gsd we had when I was only 10 and he was MINE all mine, he followed me everywhere when I was around, nobody else took him out or fed him, but of course I was given the food coz I was only young, but I remember him very well. Only one old pic of him which I will dig out, he was huuuuge, but then I was only small!

Then I got Suzie (puppy) when I first left home and again, she was my dog, I didn't have a partner, but she loved everybody and would do things they asked.

Then we got Tara at 18 months old, she was given to us by a breeder I knew who wanted rid of her. She adored Dave and we both took on the walks etc. at different times, so she was both our dogs, until we got another puppy which (shame on me!!!) I adored so much, that I kind of left Tara out of it a bit, so she gave me the cold shoulder (or so I've been told by friends!) and wouldn't have anything to do with me, so she then became Dave's dog, she adored him, didn't have any time for me anymore:-( wouldn't do as I asked her either, I remember that!

The new puppy Sacha was trained and walked and fed by me and Dave didn't have much to do with her, he always said she never did what he asked and quite honestly, because of the way I had taken her over and neglected Tara, he did the same with this one!

Then we got Cassie (puppy again) and she split her affections between the both of us,although she came with me everywhere, did everything with me, was classed as my dog, and although Dave made a fuss of her, he never took her out and again he said she would do nothing he asked of her! She would never be left with anybody else, let alone walked with anybody else but me, she definitely WAS a one person dog that's for sure.

Then we got Georgie coz Dave had instigated it, having seen him in the state he was, and he probably thought that Georgie would be "his" dog considering he had adopted him for us, although I had the final say and jumped at it! Georgie has never been an affectionate dog to anybody really, a loner of sorts, although he will do anything anybody asks of him, so of course, he would do what Dave asked. Dave enjoyed walking the pair of them out together with me,although Cassie still kept her distance a bit from him, i.e. she didn't care if HE went out of sight, but she certainly wouldn't have let ME go out of sight! Georgie shares his affections between Dave and I equally, unlike Cassie did! However, since losing Cassie, he has turned into a one person dog, and I don't think Dave could take him out on his own, and I don't think anybody could really, he got very clingly towards me, and so I think he is now a one person dog. Even the vet told me he's too attached to me and I have to distance myself from him, but who would want to do that with a gsd?! NOt me!

Then we have Zena, who absolutely adores Dave, like no other dogs have ever done, and although he sometimes comes out with us, it's not very often, so again, she is classed as MY dog. I do the training, he would never do that, but he does actually enjoy giving her commands, again, something which he has never done with any of them before. I think he likes the fact that for once in our lives he has a dog which takes a lot of notice of him, misses him terribly when he's not here and goes absolutely ballistic when he returns home from work, but WHY I have no idea I really don't! She will climb up on his recliner chair in the evenings and lay on top of him with her head under his arm and he strokes her on her back, she looks to be in heaven, which is something she would never do with me! I'm the miss bossy boots, I'm the one who has to be obeyed, but then I get a different kind of love from her, I get respect as well as love, whereas she knows Dave is a complete pushover! The way she was at training the other night, not wanting to leave me when the trainer took hold of her, I wouldn't have thought she is the kind of dog who would let somebody else walk her or take her off me, so again, she is a two-person dog, as I'm sure Dave could take her out if he wanted, but then again, I'm really not sure about that!

I will dig piccies out of my gang later!