GSD I am Rescuing - Advice Needed, temperament Questions

Hello,

well, after the complete disaster we had with our Old English Sheepdog, we have, finally, after trawling around the recue centers for the last 4 months (or more) found a dog. Or, more like, he has found us.

He is an 18month old GSD that is simply - brilliant. He doesn't pull on the lead when walked, he obeys commands, like "stay" and "stop" and is very good with my 3 children. He has been kennelled with a lurcher cross female - no problem, a Jack Russel (male) - no problem and a cat - no problem. He washes kittens, he doesn't jump up or bark at people and doesn't growl, snap pull when he sees another dog, cat or car.

The concern I have is how he will behave in the future. He has never showed any signs of aggression (we have taken him out 3 times) and he has been raised with a young family with another dog and cats.

Are GSDs temperamental or can they suddenly "turn" on people. I've heard that they are very stable animals but to be honest I'm not familiar with the breed, even though I've read a fair amount on them.

We didn't actually want the dog initially, we wanted the lurcher he was sharing the kennel with, but he was reserved by another family. While we were leaving, he caught my eye, and since then I've never been away from the place.

He is also huge - but I suppose that's the breed.

Thanks in advance for any info you might be able to share with me.

P.S. I have designated the study for a room for him in the house, and we have a decent size garden with 6foot fence all round.

Hi FluffyOldThing,

I owned GSD's for over 20 years, my children grew up with them and all 4 of mine were great with kids and other dogs.

Just make sure that the kids treat him with respect (I'm sure that goes without saying ) and you will be fine.

The only thing that I would say is that mine all liked the company of the family and did not like being on their own when the family was at home, they just wanted to be where we were. Are you going to let him into the other rooms when you are at home or is it just the study?

He sounds like a lovely boy. Enjoy him, they are great dogs.

Hi Chelly,

thanks for the reply.

No he will be with all the family until bed time or if he needs some quiet time by himself, he can mooch off to the study for a bit of peace and quiet.

All three of my children have walked him and he was completely fine with them. He was also calm around a horse, donkey, pigs and was even washing some kittens at one point.

We walked past a dog and a cat and again - not phased at all even when a border collie was barking at him.

I just hope it's a long term thing.

Sounds like he has been really well socialised, a great find for you.

Just keep up the socialising and I think you will be fine. To be honest, mine were all like this, great with people, dogs and small furries

They were all rubbish guard dogs though unless my guests were scared of socks as they always seemed to find one to greet people with. Except for the time that Fudge found a pair of knickers but that's another story

As I said, enjoy him, sounds like you've found a good 'un

The early "alsatians"were very poor representatives of the breed brought over from Germany after both world wars. However most have good temperaments now & apart from puppies bred from poor parents whose temperaments are obvious from the outset, no GSDs do not "turn"

As for being huge the correct top size is only 26 inches so as a breed they should not be huge(having said that I had a over sized GSD from two German imports that I "rescued"He was well over 31" at the shoulder-but typical of his breeding as soft as butter !

Well done for rescuing your boy May you have many happy years together GSDs are a very special breed

Thank you for your help.

Here is a picture of the Codey. I've been reading the other threads about American lines etc, and I'm sure he is not one of them, but here he is anyway. Any ideas what line he is ?

Just out of interest.

(here being persuaded to sit by my 6 and 7 year old)

Looking at the photo, he looks like he's from German lines, but I could be wrong.

GSD's are fantastic dogs, and are relatively bomb proof. Not a lot phases them and they make great family additions They're very loyal dogs, and will walk to the ends of the earth for you. My experince of GSD's is they really only have one boss and they do need a firm hand as they mature. I've found with them is that the 'magical age' is around 2, when they may start testing thier boundries. As long as you're firm and the rest of your family follow suit, I think you'll all be fine They do need plenty of mental stimulation and good socialtization.

I hope you have many, many wonderful years together. What you put into him now, you will reap the benefits tenfold in the future

my grandma and aunt have always had gs around children they are very good tempered. i have heard that you can push a gs a lot further before they bite you unlike other breeds, but once you do it is near impossible to bring them back. good luck
ATD xxx

He sounds so good, can you post some more pic's when you have got him, he looks a bit like our Katie.

He's home



First - a bath - and a big one at theat. Surprisingly, he just stood there and let me wash him - bless.

He did stink though. After about 10 days in a shared kennel - he was absolutely minging. We gave him a good brushing afterwards and then a wipe over with some of those "dog fresh" wipe things.

He's lovely - and so well behaved. He has had his dinner and ate well, but has diarreah, which I'm putting down to the kennels and the stress of moving in and then moving out etc, rather than a change in diet. I have put him stright on to Eukanuba and given him that and water (and a few treats along the way ;-)

So here he is.

He's a beauty.

Keep an eye on the Eukanuba and if the upset tummy persisits, put him on a diet of fish/boiled chicken with rice or pasta for a few days, then introduce another food slowy, over a period of 5-10 days. I have a GSD bitch that can't tolerate Eukanuba and does give her an upset tum.

Watch what you give him to eat too. GSDs do have senstive tummies and changes can upset them. I think at the moment though, he's probably suffering from stress, but again, just keep an eye on it.

He still looks like a GSD from German lines ;-) He looks quite similar to my boy

That is DEFINATELY not an American bred dog. American bred GSD's are grotesque. The European lines are far healthier.
He is GORGEOUS! I'm sure he will be a wonderful addition to your family!

What a fantastic looking (and by the sound of it, natured) dog you have rescued

Some great posts in this thread too

Wish you all the best with Codey, and please do keep us updated!!

Hi Guys !!

Thanks for all your help.

Codey was a bit restless last night and couldn't decide where he wanted to sleep. I just left him to it but eventually, he settled in the living room.

He wont leave me alone. He follows me everywhere - which is nice. I think he just needs to be confident that he has some stability from his new family before he starts becoming more independant.

As I'm typing this, he is asleep to the left of me - very happy, and breathing nice and deeply.

He still smells though, so I'm spraying Oust around the house every so often. He is also moulting a hell of a lot and I have taken at least 5 brushes full of fur off him, and it still needs brushing. I think that this is more to do with the fact that he hasn't been groomed for a while. He is off to the pooch parlour for some poofing up some time this week, so he'll be a nice smelling, "Fluffy Old Thing" once again for the weekend.

Here he is lying next to me whilst I work from home.



His diarrhea seems to be a bit better today. He also seems to be more relaxed and starting to respond to our commands like "sit" etc. He didn't do this before - even though we knew he could as we saw him once or twice doing this at the rescue center. He also responds to "down", "leave", "quiet". He is very good on recall as well now and doesn't jump up at the door when strangers come round.

Brilliant !!


I do think we need more training though - not the dog - me and the rest of the family.

I'm going to have him off the lead later this evening when I go up the farm. My father in law lives on a farm and there are lots of open fields with nobody else around. I assume this will be Ok as he is good on recall in the garden and out the front of the house ????

Well,

I've had a brilliant day.

I had him off the lead up at the farm for the first time today. I took him with my eldest lad, who has Downs Syndrome, and it was simply - brilliant !

He sounds like a horse when he comes running up behind you though.

Absolutely breath taking.

We are so lucky.

Hey that's great stuff!

He certainly looks content I guess the smell will take a while, just give it a bit of time. Going to the groomers is a good idea, although I would probably wait until you feel he is confident to go out somewhere like that... it might freak him out a little.

It seems that he is bonding to you really well - I bet that must feel amazing. You should be proud of yourself for rescuing him

Look forward to seeing more pics and updates.

thanks for the reply.

He goes everywhere with me - he follows me to the kitchen, the study, the garden and even the toilet

He woke me up at 6:30am by nudging my elbow -bless.

On a more serious note, I am quite worried about his food because he wont touch his Eukanuba dried mix at all. I went to Sainsbury's and got some Winalot canned food, which he ate - in about 5 seconds as he hasn't touched much since last night.

I know it's crap, but I would rather he eats something rather than nothing and looking at the ingredients on the tins, it doesn't have loads of additives like , say, Butchers rocket fuel.

Any ideas?

Did the rescue give you any of the food he was on before? Usually they let you know what they are feeding or give a few days supply.

I would put him on boiled rice and chicken for a few days, then slowly introduce your chosen food by mixing more and more of it in with his rice until you are feeding more of it than the rice, then slowly cut the rice out.

Just get some boneless chicken cook it as per instruction on the pack and then boil some <washed> rice and add the cooked chicken towards the end of the rice being cooked to give it some flavour

I feed my dog Pascoes complete http://www.pascoes.co.uk/original_complete.php it's meant to be natural but does contain colourants. It was the only dog food that agreed with Rocky's tummy, everything else gave him runny poos no matter how expensive the food was!

Pascoes is reasonably priced too, Pets@home sell it for around £13.50 for a large bag, and as Rocky is a big eater that comes in handy

The runny poos do take a while tho, he's just a bit overwhelmed but will be ok soon enough

ps - did they give a reason why the old owners had to rehome him? Getting a good history is helpful just in case there's something you need to know.

Just caught up with this thread, and Codey is gorgeous

Nice to see yet another 'rescue' settling well in a new home..

Well Done

As for diet, I am presuming that he has been vet checked, wormed etc? I would echo the advice given regarding a stable diet (ie.. not swapping and changing), and I too give mine chicken and boiled brown rice when they have the runs, and then slowly introduce them back onto their normal feed after 48 hours.
Feeds must be approx 6 hours in between to allow for their digestive tracts to digest it too.

If however after 48 hours he is still a bit loose or his excretions are 'mushy', then I would sincerely recommend a vet check. It could be the stress of a new environment, new food etc, but it could also be something that only a vet can diagnose and treat.

I empathise with you on the grooming part, but its essential with them to be fair. Its also good for building up trust and having the one on one time with them. Mine are groomed each day/every other day, as its the only way to keep on top of it. I do have 4 though, so my floor tends to look like a doggie carpet if I dont. (just brushing that is. bathing is done every 6 months or so to ensure they retain their natural oils, but thats just my personal preference. Micha who is our long haired absolutely stinks to high heavens, specially after she's been in the river in a morning, and so she goes to the parlour every 3 months)

Anyway, I am sure Codey will be fine and its just the aftermath of the immediate upheaval for him. Please keep us updated and post lots of pics as he's one gorgeous fella :smt049