LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

It's been a long time coming but my partner and I are finally in a position to have a dog of our very own. We've grown up with dogs all our lives, we're big dog lovers and we weren't planning to get one until 2016 but since we've already been settled for a while now in our home, we just feel that we're missing a dog in our life and the time is right. I put a deposit down in January before the litter was even born so had pick of the 5 males (4 females also in litter). The wait has been so slow!

Meet Theo, he's a DDR/Czech working line German Shepherd and we finally took him home yesterday; He's the dog I've always wanted. As we live on a farm I wanted a dog with a bit of "oomph", highly intelligent, strong, big, bold, determined and to also act as a deterrent to unwanted people- hence why I wanted the DDR working line German Shepherd; not your softer American show line GSD with the sloped backs and who have been bred to be relatively soft. Theo's coat is medium length, typical of a working line and the colour is dark sable which is very desirable. He'll be a big boy when he's older and I can't wait to start training him and having him follow me around.

6 weeks old here where we first went to select him:





8 weeks old yesterday at his new home:









Everyone loves puppy pictures so enjoy I'll keep this thread updated with pictures and progress.

donny andi

iTrader: (3)

Cracking pup mate , keep it updated every month or so

lozgti1

What a beaut!

He will be 50 times that size soon.lol

An0n0m0us

He's stunning

RA Dunk

Cracking dogs, my neighbour had one which I got to baby sit when he was away, couldn't keep the thing out of water on his walks lol.

P.S, have fun cleaning up his hair later on though!

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Thanks everyone! So far this morning there have been no messes indoors which I'm pleasantly surprised about. When I got him home yesterday evening he pee'd unpredictably indoors 4 times! He is almost sitting on command with the help of reward treats and paws my hand for more .

I think he will love water because he keeps trying to get in the water bowl and then walks wet paw prints all around the kitchen .

I did an hours work on the farm this morning and put him in his temporary outdoor pen with a kennel. I was really surprised to hear that my girlfriend told me that once he had stopped wimpering after 20 minutes, he went inside his kennel to sleep, bingo!

Spoon

Stunning little chap. The best choice GSD for me.

Just to point out that mentioning American GSds is irrelevant in this country anyway. What you actually mean is you have a part DDR (East German) dog and the show line dogs in the UK are largely West German dogs.

What are his lines and are his parents titled? If he comes from titled parents you'll have your work cut out.

I notice the toy in the picture. If you listen to nothing else, make sure you never leave it lying around. The toy is yours that you take out when you want to play with him. You'll see a marked difference in a dog's drive doing this. Theo should be beside himself to play doing it this way. Leaving it out for him to chew on will have no purpose.

I'd be interested in knowing what his prey drive will be like. Did the breeder know he was going to a farm?

Edmondo

Bought up right they are great dogs...........problem is too many owners use them as a status symbol...............look forward to seeing piccies every month or so - We have 2 Border Collies so really love our 4 legged friends

JackClark

Great choice for your situation, very cute right now too.

Spoon

Might not be yet. That's why I asked about his lines. His prey drive might be mental.

RAF1

iTrader: (5)

Great dog! I am also currently looking to get hold of one as have a big garden / young family and after a pet / deterrent for unwanted guests as you say.
I may have this all wrong but I have been looking on internet sites such as gumtree / freeeads for one but for one the prices vary and secondly I have been reading about puppy farming which I definitely dont want to entertain. So how do you know you are getting a good one...?

So my question is where did you get him and how much?

I contacted a couple of local online re-homing places but most will not let you adopt if you have a young family. I also want a puppy as my kids are not used to or comfortable around dogs yet so want to get a pup to bring up around them and also they can get used to it also.

Cheers
Raf

Turbohot

Great looking dog, Lsh. My favourite breed.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Lovely dog, had one myself, got him at very young from a rescue centre.

The day I got him, he collapsed, vet said he wouldn't last the night She told me to try and keep him hydrated. He wouldn't drink, let alone eat, so I set the alarm to wake me every hour during the night, got up and made him drink two tablespoons full of water with a little glucose in.

He lived.........and by heaven, was he MY dog after that?

Anyway........do train him NOT to jump up at people, always bear in mind that loads of people are scared of dogs, and more so a GS. If he jumps up, they perceive it as an attack...

Cockney wonker lived next to my grandparents, let's call him Tom. he trained his GS to jump up, put it's paws on his shoulders, and take off his flat cap with it's teeth. Great fun.........until the paper boy turned up with a flat cap on.

The pictures of the paper boy with scratches and what APPEARED to be bite marks all over his face, made the local paper, the dog was lucky to survive, it cost the owner ££££ in legal fees.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I know not to leave the toys out, it's all about dominance and being the pack leader. As you say, they are my toys and he can only play with them when I let him . The same goes for walking out the front door first and making him wait. Also feeding him after you've eaten etc.

When I went to select him from the litter, he stood out to me straight away and was defiantly one of the more active dogs. I brought a tug toy with me to see which one had a good drive; Theo did but he wasn't "mental" or "hyper" as such. We've had him here for less than 24 hours and he's quite casual but still likes to play with the tug toy, defiantly not hyper which is good. Yes the breeder knew he was going to my farm- they supply to the police, private security firms, small holdings/farms and to families that want that deterrent.

The Dame comes from Tiekerhook, Grafental, Felsenschlo and Pohranicni Straze lines and the Sire comes from the famous Jinopo lines and Pohranicni Straze lines (I've got the pedigree database link). I've searched as far back as I can go on the database and you can trace his male ancestors back to 1898 which is pretty impressive.

PM'd .

Spoon

It wouldn't have been a Czech/DDR GSD from a rescue centre. These dogs are a different kettle of fish.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I think alcazar is just referring to your standard 'German Shepherd'. A lot of people are not aware of the working lines unless you do the research like I did. Once I discovered the DDR East German lines and Czechoslovakia lines used for patrolling the border in the cold war, I was converted immediately. It was exactly what I wanted.

A lot of people say that the "normal" GSD has been ruined because too many breeders are breeding them to be soft like a Labrador for example.

Spoon

Not so much for dominance but more for building drives. His eagerness to want the toy will be rewarded in his training.

Then I'll know them.

Excellent lines but I'm assuming the immediate parents aren't titled then?

Spoon

Yes I know exactly what he would have been referring to and was simply highlighting there is a difference. Also there are badly bred GSDs of dubious origin that are nothing like West German GSDs but people assume a GSD is a GSD is a GSD.

You'll also note the word 'Dog' is part of their name.

b3nmw

Lovely m8. I would love to have 1 if I had enough room and time.

Spoon

Just picking up on this, which is largely pub talk referring to this obsession with domination and not dealing with reality when it comes to a working dog. All mine have only ever gone through a door first, that is the idea of a dog working for you. If there is anything strange with a situation, the dog gets to it before you do.

Of course if you don't actually want to work your dog as a protection dog, for example, or even titling it in a chosen sport, and you just want a well behaved farm dog then the choice is yours.

stilover

Spot on dog mate. Keep the updates coming!

donny andi

iTrader: (3)

Don't teach him to give the paw....it makes them beg.

Adrian F

LSherratt lovely photo's good luck with the puppy your going to have your hands full very soon.

As Spoon says the dominance theory isnt actually true it more pub gossip etc.

in the last 20 years there has been a lot of scientific research and that shows dogs dont have a ridged pack structure etc and this was flawed research about wolves in a zoo.

There are some really good books by various authors including "Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson

The older techniques of prong collar and E-Collar are now being replaced with reward training as Spoon says you can use the dogs drive for a toy or food to train what you want but with a high drive and clever dog you need firm consistant boundaries and i would suggest a good quality training club to help socialise the puppy and build its confidence with new situations.

Below is an online blog about dominance as well

there is also in a book in defence of dogs which shows various research about about dog behaviour and shows dominance theory isnt correct

http://drsophiayin.com/oldblog/2009/...e-to-dog-bites

Personally i have toys the dog plays with and keep them from being bored and i have toys that i use to train which i limit and control access to and use to reward and channel the dogs energy

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the advice. As with training, I'm doing the positive clicker method but instead of using a "click" I'm speaking the word "yes", which as you probably know is the same thing. I've done a lot of research and I know I am better than the average first time owner. Time will only tell though eh?

Matteeboy

What a beauty!

He'll make a fine pet but also guard dog.

Puppy classes are brilliant, never give food off the table, treat him like a dog not a child, they love learning, try to be positive; lots of saying "no" gets you nowhere.

Put the work in early and dog life is 1000 times easier.

Making me want another pup (our black lab is almost nine)!

Turbohot

I know! I think I'm going to get one in my life time. They're just too goochy poochy loyal sweethearts, and I've started to feel much more relaxed with the dogs now, since my son got himself his SBT. My choice will be a GSD pup, though. As a pup, it will learn to get on with my lovely kitties, as they will be staying in their home, no matter what.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I never thought I'd hear you say that, Swati .

Initially I was really worrying about toilet training because for the first 10 hours of ownership he was piddling everywhere. Day 2 now and that's dramatically been cut down. I've been taking him outside almost every half hour, when he wakes up after a nap, shortly after he's had some food, or after a little play session, using the command word "go toilet" and rewarding when he does. He's now started to wimper a bit when he needs to go outside to toilet which I'm really happy about and hardly had any accidents yesterday after just a day.

He's almost sitting on command but I think I'm expecting too much from him after just 2 days . He doesn't seem particularly food motivated which has surprised me because I thought a GSD would be snapping reward treats straight out of my hand! Sometimes he won't even take one but that could be because he isn't hungry. He is on 3 feeds a day though. I've read that it's best to do reward treat training before a meal when the dog is hungry so that he has to work for the food. I shall try that when he's a bit more settled in at home.

Spoon

First off, single word commands are the way forward. "Garden" will work.

Secondly, don't kill him with overload and expect he'll be driving a tractor next week. He's just left his Mother and siblings! He needs love for now. Toilet accidents will be few and far between before you know it. Just keep up with putting in the time with him like you are.

Don't force something if he won't do it happily. He has to enjoy it at this stage. Again, don't rush, he WILL surprise you by obeying lots of commands soon.

JTaylor

Handsome dog, L.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

He already knows the command "go toilet" so I'm sticking with that and one extra syllable hasn't made a difference in my opinion. It's too late to change and it makes more sense to me anyway. Theo seems to understand anyway .

I do think I'm rushing him so I'm defiantly going to give him more cuddles. I'm having a coffee break from work at the moment and he was so excited to see me! After 5 minutes of making a fuss he is currently curled up on the floor on my feet. It's going to hurt to have to leave him when I go back out on the farm.

He's surprised me in that he is already going inside his kennel when I put him out in his temporary pen. He will wine for 10 minutes but then go into his kennel and wait for me to return . He'll start to learn that I'll always come back from the farm.