Noble is a GOOD word (GSD)

[voodoopitbull]

Or so they say.

I have a male foster German Shepherd Dog pup. He's a great dog with a lot of potential but he's very...noble. Very aloof. Very self-centered. I was just wondering how everyone else's Shepherds rate on the affection scale. Just curious. Thanks in advance for any input!

[MajiesMom]

Magic is noble. She is not afraid of anything, she's bold and pushy. She's nosey and has to know everything, I think she almost knows everything. She is very smart and her senses are amazing. She's independent. I could just talk forever about my dog. :D She's determind and can do anything (which is not always a good thing) - one reason this makes me nervous is I know of two Sheps that have jumped threw a glass window in the last year, Magic would so do that. German Shepherds are crazy. :D
I adopted Magic when she was about 8 months to one year old.
When I got her she was not affectionate at all and she was dog from hell. She could think of one bad thing to do right after another all day long! Oh she's creative too LOL
I am so glad she grew up a bit she is a wonderful dog to live with. She is quite affectionate now.

[voodoopitbull]

Azzo is like no other puppy I have EVER raised. I usually am raising rescues puppies/dogs and I have to generally nurture scared, nervous, frightened dogs. Azzo was such a shocker. Scared of nothing. Wanting to put his mouth on ANYTHING. Bold. Fearless. Dominant. Dominant. Dominant. Rude. Wild. Confident. And he's not even an adolescent yet! *faint*

[Lokipups]

Voodoo, with traits like those, that's a contender for Schutzhund for sure!

[voodoopitbull]

Yep, he's my Schutzhund boy. Gotta channel that insanity somewhere...and not on me! He's started basic obedience already and I'm doing a tiny bit of tracking. Plus robust tug-o-war games.

Now...just gotta teach him to do my school work.

[Shenanigans]

Banzai is a downright snob! He is also from working lines. He knows he's the centre of the universe and loves every moment of it. Sometimes he'll drop his snotty behaviour and act like a puppy if grandparents come over or DH's best friend. However usually it's just a sniffing over and allowing people to pet his mightiness!

He is fairly affectionate with us, but it's not an adoring affection that you see so many dogs have. It's more like an affectionate cat. He knows how much he means to us, we're not the centre of his universe, he's the centre of ours. lol He was never terribly affectionate as a puppy, he became more affectionate once he hit about 18 months.

The only time he routinely drops the attitude is for kids, he's a big sucker for them, although now that he's an old fart he doesn't get as boisterous or goofy for them. He does know however when it's time for therapy work and is an incredibly sweet therapy dog. But it's work, he knows how to do it. This dog should have been a Capricorn instead of a Cancer. Maybe that's why I adore him so much. lol

When he was a pup, he used to make a great showing of how bored he was in school. While we (us puny humans) were getting instructions on how to train our dogs, he'd snore, or sigh or groan loudly looking ever so bored.

He's especially snobby with strangers who admire him. He CAN tell when someone just wants to come over and fawn affection. Usually at the dog beach too. Because he's so stable and well socialised with people and dogs (which seems to be a very rare thing in the breed nowadays), people are doubly motivated to want to put their hands on him. He'll stand just out of reach striking his pose. He is generally more affectionate with women though.

All that said, I do have to say I love my dog this way. It makes it fairly easy to read him, if he's not feeling well or hurt, he'll come straight to me and while I do want him to be a very sociable dog who won't eat anyone who touches him, I also like the fact that my GSD isn't slobbering over everyone, unless they are under 16. I have a Newfoundland for that. *G* He just has a lot of personality and it's aloof, snobby, yet very loyal and trustworthy.

[img]http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v238/Shenanigans99/sidewaysglance.jpg[/img]

[voodoopitbull]

Azzo is so like that, Shenanigans! Strange how they're so similiar!

Sometimes Azzo will let his guard down. Sometimes. Like when I get him out of the crate or when he's tired. He'll snuggle and kiss me a bit and lay his ears back and wiggle. That's about the only time throughout the whole day he is affectionate. The rest of his agenda is as follows

1) Kill cat
2) Bite things
3) Get silly human to feed me treats when I do mindless things like setz and platz.
4) BE ALPHA MALE
5) Sleep on the air vent


Dim-witted humans are no match for Azzo's ego. It will engulf you.

[Shenanigans]

Boy does that ever take me back. If you have the resources and time to train one, there isn't much that can compare with a working bred GSD. That said, you have to survive the puppyhood. *G*

Just remember not to let the little booger get away with an inch. Soon the demons will leave your pup and you'll have a dog who is loyal, obedient, and an awesome working partner, but has the mini fault of thinking the world revolves around him. lol

[voodoopitbull]

Nothing is like a German working line GSD pup. It's a totally different dog that any dog I've ever come in contact with.

It's SO hard to get through puppyhood...adolescents will be hell. I'm already dreading it. With a years (or a little more) time, if I'm consistent and I work hard, I'll get whatever I deserve. Hopefully it'll be a good dog.

[Edgar]

[quote name='voodoopitbull']Nothing is like a German working line GSD pup. It's a totally different dog that any dog I've ever come in contact with.

It's SO hard to get through puppyhood...adolescents will be h***. I'm already dreading it. With a years (or a little more) time, if I'm consistent and I work hard, I'll get whatever I deserve. Hopefully it'll be a good dog.[/quote]

I have a working line Czech Shepherd, he's one year old now and was much worse when he was younger. Fortunately he does not seem to be a dominant alpha type dog, you don't want a dominant dog for Schutzhund.

Check out [url]www.leerburg.com[/url] for working dicussions, great resource if you haven't seen it already.

When he was younger I would come home to shredded news papers, torn up shoes, missing socks etc. He quickly learned to stop such things though.

Blitz's characteristics:

Bold, not aggressive at all but also curious and needing to inspect every little thing.

Will chase a stick until I stop, I seriously think he'd keep chasing until collapse if he had to.

Very aloof and would much rather play with a ball or a stick than another dog.

Will run away from a miniture pinscher who barks! Unless of course its on his territory or going after one of his possessions e.g. stick or ball, if that happens it doesn't matter how big or small he suddenly turns "on."

Whines for a good minute when I get home from work will not stop jumping around until i give him a good belly rub.

Hates baths, all I have to say is "wanna take a bath Blitz?" and he runs to furthest corner of the house. Throw a stick in the lake and he's after it 100 mph and swimming all day long :lol:

I say stuff such as "Are you Hungry?" "Wanna go outside?" "Where's Chongo?" (his best friend) etc and his cocks his head to the side and looks at me intensly. I repeat the word and he cocks his head to the other side like as if he understands me!

Very vocal, loves to talk if he wants to play or go do his business outside he will make it known. His talking barks are completely different pitch and tone than defensive ones.

Stubborn sometimes I can say sit ten times and he'll just sit there and look at me. His eyes saying "Make me buddy" and I'll literally have to go push his butt down till he sits. If I have a piece of kibble in my hand its a different story. These guys like to challenge authority and are very independent minded dogs.

He's like my shadow most of the time, follows me everywhere.

Oh ya and the vacuum cleaner is his mortal enemy.

[PuppyLove]

My Yogi wasn't affectionate as a puppy AT ALL. In fact, he was mean!! He would attack your shoes - you could hardly walk, because the foot that was on the ground, he'd be biting, then when you'd put the other foot down, he'd go for the other foot. We were starting to wonder if getting him was a mistake... No wonder why the guy who sold him to us let us have him a week early, even though it's illegal to sell them before they're 8 weeks old! He had others that were reserved, he wouldn't let those dogs be sold before 8 weeks, but as soon as my parents showed an interest in Yogi...the guy practically threw him into my mom's arms!

The first maybe 6 months were rough. He would even challenge my stepfather - he hated men. I thought my mom was going to go crazy!

After a while, though, and tons of love, he became the most wonderful dog ever. He's affectionate (unless he wants to play ball) and SO incredibly smart, it's scary!! And goofy...I've never laughed so much since we got him!! He follows me a lot, sometimes to the point of being annoying. He HATES strangers, though, and he's very intimidating...thank God, because we don't live in the best neighborhood!

There's a female pit bull in the neighborhood who apparently has a crush on him and has come to see him a few times when in heat, but he doesn't want to have anything to do with her. Doesn't like people, dogs, any animals, bees, anything. Well, he can tolerate birds to a certain extent, but that's it...

I'm so glad we were patient with him. I'm sure anyone else would have given him away, or he'd have been neglected or something, because he was a little stinker as a puppy. (Don't let my innocent-looking avatar fool you!)

Good luck!! With lots of love, he'll probably come around!! :)

[ObedienceGrrl]

Ours are affectionate towards us. That's it.

When they meet someone, it will take them a long time to warm up to them. But they will not do 'happy dances' for them at all. You need to come over SEVERAL times before they will not LOUDLY announce that you are here. Only my parents have been able to have this happen. They love my parents.

Dakota knows people turn their heads to look at him because he is just a big GSD. He's 120ish. Hunter is 110ish. He eats it up.

Either of them could care less about other dogs. And Hunter herds the cats.

[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0YADxArcdK69PLRYrtUvO8etbmM0K5R5BucldMuEEsgVH0wEjri6m2yKsUKoTJjO3b2FS29C4157afLQJjmX6KQ8MXiibxPSYZtE8gBZadxC1JtXmUGSmhamWyPPUsioxVb7g2!sXOrbXcmUCTW96aQ/Hunter%20and%20Dakota.JPG?dc=4675489324356605307[/img]

[PuppyLove]

ObedienceGrrl,

I love your babies! My mom used to have a white GSD in the late '50s/early '60s before I was born. He was the grandson of the original Rin Tin Tin and she loved him so much! Yours is particularly beautiful - they both are!!

[ObedienceGrrl]

PL,

Thank you! I just love it when people say nasty stuff about white GSDs and I say....

"Well you know, Rin Tin Tin's mom was a white GSD."

They just give me a blank stare.

They are actucally brothers. Just a litter apart. The white is on the Dam's side. Hunter (black and tan) looks just like mom. With that soft face. And Dakota is built like his dad. BIG!

[PuppyLove]

[quote name='ObedienceGrrl']PL,

Thank you! I just love it when people say nasty stuff about white GSDs and I say....

"Well you know, Rin Tin Tin's mom was a white GSD."

![/quote]

I didn't even know anyone had anything bad to say about white GSDs!! What's supposed to be the matter with them?! :evil:

[ObedienceGrrl]

People think that they are agressive and unpredictable. Mean and nasty....untrainable.

Right....untrainable.

Is that why I am preparing to show him in competition obedience?

Hmmmm......

[PuppyLove]

[quote name='ObedienceGrrl']People think that they are agressive and unpredictable. Mean and nasty....untrainable.

Right....untrainable.

Is that why I am preparing to show him in competition obedience?

Hmmmm......[/quote]

I wonder what makes people think that??! Lobo (the white GSD my mom had) wasn't that way. He was brilliant. I love to hear stories about him... He seemed like one of a kind.

Good luck with the obedience competitions!! :)