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Unexpectidly, my family may be getting a new dog! Right now DH and I are living with my mom and sister, taking advantage of free rent and saving up to buy our own place. We currently have four cats (2 are ours) and a 12-14 year old sheltie and have been talking about adding to our family. We have a house with a nice fully fenced dog friendly yard and a dog door. 

We were talking about maybe getting a sheltie pup when my mom said that she's actually been dreaming of a coated german shephard. She'd prefer an older rescue but knows we'd have to go with a puppy to acclimate them to our cats. Later that evening, I was stalking searching through craigslist and happened to type in "puppy". Believe it or not, the first listing was a free coated german shepherd puppy that had been dumped on someone's doorstep with a note that said "german shepherd 2-3 months".

We weren't sure if we were ready to pull the trigger yet so we had our friend who works for German Shepherd rescue pick her up and she's DARLING. She's mixed with something unknown, just enough to give her a hint of a white beard and a white spot on her back legs. She'll probably only be about 50 or so pounds and we're really torn. Do we get her? How can we say no? We already love her but we've never had a Shepherd before. 

Does anyone in the hive have a German Shepherd? Did they require any special training? Good suggestions on how to introduce a new puppy to our older boy? He's really mellow and isn't territorial and gets along great with our cats.

You can't say no to this face. I know she looks HUGE in the photo but she's actually much smaller in person. 

squee!! What a face! That dog is the cutest!  I don't have a lot of experience but I think German Shepherds are one of the smartest dogs. They need a ton of exercise and training.  That is one breed I think would be good to get from a breeder because you would get a lot of breed- and heritage-specific information. 

I hope you find a nice dog to add to your pack, but if it's not her, then she will easily get a good home with a face like that!

I have a German Shepherd mix and they are the sweetest pets!  But be forewarned, they are EXTREMELY smart.  This makes training a breeze, especially for house training and basic obedience.  However, you have to firmly yet lovingly establish your authority or they will learn VERY quickly to take advantage of you and be a terror.  As long as you maintain strict guidelines for them, they will be very happy and obedient.  If you have weak resolve, they will sneak to get their way.

My dog never had SUPER demanding energy requirements, but she LOVES to play fetch.  She is also very loyal to her owners and thus protective of the home.  She does GREAT with new people and other dogs, but she barks any time anyone approaches the house just out of protectiveness, even if she's perfectly friendly to whoever comes in the door.  The only time I've ever seen her act aggressive is when she's sensed someone with bad intentions (the postal worker who HATED dogs and tried mace her, the dumpster diver who was stealing things out of our trash, and she chased away a drug dealer at one point!)

Shepherds have VERY sensitive stomachs so if they get stressed out or upset, the first thing is they'll either puke or get the runs.  So if your dog has any illness, don't hesitate to withhold food for a day.  They'll be fine and it will settle their stomach and then start them off with rice and boiled chicken.  My dog also gets incredibly car sick, which depends on the dog, but we try not to go long distances with her in the car unless sedated.

Otherwise, they are just a complete joy!  (Oh, and they SHED!  Get a Furminator!)

@Ginger123 I had a feeling they were an intelligent breed, aren't they one of the most popular police dogs? She already looks like she's gonna be a smartie pants, she was sniffing around the yard exploring but would come running whenever I whistled and sit down under my legs. I can see her being a handful later on unless we get some serious guidlines set early on. She also seems to have some tummy upset, I assumed it was probably from worms (she hasn't been wormed or vaccinated yet) but maybe it's stress from being shuffled from house to house in less than 24 hours? 

How much is tons of shedding? Our sheltie boy is pretty darn fluffy and we're used to picking up clumps of hair. 

This is our sheltie boy, I'm sorry the picture is so huge! Would a german shep shed more than our sheltie? 

I have no idea about shedding but your sheltie is gorgeous! Nice smile!  Who's the little one in the right side of the pic?

@LucyLaLa While we'd love to know more about where she came from (and that she was loved and taken care of before she was dumped :( ) our friend from the German Shepherd rescue said that her mixed heritage might actually be a good thing. He said that whatever she's mixed with might help dillute some of the problems that pure bred sheps have and definitely make her smaller. Her paws looks MASSIVE in the photo but she looks like more than 50 pounds would be a stretch for her in person.

Any guesses on what she might be mixed with?? She looks almost entirely shepherd except for the little white "soul patch" and white spots.  

@LucyLaLa That's our friends mini pin, she's smart as a whip and can do complicated tricks :) And thank you! We think he's very handsome but we're biased :) He was a pure bred rescue we got when he escaped from a puppy mill. 

We also have a German Sheppard Cross.  We don't know what he is crossed with either but we guess Husky and maybe some Collie.

He is the sweetest, smartest most loving dog.  He was very easy to train and grew out of the puppy staget very quickly.  The only issue that we have with him is all the hair loss, we swiffer everyday!  He also gets groomed a few times a year which is about $100 but totally worth it.

In the picture your dog looks like a totaly sweet heart!  Our dog had similar colorings on the face as a puppy but they changed as he grew.  I think you should totally get her!

Here is a picture of our guy Thunder with his hair cut. :)

You guys all have such gorgeous dogs! We were hesitating a lot because people keep talking about how prey driven german shepherds are but I think we'd be okay since she's so young. Our sheltie is currently best friends with one of our cats and the others are used to being around dogs, so if she's as smart as she looks she should in theory learn not to chase them pretty quickly. 

I love GSDs/GSD mixes. They are incredibly loyal, exceptionally smart, and always wanting to please.

One of the main things you need to consider is your lifestyle. Because GSDs are so intelligent, they need a LOT of stimulation to keep from getting bored (and destructive). In the case of the GSD, mental stimulation is just as important as physical stimulation. You should also plan to invest in obedience classes ASAP if you get this dog (following innoculations of course). GSDs are super smart, but if they are not trained and do not know how to use their intelligence in good, constructive ways, they can be uncontrollable, destructive, and even dangerous.

They are definitely not a "lazy" person's dog and they tend not to be inexpensive either, when you consider obedience training and veterinary care. I've had several GSDs come into my life as rescues and fosters, and not one of adult age has ever been free of hip problems.

I find with GSDs that what you get out what you put in. They can be absolutely amazing dogs with the right person, but they can be too smart for their own good and quite a handful for someone who isn't prepared.

ETA: I saw the cat discussion late; I've had GSDs who are fine with cats and others who could not be trusted in the same household. The key again is obedience training, teaching your dog to respect you and your commands to make the cat transition an easier one. Also, you might want to consider the impact a young, high energy puppy will have on your elderly sheltie.

Here's a few  more pictres of her to help you guage her size. When we first saw her picture we were hoping she'd grow into a great big 80 pound ball of love but the rescue seems to think she'll be much smaller. 

Yeah, we have a kitty who had hip problems and broke both his hips before he was a year old. He had a FHO surgery where they removed both balls since they were dissolving anyway. Luckily, his muscular structure is tight enough that he shouldn't need furthery surgeries and is now 4 years old. We definitely know what to look for though! She'd need a full vet work up before we introduce her to our furry family.  

We're definitely looking into formal training if we get her! We almost went agility with our sheltie Pippin but he didn't have the temperment for it and was a "runner". For being 12-14 he certainly doesn't act like an old boy aside from some mild hearing loss and he's super playful. He used to play with our hipless cat everyday but since the cat has gotten older he doesn't want to play with Pippin anymore. We're hoping that this little girl will be willing to play with him. 

Our sheltie and the cats are one of the main reasons we had our rescue friend get her first though, if we bring her home and she makes our pip miserable, we can bring her back to the rescue and know that she'll find a good home. 

No, I don't think it would be worse than a Sheltie.  I think it would be about the same - you know how it goes.  Deep summer/winter shedding to change coats, need for frequent baths, etc.  

My dog is actually is pretty calm in terms of exercise requirements.  She doesn't really need THAT much exercise, but she likes task-oriented play.  She LOVES fetch, and squeaky toys where she can find the squeaking part, or finding a toy you have hidden, or Kongs where she has to figure out how to get the treat.  She's very treat motivated so training was super easy.

My dog gets stress-related runs whenever we leave her at a pet motel when we're out of town and they always have to give her doggie Pepto.   So it might be the stress of moving around.  

We gave in and got her :) She came home this evening around 7:30 and has done REALLY well so far. She's learning "no", how to fetch (and the more difficult "drop" once she brings it back), and to not chew on people's hands. She's already pottied outside 4 or 5 times with no inside accidents.

She seems to get along really well with our sheltie with the exception of one incident where she yipped/lunged at him in a not friendly sounding manner. He played it cool, ignored her and jumped on the couch to lay down. While she was at our foster friend's place his adult GSD went into her crate to clean out her food bowl. She chased him in to see what he was doing and he growled at her and tried to grab her by the neck. He didn't break the skin or hurt her but he scared her and she cried and cowered. Our sheltie was heading near her food bowl when she growled so I think the foster's dog may have made her uncomfortable about dogs near her food. This doesn't apply to people as we can stick our hands in her food bowl and pet her while she eats. Hopefully pip ignoring her will help and we gave her a very stern no and pulled her away from him and the family. 

On the other hand, her big problem seems to be being submissive. She comes up to our feet and "belly surfs", laying flat down to show how submissive she is. We try to ignore her until she sits up to not feed the submissive behavior, but I think it might take a while for her to realize she's safe. 

Too cute!! I love big fluffy paws :)

My husband and I have 2 black German Shepherds, Zoe (7 yrs) and Ava (9 months).  I can tell you German Shepherds (properly trained) are the absolute best pets!  They are very smart and learn extremely quickly.  Socialize them early on to other pets, people, and children.  People always say our girls look so menacing and then after they meet them they say they are some of the sweetest dogs they've ever seen.  Our oldest, Zoe, is 110 lbs and an absolute gentle giant. 

Germans definately take a stronger hand in training and discipline.  No matter what any "trainer" tells you, these dogs can control you and need to know early on...a good whack when deserved is fine and doesn't hurt them at all.  (Note - I am not condoling beating your pets at all, but sometimes a little whack is needed).  Make sure you have their eyes when disciplining, they'll listen to you.  They are also not food driven dogs at all so the use of treats on a regular basis is a waste.  A high pitched "Good girl/boy" and a little rubbing is enough to make them happy.

Thats how my husband trained me with our girls and it absolutely works.  While on our honeymoon, we boarded our dogs at a small place with a man who runs a doggy daycare and boarding...he does not cage the animals at all and the dogs have the run of the entire house and huge backyard.  He told us that Zoe was probably the best dog he's ever had there.

I'm so glad to hear that everyone has such wonder shepherds! She's like a little ball of fluffy love right now but we can't wait to start her training. She has a vet appointment for 4 this afternoon to get her first shot series and then I think we're going to enroll her in once a week puppy school. 

A couple questions for you doggy owners:

- When did you have your shepherd fixed? We've always brought our animals home fixed from the shelter (8 weeks for our cats, 1-2 years for our sheltie) but I've read that it's better to wait to spay/neuter with this breed. It seems to be more important with males than females but I'm not sure. We'd like to get her spayed as soon as possible without altering her growth pattern.

- Any suggestions for dealing with puppy motion sickness/car anxiety? I think it's more nerves than actual motion sickness. 

- Did you crate train and if so, any suggestions? Right now we have a small wire kennel in the bedroom that's just big enough for her to lay down and turn around. We keep a light sheet over it and she only goes in at night to sleep. Last night she only had to go out once to pee and aside from fussing when we put her in, she did really well. 

Since we still need to get puppy gates, we have a large vari kennel in the living room that has plenty of room for her to grow into. We've been putting her in there during the day for increasingly long periods of time with a training cookie and the reinforcer "good crate". We started at 15 minutes and have worked up to almost an hour. She gets upset when we put her in and walk away so we sometimes sit in the living room with her but NEVER take her out when she's whining about it. When she has to potty, she'll whine after having been quiet for awhile and we take her straight out to the backyard. She also has a kong with peanut butter inside and her chewing rope in there to keep her entertained. 

Would you cover this living room crate with a sheet as well? I feel like she might not whine as much if she couldn't see us, but we also want her to have a quiet safe place to be where she can still interact with us in the living room. Someone is home pretty much all day but we'd like her to be able to stay in her crate if we all have to go somewhere at the same time.

@courtbu17 She's definitely not food driven, unlike our sheltie who you could mistake for a hoover. She like's her one bite training treats and the peanut butter in her kong but hasn't been super into eating her meals. She refused dinner last night and wasn't hungry for her breakfast until 10 this morning. I made her lunch but its 1:10 now and she hasn't been interested in it yet.  She's still pottying normally, she was given wormer at the beginning of the week and her stools are all clear and healthy now so I don't think she's sick, she's just really not into food.

We have crate trained our little Ava, and definately had some separation axiety to deal with.  She did fine sleeping in her crate in our room, absolutely no issues beyond some whining.  The issue was when we both had to work (DH works 2 days/week and is in school full time).  Everytime, she loved to just poop it up in there.  Her crate is one where it just fits her.  A good peice of advice I received from a friend who fosters dogs and works in a shelter is when you get home and see she's messed inside look at her without saying a word and leave the room with her still in there in her mess.  after about 10 minutes go back in and in a stern voice ask her "what is this ava?" repeat it a few times while looking at her.  Then get her out, scoop some of the mess on a paper towel, put the towel under her nose and ask the same question again.  Then take her outside (with the poopy paper towel) and show her the towel and say "outside" a few times and leave the towel outside while she's out there.  Literally she was broken of that gross habit in 2 weeks.  We were literally at our wits end too...

We always call her crate her "house".  We have one of the more enclosed plastic crates as generally the less they can see the better.  She knows when we say "house" where to go.  THe last few weeks we've been keeping her in our upstairs guest bathroom...giving that a try, lol.  So far, pretty good.  She chewed off the door stop when my DH forgot to leave some toys in with her, but no potty problems.

We were told to get Ava fixed at 6 months of age, we did it at 7 months for her back this past april.  No problems and she healed quickly.

Both our girls are the same with food!!!  Sometimes its a chore to get them to eat!  DH's mom makes them homeade puppy treats and those are the only treats they get (every morning after the first potty before they eat).  We'll leave left over food sitting where they can reach and they wont touch it!

We have never had issues with motion sickness while driving...It could possibly be anxiety more than anything.  Get her used to riding around and see if it helps.

@Miss Apricot Yeah, I'm pretty sure her dumpers house fed her human food (she seems to think she's supposed to eat off my plate), her finders house fed her cotsco kibble, our foster fed her a good quality grain free kibble but it was too big for her to eat, so we brought him a bag of smaller sized kibble and lunch would only be her 4th meal of it. We've been mixing it with missing link, warm water and a few spoons of a grain free wet food. 

Unfortunately, I have to take her to the vet in a few minutes on the other side of town and in LA traffic that can take forever. We've worn her out pretty well so I'm hoping she'll sleep through it but I'm not holding my breath. 

@muckmoo1 I'm glad their food thing is normal! My mother freaked out a bit and started fussing about her bullying our sheltie but aside from that they're getting along fine. 

My dog personally hasn't really grown out of motion sickness in general.  But she can now do short trips in the car around town.  The freaky thing is these dogs are so smart they recognize routes.  She has no problem being in the car when we're headed to the park or somewhere she likes.  But the minute you take a turn towards the vet or towards the groomer, or a route she doesn't recognize she starts to whimper and drool and get motion sick.  

If we go on long trips, we need to medicate her.  We got doggy Valium from the vet and give her half a Dramamine every few hours.  It just makes her groggy and she sleeps for the most part.  If you need to go a long distance, I would just say cover her seat with an old sheet, be ready for a little puking, and dont give her food for a day before travel.  But be sure to give her plenty of water during the trek - they drool a ton.

My dog had SEVERE separation anxiety when we got her and was really destructive.  She had no problems being crated when someone wasn't home - it made her feel secure.  But she doesn't like being in a crate when someone is home.  I was okay with that, so I generally don't crate her if we're at home.  She just sleeps on her bed and hangs out.  But if she sees me put makeup on or start getting dressed in the morning, she knows I'm leaving soon and goes right in her crate.

I had her fixed at 6 months and she healed up fine, altho ever since her surgery (this was like 8 years ago) she's been sensitive about anyone putting pressure on her belly.  She likes her belly rubbed or scratched, but doesn't like it if you press down or if anyone touches her belly when she's not expecting it.  I think the scar tissue just feels weird when you touch it and it makes her uncomfortable.  But otherwise, she's always just been super sweet and almost tomboyish - I guess spaying can do that.  

Wow, it's been three weeks since we decided to get the puppy so i thought you guys deserve an update! Our wonderful girl is about 14 weeks old and weighs in at 28 pounds. She has totally taken over our lives and there isn't a single room that isn't full of puppy stuff. She's doing really well with potty training and has only had a few peepee accidents that weren't really her fault. She is also still making a little excited pee when she meets a new person/hasn't seen us all day. 

She's doing really well in puppy class and with her crate training as well. She (almost always) knows sit, lay down, roll on her side, stay, come, off (as in stop teething on my hand) and couch (jump up on the couch and snuggle with us). She's getting her second set of vaccines tomorrow and will then be allowed to play with more doggies. 

We're really glad we got her :) Thank you bees for all your encouragement! 

She is SO cute! Sorry if I missed it - but what did you name her???