Need Advice please help!

Breed specific discussion of your favorite breed.

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ZaraD
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Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 10:06 am
Location: Staffordshire, UK

Need Advice please help!

Post by ZaraD »

Hi all

So as you may know i have decided to get another German Shepherd. However im not a fan of the showline line look ( i wont go into detail why as i have mentioned it in previous posts) and working lines dont suit me. However duel purpose dogs suit better as thats what lara is. The problem im having is with breeders i have found 5 breeders who i really like they all fully health test ( i put a list of tests they all do below) and there dogs have great tempermants ( i so far have met 2 of of the 5 breeders and there dogs have fantastic temperments and both were very passionate about the breed and there dogs) they all have straight backs and better conformation than showline shepherds. But none of them do anything with there dogs they are just family pets which doesnt bother me but my aunt who owns GSD said never buy from a breeder who doesnt do something with there dog like showing , competitive agility, competitive obidence , working trials ect. And this is my problem , is it really important that a breeder does something?

Heres the health tests they all do.

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JudyN
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Re: Need Advice please help!

Post by JudyN »

ZaraD wrote: Sun Mar 17, 2019 6:02 am my aunt who owns GSD said never buy from a breeder who doesnt do something with there dog like showing , competitive agility, competitive obidence , working trials ect.
Did she say why? If not, I'd ask her.
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ZaraD
Posts: 577
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 10:06 am
Location: Staffordshire, UK

Re: Need Advice please help!

Post by ZaraD »

No she didnt , I'll ask and let you know. To me heath and temperament are more important.
ZaraD
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Location: Staffordshire, UK

Re: Need Advice please help!

Post by ZaraD »

She said because there needs to be a reason for wanting to breed a litter or goal from breeding such as wanting to keep a pup for themselves for the showring or for working trials ect. With just family pets you have to be careful that there not secretly just breeding for money and health tests can be a way to convice people there not after the money.

I also did a search on here and Erica said a similar thing in an old thread https://positively.com/forum/viewtopic. ... d+breeders

Heres a snipet of what she said
"The breeder should do *something* with the dogs. Even if it's low-level agility, or therapy dog work, or nosework, rather than schutzhund or conformation (in my country, I'd personally steer clear of AKC conformation, but the American UKC seems to have better standards). Something to show that they spend time with the dogs, that the dogs take to training well, that they aren't just throwing their pets in the backyard to make more puppies. Along this line, they should state why they breed."
JudyN
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Re: Need Advice please help!

Post by JudyN »

Ah, so it's evidence of being good owners, rather than a requirement of a good breeder. That makes more sense. Though I'd worry about a breeder whose main reason for breeding is the show ring - that's really a way of feeding their own ego or making more money because they can impress people with the results.

If I could convince myself that a breeder bred the pups because they love the breed, and I could see evidence that their dogs get all the love, exercise and mental stimulation they need, even if it's just long mainly offlead walks somewhere interesting every day, I wouldn't worry about the other stuff. so I wouldn't reject these breeders - I'd ask questions, ask to visit and, if possible, inspect their premises and meet the parents. Ask to be kept up to date with photos of mum and pups from when they're first born till they're ready to leave. Visit often if possible, but they may restrict this because of a chance of sharing germs.

I'm sure Nettle will have more to offer on the subject (which might include telling me that I'm wrong, but the above would seem to make sense to me).
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Nettle
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Re: Need Advice please help!

Post by Nettle »

IMO as long as pups are bred from healthy and health-tested (not the same thing) parents, and well reared with every care, AND are healthy in themselves with good temperaments, it doesn't matter if/what the breeder does with them as a hobby. Being a good pet is one of the hardest jobs a dog can do.
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