Alsations

[Guest Macnas]

I like alsatians, mate of mine has 3 and they are quite placid, all down to the owner.

 

All too often we see this breed chained in a yard somewhere, left out in the elements and hardly fed.

Even if they are well kept, they are hardly ever well trained, and the this can lead to all sorts of trouble.

 

A guy I know had a lot of trouble with one, the dog was kept loose in a sawmills, and had bitten him previously. One day a few weeks later, he was out with his shotgun, walking through the nearby forestry, turning around to find the alsation had been following him. The alsation never came back to the sawmill, and passers-by were once again safe from being bitten.

[Malt 379]

I used to live by myself on a large councill estate. One of my freinds knew some really rough people from the other side of the estate, who were looking to rehome a GSD bitch. I gave her a home, and she never gave me any crap, for the 3 months she was with me. People from all over the estate would see me with her out on the lead and all stop and ask me how I managed to tame her! This all came as a huge suprise to me, as she'd never given me any grief, but then, I wouldn't have taken any. It turns out, that this dog, being quite boisterous if she would have been let, had been left in their yard, with no control or handling, and used to try to eat anybody that walked past! It came as a shock to me, as I had found her gentle as a lamb. Once the previous owners had seen the change, and seen what a placid dog she had become, they wanted her back, as they felt that they could now let her back into the house. As I was soon to be moving from the estate, and they had promised to look after her properly, I gave her back.

 

 

GSD's can be dangerous dogs, due to their size, and they have been bred to keep some of the aggression that is present in the grey wolf, but like any dog, it NEEDS to be put in it's place, and be treated with a firm hand.

[Simoman 110]

they have been bred to keep some of the aggression that is present in the grey wolf

 

Eh?

[skycat 6,174]

they have been bred to keep some of the aggression that is present in the grey wolf

 

Eh?

 

And again...eh?!!! Wolves are anything but aggressive! The only thing they are likely to be aggressive towards is a strange pack on their territory or coyotes which they see as competition for food. Pretty much like our own foxes really! LOL

Any aggression we see in domesticated dogs has been put there by man for his own purposes.

[Groverdog 0]

we are onto our 2nd GSD. 1st one was (i will not apologise for sounding sappy) my best pal. Protective if ness but fantastic with everyone who wasnt a threat. Never a lip raised unless absolutly nessercery. Always felt safe and secure when partner was away. Big old softy. Our 2nd one is a bitch who i will say is alot sharper guess its because shes from German working lines. Needs alot more firm but kind handling. Its def the owners not the breed thats at fault. I refuse to live life without a GSD as you couldnt find (IMHO) a better breed.

[Malt 379]

they have been bred to keep some of the aggression that is present in the grey wolf

 

Eh?

 

And again...eh?!!! Wolves are anything but aggressive! The only thing they are likely to be aggressive towards is a strange pack on their territory or coyotes which they see as competition for food. Pretty much like our own foxes really! LOL

Any aggression we see in domesticated dogs has been put there by man for his own purposes.

 

Sorry guys, I wasn't being too clear on that one, what I meant was, all the different types of breeds have been bred from the Grey wolf. In a pack of wolves, each member has it's own job. Some bark to warn of danger or to alert the pack of a meal. others do the killing of prey. What I meant to say, is that dogs like the GSD, were bred from these dogs, what I meant by aggresion, was prey drive, the instinct to get up close and personal to the prey. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear.

Don't mean to sound like a know it all, but the history of the domestication of the dog fascinates me, I think it's amazing how all the different breeds of dogs, have been bred for different purposes from the Grey wolf.

 

Ps, I'm going to have to learn to watch what I say around you dog men!

[Guest baldie]

Despite my earlier post, i like the dogs, and the wife adores them, but they aren,t pets. As a 6 year old lad, we lived on a big estate [wentworth castle in Barnsley] and my dad was caretaker. There was an "E" shaped building which housed the women there, as it was a teacher training college then. Round the perimeter was a wire fence a foot high, with a "do not cross" sign on it. At the back of this was a prison camp type ariel rail, with a pure white alsation [way before that tit plummer though of breeding them] attached to it. That dog was the devil incarnate.Absolutely savage, and would only let my dad feed it, and he wouldn,t turn his back on her.

We also had a reject from the police called "sabre" and he was good natured, but had his moments. Then a mate had a pure black one, that was very well behaved [an absolute giant for the breed] but you knew in no uncertain circumstances, had steve not been there, the dog would have eaten you alive. He lived in a rough area, but no one went near his house that didn,t need to be there.Superb animals, when used for their proper use...guarding.Most definatly not for a knuckle dragging muppet....they may as well have a loaded gun.

[Raider 0]

My Dad was talking to the farmer today and he said he hadnt even noticed them missing but on hearing what had happend he was very apologetic and insisted this was the first time anything like this had happend. These dogs share kennels with his sheep dogs, play with his kids and never leave the yard when loose or so he said. We have decided not to report him or the dogs anyway. Just hope he takes better care in the future . Now that we are talking about the breed, does anyone use them for hunting/shooting? They are athletic and smart so they could probably be of some use, with the correc training that is?

[Guest Macnas]

I knew a guy who said he'd used one for retrieving, I never witnessed it so, might be a load of bollix.

 

They wouldnt have the speed for coursing, and would probably have the hardest mouths in creation.

[Geoff.C 0]

There was a lady who used a GSD for retrieving, among other things. My brain will not recall her name yet, think she lived in Ireland. She was one of the breeds old stalwarts who considered the breed (quite rightly)too versatile for just showing or guarding. My experience with the GSD goes back to 1969 ish. I have met one or two "wrong 'uns", but in the main they are fine biddable dogs. Bad owners,and inadequate prats who buy them for street cred must take the blame for the problem dogs.

Their history begins as far back as 1899,when Rittmeister Von Stephanitz, organized the breeding programme to develop the dog that has become what we know today. Their initial job,was to lope unsupervised, up and down the ditch which separated the grazing field from a crop field. Not many fences were used,and any sheep that tried to cross were to be sent back. They needed to be tall,to cope with the Bavarian sheep which are bigger than our breeds and could probably push past our size of sheepdog.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

probably have the hardest mouths in creation.

 

 

Or might they have evolved that way ....?

 

 

 

[Geoff.C 0]

My last GSD bitch was called "Lacey",she had the softest mouth,and could retrieve raw eggs with ease as a little party trick.

Mind you, I was really cruel to her at times, I would give her a whole digestive biscuit! Her face was a picture, as she carried it to her bed.

The biscuit would still be there half an hour later,unless someone broke it up for her.