German Shepherd Dog - Breed Profile
For nobility of character, purpose, and appearance, few animals can surpass the German Shepherd Dog. This breed's courage, steadfast heart, and keen senses have endeared him to mankind--for avalanche and earthquake search and rescue, narcotics and bomb detection, tracking missing persons, and guiding the blind. He is the world's leading guard, police, and military dog, probably owing to his steady nerves.
The German Shepherd Dog also makes a wonderful companion. He is active, but dignified, and will delight in joining you in fishing, swimming, or hiking. He's very fond of children once he gets to know them. Experienced owners know just how far to assert their authority over this dog in training.
German Shepherd Dogs are descended from various old breeds of German herding and farm dogs. They can live almost anywhere as long as they get exercise and attention.
The German Shepherd Dog's outer coat is harsh; it is of medium length. He sheds profusely and needs brushing every other day, year round. The coat is usually tan with a black muzzle and "saddle" over back and sides, but any rich color is allowed.
Excerpts from the Standard
General Appearance: Strong, agile, muscular, alert and full of life. Never timid or nervous. Longer than tall. Unmistakably noble and intelligent.
Size, Proportion, and Substance: Height--males, 24 to 26 inches at withers; females, 22 to 24 inches.
Fun Facts
Bob of Carmel, California, was a famous German Shepherd Dog who learned many skills. He could wipe his feet on the doormat, take money to the grocery store and pick out what he wanted to buy, balance a glass of water on his nose, and other tricks. His most unusual achievement was learning to play the piano. He held the toy piano steady with one paw, while he tapped out tunes with the other. He had his own toy piano, which he would play while "singing" along.
Excerpted from The Complete Dog Book For Kids © 1996, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Return to German Shepherd Dog Home Page
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Comments (8)
3 1/2 yo male intact GSD will almost always do what he's told to do first time. As sweet and gentle as he is to me and my son, he guards the property from any unwelcome visiter which is exactly what I want. He has a lot of energy but a long walk and a good ball chasing session (or even swimming) usually takes care of that
I have two long hair german shepherds both about 100lbs. Neko the female is the alpha dog while Simba her brother has growing pains, a hinged knee, and is now eating weird for some reason. I put his collar on t go outside and he eats any food down like he hasn't eaten all day. I am worried any suggestions? Please :( Joyce
I grew up with GSD's and just last year was able to finally get my own and what a wonderful girl she is.She is just now 2 and she is wonderful with my 3 1/2 y/o and my baby (he is 1 now)..just last night we got another GSD..a male that was rescued from a puppy farm where he spent all of his 3 years locked in a cage but he is already so calm with us and bonded with my kids from the moment he walked in the door...they are such a awesome breed..I love my GSD's...Shana
I have a GSD mix with Beagle named Biscuit. He is incredibly smart, loyal, so cute, perfect size at 40lbs. His coloring is exactly like a GS, with almond shaped eyes and almost floppy ears. He is great with my two cats,and my ADHD son. Biscuit is amazingly calm while we are very high octane. We do exercise him a lot. I would highly recommend a GSD. Biscuit happens to be a rescue dog, and a mix but you can see the GS in him. He also barks like a GS, when he does bark, which is not often. He only barks when he absolutely has to. I would definitely get another GSD. He probably could spell better than me too. Vern
u r soo lucky to have a dog like that
Teresa Feb. 22, 2010 8:30pm
Hello, I am so pleased and proud to say that i have an amazing 9 year old GSD named Ralph. I trained him to be a support therapy dog and he loves his responsibilities. I am a teacher of special education middle school students and Ralph has been going to school with me for 5 years now. Ralph is so smart and loyal and he is the smartest dog i've ever known. He has just been a pleasure. I do not believe anyone can go wrong with a GSD. Ralph is a German bred dog and he loves children! I am very excited to be getting another GSD in about 6 weeks. I am going to get a female since i have Ralph, a male. I will train this dog to be a therapy dog as well and one day i will take this one to school also. If anyone has any reserves about getting a GSD, i can respectfully say 'NO WORRIES'. you will not be sorry. Teresa
Hi, I have a beautiful long haired German Shepherd pup (10 months old) called Bella. I have always loved GSD's and put off having one until now because of my job, I am a Childminder. The opportunity came up for me to have a pup so I did a lot of research on the breed, especially on how they are with children. I was told that as soon as I got my pup the most important thing to do was socialise her as soon as possible. We use to take Bella everywhere with us. We allowed people to stroke and hold her. I took her to puppy classes, and still go as she has made so many friends and when she is old enough she will do agility and flyball too. I can honestly say she has been perfect around my childminding children. I watch her with them all of the time, not just for their sake but for Bella too, so she isn't pulled around. I have gates up so that Bella can have peace away from the children if she wants in a separate room, plus If I need to be out of the room for anytime I can make sure that the children and Bella are safe away from each other. Bella has never had problems with anxiety, nervousness or exessive barking etc. I can only put this down to her being socialised right from the start. Bella is so faithfull, loyal and loving. I call her my little shadow she is never far away from me! She protects the house and family and If I have her with me when I take the children out she looks out for them all. It is a funny sight to see if the children are in the park she looks around on alert all of the time until the gang are back together beside her. I would not want to be the person on the receiving end if they caused trouble to me, the children or our home as she loves us all so much, as we all do her. I regret not getting a GSD sooner now, as I could not wish for a more loyal beautiful dog. Ps Anyone thinking of buying a GSD be warned, a walk will take twice as long as you probably expect, because in my experience SO MANY people stop you to say hello to them and say how much they love the breed and say how beautiful Bella is. It makes me feel proud to walk her. They are the most nobliest of dogs and I know I am probably biased but the best dog in the world is a German Shepherd. Libby