German Shepherd owners...*update*more pics

[DiVon80]

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German GSDs have a lot more prey drive then the American showline. The East German dogs come from the dogs who worked the fence to keep people in..these dogs have to have a high prey drive to do the chase. To persue and hold...My boy is East german and he has a very high prey drive. I need this type of temp. to do personnel protection and gaurding the fence line(6' with the spikes)and property. Puts on a good show hackles up and all. Beautiful red sable. He will kill a chicken if let alone w it. I do feed him raw. He does not care to shred fences or anything like that to get to my birds. I partitioned off part of my porch with just a piece of welded wire 3' tall and clothes pins. Not a single problem. He is still a young dog and he knows they are ours. My chickens are also behind 6' chain like. I know for safety sake to also line the bottom of the chain link with poultry wire to stop heads from comming thru. Hes a very good dog I love him and I have the sence to do the best I can to keep all my animals safe. If he has an encounter its generally something out or our control, like an excapee or something.

GSD

 

[DTchickens]

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I see grey hound or whippet personally

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[ohiofarmgirl]

wow! look at that face! she is a looker for sure!

here are a few pointers - if you are interested. also, i'm such a goof, i was going to recommend a couple of books to help you.

first, run dont walk to get the book on training dogs from the order of monks in New Skete, NY. its fabulous. also you could try 'the farmers dog' which is hard to find and is pretty high level training but the explanation on how dogs work is very good. last - of course - Be the Pack Leader from the dog mumbler.. i mean The Dog Whisperer.

We are working very hard on "stay" right now
- when pup gets up; use your 'talking to a 5 year old' ' voice - oh no no no you come right back here (pointing) where i put you. and make her down right there.

- she almost has "leave it"
this has to do with the broader issue that you own everything. give her toys - then randomly take them away saying "this is mine", do the same with food (put food bowl down walk away, then go and take it saying 'this is mine'). do not ever play tug of war with anything.

- we are diligently on establishing chain of command.
always be above her - never on eye level. when you walk into a room with her ignore her (especially if there is bouncing around) until you decide. make her sit (ears back, quietly) before you walk outside or before you walk inside. make her sit quietly before you put the food down.

heh heh heh we have a funny story (not for beginners!) about how we took in a 'bad dog.' after we stood there smiling and waving at the family as they drove off when they left him with us - we turned around and both of us wrestled that poor dog to the ground until he gave up... we did this every day for two weeks. we called the family and were happy to report we didnt have any problems at all!


- At this point she is interested in the chickens, so far I bring her out to watch me feed them and pick them up and hold them, I am letting her know they are mine
great work! ALWAYS hold them above the dog. dont bring them down on her level. she can sniff them where she is quietly sitting. our dogs just can understand why those darn cats are above them in the hierarchy..

you can also put her on a leash, let her walk around with the hens and give it a sharp snap and a NO! if she shows any interest.

she'll get the message - the trick is to keep working on it every day. if she gets ants in her pants - run her between you and someone else until she drops. a tired dog is a good dog.

great work!!!

 

[sunket77]

Thanks so much for the book recommendations!! I am "running" to half price books to check there first! I always check there and the library first. It is so funny that you mentioned that about the entering and leaving the house! I have been working on that too! funny thing is she got entering the front door but everything else she is like a bull! Of course my main concern is her knocking one of the kids over to get outside. We are in for some work but the reward comes fast with her, she is a quick learner. Also leash training is giving ME a hard time, I can't stand a dog that pulls on leash, so I am really trying to be patient, but 100 degree weather is not helpful!

I appreciate all the advice I can get!!!

OK also, I knew not to play tug of war but what about fetch? I don't want to encourage "chasing" behavior

 

[ruth]

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She's really cute but I don't see German Shepherd or Collie. Looks more like our Min Pin mutt. The body and slick, short hair is definitely not collie or shepherd.

I'm the one with the two GSD's Cyn spoke of. (Thanks Cyn for the kind referral.) We love our GSDs and couldn't have our free ranging flock without them. We didn't really have to teach Rex, our original and oldest GSD to "guard". He just seemed to instinctively know what to do and within 15 minutes of my bringing home that first batch of baby chicks he was sleeping next to them and would not leave. We went off to church and left him there. He stayed by their side for the first week, leaving only to go out and use the bathroom and would run right back and, stick his nose in the box as if to count them, and then would lay back down.

We got Scarlett to learn from Rex. She has just turned a year old and is really coming into her own as a Livestock Guard Dog. She's better than Rex with them. He mostly ignores them and runs off predators but she is the "Peace Keeper". She goes into the hen house every evening about dusk when they all start returning and busts up any "gang bangs" or roo fights by gently nudging them apart or pulling the roos off the hen by their tails. If a hen gets to squawking or yelling, she runs to see what's wrong - no matter where on the farm she was. She really seems to be mothering them. She can often be found sleeping in the hen house.

Rex and his first chick babies. He followed them everywhere that first year.

Scarlett, the Peace Keeper, doing her evening coop duty of making sure everyone is in order and peace prevails.

Can't say that I "trained" her either. When she was a puppy, I just let her follow me as I went about my farm duties and corrected her if she tried to chase the chicks.

We actually have six dogs and the four older dogs don't bother the freeranging chickens or ducks at all. I'm still working with the two GP pups who must stay in the fenced backyard because they are great while being watched but tend to eat the chicks they can catch if left unsupervised.

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Thought I'd show off my furry weirdo

EEK! sorry it's such a big pic!

 

[sunket77]

hhmm.. maybe her pictures aren't doing her justice, there isn't anything miniature about her. Her back is just above my knees (and I'm 5'9) and her hair isn't short like a min pin or greyhound. She has a shiny coat softer than most shepherds. I am very familiar with the breed and she has a lot of shepherd in her even down to a lot of her behavior (velcroed to me already). She has a slight rear slope but long legs. My pure bred was also kind of lanky until she got around 2yr old. .. maybe I can see if I can get some better pics of her!

 

[sunket77]

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that is one precious baby!

 

[citrusdreams]

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that is one precious baby!

Very regal!!!

 

[speckledhen]

Monique, I still want a Rex! He's awesome. And, guesswhat, your dog is gorgeous!