Searching online for German Shepherd puppies, but not sure where to start? Having bred dogs for twenty-ish years we have a few pointers that may be helpful as you search. This article is specifically geared towards people that are looking to buy a German Shepherd puppy. If you landed here looking for cute puppy videos, this article probably won’t be for you. But, if you are first time puppy buyer, or perhaps you recently lost your German Shepherd, you should find this article super helpful. Continue reading for what ought to be some sage advice from a seasoned German Shepherd breeder.
Finding the Right Kind of Breeder of German Shepherd Puppies
First a disclaimer. Dogs are living animals. And, even if the breeder you eventually choose is doing everything right, not every puppy will be perfect, even with the best of pedigrees. And that’s what makes this process of working to make the breed better a challenge. It’s not just three or four variables, but there are hundreds of genetic markers that determine the final outcome of your puppy. And so, it’s often two steps forward and one step back when it comes to breeding. So, beware of grandiose claims that seem too good to be true. There, got that out of the way. With that said, how do you go about finding the right kind of breeder that produces the kind of German Shepherd puppies that will be a great fit for your family? Some key things to consider are both health and temperament. Absolutely, health is a huge priority. Without a healthy dog, not much else matters. You can have the best dog in the world, but if your puppy isn’t healthy, then all the rest doesn’t mean too much. The second major factor to consider will be trainability and temperament. To quote Captain Emile Stephanitz, one of the early founders of the German Shepherd breed, all German Shepherds are working dogs, or they are not German Shepherds. What he meant by this statement was the idea that German Shepherds as a breed were meant to actually do things. They were not bred primarily as a large, furry couch potato. As such, they were selected for obedience. Only easily trained dogs were considered suitable for breeding. On top of trainability, is the question of trainability come the actual abilities of the dog. Can the dogs do the things that German Shepherds were bred to perform. Do these German Shepherd puppies come from lines that excel in tracking and protection work. Most of you reading this won’t have much need for a dog that does tracking. That is typically a fairly specialized pursuit. Search and rescue dogs are certainly not the primary pursuit for most German Shepherd owners. Protection on the other hand is a fairly common concern. So, how do we go about finding German Shepherd puppies with these qualities.
Find Breeders of German Shepherd Puppies from Titled Pedigrees
German Shepherd puppies from titled lines are much different than a dog from AKC champion lines. Let’s discuss how a title is different than an earned show championship. When German Shepherd breeders take their dogs to a dog show, all the dogs in a given show are put into a show ring. The dogs walk in a circle. The judges evaluate their movement and conformation. The dog that looks the closest to an artist’s drawing of the breed standard wins the show. In the AKC system, a dog needs to earn 15 points to earn an AKC championship and 25 points to earn a Grand Championship. Without getting too deep in the weeds, a dog can earn from one to five points at a show. The bigger the show the more points that can be earned in the show. A maximum of five points can be earned in a show. So, if a dog won three large shows, they can win a championship in as few as three shows. Win three large shows in a row, and a dog can win an AKC championship. While the numbers may vary from country to country, this is basic idea. The limitation of this kind of system is that the show reveals virtually nothing about the temperament of the dog, its trainability or its ability to do the work of a German Shepherd— tracking and protection work. A working title, on the other hand, is a completely different process. The dog that earns a title is not being graded against other dogs. Rather the dog is compared to an objective standard. Earning a title requires a dog pass a major exam. Each major exam has three smaller exams within the larger exam.
Unpacking What it Means for GSDs to Earn a Working Dog Title
Think of the process for German Shepherd puppies earning a title as kind of like a high school student passing their ACT exam. When a student takes their ACT, there are three components. There is a Math, English and Science portion of the exam. We might think of a student take three smaller tests with the aggregate score of these three tests making up their ACT score. In a similar way, when a German Shepherd Dog attempts to earn a title (see Schutzhund Club of America for more information on working line titles for GSDs), there are similarly three exams. Earning one of these titles requires the dog pass an obedience exam, a tracking exam and a protection exam. The combined score of these three exams is the total score for the dog’s attempt to earn a title. The dog must pass all three exams in order to earn the title. Fail one of the smaller exams and the dog fails the title. Unlike a show championship where a dog always wins, even if no dog is really a good representation of the breed, a dog attempting to earn a working title may simply fail. By choosing a breeder that focuses on producing German Shepherd puppies from titled pedigrees you can see that every effort is being made to retain and even improve on those character traits that make GSDs the unique bred that they are.
Maybe Even Consider German Shepherd Puppies from Top Scoring Dogs
Just like children in school can pass classes with varying grades, it’s typically not a pass or fail, so GSDs that earn a working title are scored. Some dogs barely squeak by with a passing grade. Other dogs perform with near flawless performance. If you are searching for a dog likely to thrive as a search and rescue dog, consider narrowing your search for German Shepherd puppies to those dogs that come from super high scoring tracking lines. On a scale of one to a hundred, high scoring dogs will score 95 or higher in their tracking exams. The same goes for protection work. If your main goal is a protection dog, then consider finding a puppy from lines where many of the dogs in the first several generations of the pedigree have been high scoring in protection. An example of one of our dogs here at Czechworkingline.com would be a dog by the name of Ariana. As of the time of this article, we imported Ariana only a few months ago. She was IGP 1 titled when we bought here. We did the extra work of getting her DNA tested for Degenerative Myelopathy. Plus her hips and elbows passed their X-rays. But what makes Ariana unique is that her father is a two time WUSV world champion. Twice he has won the world championship for working line German Shepherds. Not once, but twice! His scores in all three exams, obedience, tracking and protection were all near flawless. He has great ball and prey drive. A super trainable dog, not only is he a great dog himself, but he consistently passes these traits on to his offspring. We’ll sell Ariana puppies for a premium price. But she has a premium pedigree. A person would have a hard time finding a breeding female with a better pedigree than a dog like Ariana whose father won the WUSV world championship, not once, but twice!
Finally, Choose a Breeder of German Shepherd Puppies With Great Customer Service
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even with the best of pedigrees, no dog is perfect. Find a breeder of German Shepherd puppies that is absolutely committed to using titled working line pedigrees. That’s for certain. But more than this, find a puppy that matches the drive and temperament that best fits your family and lifestyle. If you live in an apartment and have three small children, you most likely won’t want a crazy high drive dog that looks and acts like its closest cousin is a world champion Malinois! Find a dog that comes from a line with a good off switch. Chose from a batch of German Shepherd puppies that are from the kind of lines that they make good family dogs. On the other end of the spectrum, if you are wanting to compete in protection sports, you will want one of the fastest, high drive dogs you can find. Something on the edge side of things. Too many show dogs in the GSD breed have become glorified couch warmers. Many have lost the temperament that even allows them to thrive in tracking/search and rescue work. And if someone breaks into your car or home, they just might wag their tail and lick them. Choosing a working line dog from a titled background will go a long ways towards helping you choose from the myriad of German Shepherd puppies available online for purchase. Choosing a GSD breeder that will answer questions on the front end will go a long ways towards finding the right fit for your family. Click here to see our available German Shepherd puppies for sale here at Czechworkingline.com. Thanks for visiting. Look around and come back often. We try and regularly post useful articles for a range of readers, both new and old.
