White German Shepherd, male or female?

[ImBetterThanYou]

DP and I are wanting a white german shepherd, what are the views of these dogs, does anyone here own one?

I will be home with the dog from 8am to 6pm and DP will get home after that, but it will be predominantly down to me to look after it. Would a male or female dog be better suited to our family?

Do these particular types of dogs bark a lot?

We also have a 5yr old son and cats.

Are you sure they're huskys not klee kais, akitas, spitz. malamute etc

One of the ladies walking one said it was her nieces alaskan husky. Beautiful animal. Scary howl though!

I would like a gs but this thread has put me off, too much work right now.

They are great dogs. Probably not huge more work than any other 'working' breed.

We have had 5 white GSDs and a Huskyx (RSPCA thought she was a GSD, but she wasn't). Please ignore the suggestions for getting a Husky without LOADS and LOADS of research (start with ToBoldlyGo as she's ace)

We didn''t choose to have whites, they kinda chose us except one which we bought from a supposedly reputable breeder, who had the worst hip dysplasia our Vet had seen. The rest of our dogs are rescue and I will only ever have rescues from now on.

We currently have 2 still with us. They both bark A Lot. One male, one female. I think in temperament, I favour males as they seem less work. Both are aggressive but this is not the breed's fault, the other 3 weren't agrressive. Of the 2 we have, one was kept in a too small upstairs flat (she has HD), too little socialisation, too little training and has an aversion to anything long (i.e. baseball bat shape) and Feet. The other was kept in a dark room, with no socialisation until the breeder gave up trying to sell him and his brothers and dumped them in a rescue at 10 months.

I second all the health and breeding comments above. Treated right, they have amazing temperaments. Get one from a rescue, preferably who uses fosterers. I've chosen to have the ones that were given up by numpties who got them for looks/guarding and then didn't put in the time to train them.

Tons of exercise and mental stimulation.

They have a tendency to bond strongly with one member of the family - this must be discouraged as they can then turn on other members of the family to "protect" their particular favourite. They need clear rules but respond perfectly to treat training - they love to please you, unlike my Husky who believes we live to please her

They do suffer with seperation anxiety so it's good you have someone around most of the time. With your DS and cat, there is nothing in the breed that says you shouldn't have a GSD, but again, if you get one from a reputable rescue, they will have cat tested them, and if it has come from a fosterer, they can tell you what he is like with kids. But, they are powerful dogs, so never leave dog and child unsupervised. You will also need to teach your son to respect the dog etc.

Hope that essay helped . If you go down this route, please feel free to ask me for advice - having had 5, by now I must have hit most problems with them but having said that, they still seem to teach me something new each day.

What's wrong with huskies? Genuine q! I only know GSDs, spanials (live these) and Jackies.

Mrszoid - can I come and play at your house please? I'd be in hound heaven!

You mean Siberian huskies, Frontpaw, not Alaskan huskies. The latter are purpose bred racing dogs very seldom found in the UK and not a suitable pet.

The former are also purpose bred racing dogs and not a suitable pet for most people. 3+ hours of ON LEAD exercise per day (cannot be let off in unenclosed spaces), hugely vocal, heavily shedding, demanding, difficult to obedience train, obstinate.

Frontier - think what they are bred for. They pull sleds, in packs, for miles and miles a day. They live and sleep in the open and are a relatively "primitive" breed (ie closer to the wolf than other domestic dog breeds are). All of this does not generally translate well into the ideal pet animal. To say they need a lot of exercise is an understatement. Their instinct to pull sleds means they tend to pull heavily on leads. They are happiest when kept with other dogs and can have v bad separation anxiety due to their strong pack instincts. And for most huskies the call of the wild easily outweighs any human attachment, and they can't be allowed to free unless in a confined space. Absolutely beautiful dogs, but unless you're going to work them (do sled running etc) then IMO they're not suitable pets.

Sorry, frontpaw not frontier (stupid autocorrect). X-posts with toboldlygo there.

Ahhhh. That explains why she was in the park at drop off anmd in the park at pick up! She did say the dog needed loads of experise! She definately said alaskan. As I said, it wasn't her dog but was walking it as a favour! There was a bit of rivalry with another walker of a similar dog. They hated each others dog for sone reason (one was 'stupid' and the other 'too wild').

Personally, if you're dead set on a pedigree rather than a rescue ( I would obvs say get a rescue lurcher then I think you can't go wrong with a border terrier, provided you give it lots of walks. Lovely little dogs.

I had a GSD (not white) bitch growing up (I was 10-22). She was a rescue pup and my best friend but...

My parents are not bad people but they really shouldn't have owned a GSD at that time.
She was massively under exercised which led to various problems including a lot of barking, aggression and general hyperactivity. She was liable to bolting if the front door was left open.
She was hugely possessive and very jumpy around visitors.

But she was my dog and I loved her fiercely. I'd have a GSD now but only if I could commit to the exercise it would need.

Frontpaw - Only if you do the grooming

I didn't know the white ones were the result of overly-selective breeding. Am afraid my one and only experience of them is a negative one, some years ago. Friends of my father owned a white male GSD, and it was very vocal and highly territorial. It nipped me a couple of times and wouldn't let me back into the house when I went out into the garden, which was laughed off by the owners as me being a bit of 'a girl' and they liked it being 'protective' of the home and family. It was always more the man's dog and the following month it turned on the middle teen boy (who was told off for provoking it although he denied it) and then it bit the woman's hand very badly, after she prevented it getting up to the counter to get their dinner, and it had to be pulled off her. As a consequence, sadly, it was put down by the vet as they said it couldn't be rehomed (although seeing the threads on here, I now know that not to be true). They were owners who couldn't cope with the breed specific requirements of a GSD who wanted a 'hard' looking dog but also one that functioned as a family pet. It just confirmed my opinion that owners of any GSD need to know what they are doing and be sympathetic to the needs to that particular breed of dog.

Oh FashionEaster that is so sad. They are territorial, and your story shows why I said to not let them bond with just one person. But the trait isn't limited to whites, I've seen several GSDs on rescues pages where they warn that the particular dog only bonded to one member and that is why it is being rehomed.

my husband's grandfather had a sucession of GSDs from the 1930's through to his death in 1990, they all had the same name and in his own mind I think he thought they were the same dog! We had a couple at home when I was a child too. The 4 I have known were all very easy going and friendly, very intelligent and good natured but they are very strong dogs and if they decide to pull on the lead, jump up or go a bit over the top playing with a blanket or huge stick or bone there is not much you can do about it. I might be swayed if I came across a quiet old recue GSD but a puppy or young dog would be far too much for us

My sisters GSDs have all been soppy buggers - great guard dogs (well they are big and can bark like mad!) but increadibly gentle and very well trained.

They took the last one to the country fare and were chatting to another couple who had just had their one out down. They were saying how their four year old was heartbroken and tuned around to see said sour year old lying on the dog (poor dog pinned to the ground) giving her a massive cuddle. Sweet dog!

sour? nono 'said'

Thanks again for all of the responses, it has given us a lot to think about. We're quite an active family so if a gsd is what we decide on then we'll make sure plenty of exercise is high on our priority list! Also puppy training will be a must, both for training and socialising, and my friend is studying to be a dog behaviourist and has a lot of big strong dogs too so I'll be asking for a lot of advice from her if we encounter any problems.

I've read a lot about male gsd bonding more with female owners and female gsd bonding better with male owners, but quite a lot of what we read was conflicting, has anyone had experience of this?

My sis and her husband have always had bitches - some her 'his' and some 'hers'. No difference really.

We had a lovely boy GSD (not white)
He had a very special bond with DH, (DH did alot more exciting walks, whereas i tended to walk with the buggy etc) but he still loved me and the children. Our dog trainer always said he would protect us with his life.

We lost him at 7 in Feb due to bloat. Best dogs ever.

I think they are 'best dogs' with who they prefer/respect more. My sister definately has the best 'command' voice (grown men 'sit and stay').

My sister definately has the best 'command' voice (grown men 'sit and stay').

I helped out as a Dinnerlady at my son's school when they were short. One of the others commented on how the kids always did as I said - I told her it was becuase I used my "dog" voice

OP, our current male is "my" dog. Our current female is DS's dog (worships him and will obey him first) but our last boy was definately DH's dog and a previous female was mine.

I think a lot of dogs bond with women irrespective of the gender.

I have 2 GSDs and they are not white, BUT I know a lot of people who have white shepherds at dog club. Some are nice, some are not, some are aggressive some are not - but they are ALL vocal.

It is a trait in these dogs. They have something to say and they will say it - not that they bark excessively. My boy sings, when someone comes to the door, when we get back home, when he is happy... my bitch is not noisy at all. Has the occasional woof but that is it. She is the exception rather than the rule.

If you want a white GSD I would choose very carefully - or better yet, why not contact UK GSD Rescue and see what is available in your area and ask any questions.

Not a dog for the faint hearted, they are clever, BIG and powerful dogs and need to be socialised and well trained. Actually that goes for all dogs - but the bigger the dog the more 'blame' gets apportioned to them.