Puppy walker for Police German Shepherd

[KosmoKramer]

We've been asked if we would be puppy walkers to a German Shepherd puppy. The puppy would come to us in Jan at 8 weeks old.

My son is obsessed with GS. The role requires us to feed, socialise, walk and play with the puppy for around 12 months. It will be assessed by the police along the way and, fingers crossed, be matched to a new handler (and forever owner) aged 12-18 months.

The police provide everything....crate, food, vets bills etc. The puppy will also attend training school once a week, where he and I will learn new skills. I am assigned a mentor who will visit us often and check up on puppy.
If we go away on holiday, puppy will go into the police kennels to be cared for.

I'm currently working from home for the next 18 months. Both my teenagers would love to do this...I am a little more cautious. Anyone with any experience of this, or could people offer their thoughts?

Gsd are fantastic family dogs however there is a huge difference between a working line and a pet or show line dog.

I've had both, the working line was driven and reactive and the time and was basically like walking a loaded gun everywhere. The pet line is calm and friendly to everyone. Both were brought up exactly the same.

For this reason I wouldn't consider it but I would consider a GSD as a pet!

I wouldn't do this.

Firstly because your ds will be devastated when the pup goes. And secondly because although technically still a pup a 12 month old gsd is a big hunk of a dog that your ds will struggle to hold if the dog decided to go.

A friend has 2 gsds. They are working dogs, not police but guard dogs. They will be trained to a high standard, already know a number of commands and are beautiful, big, gallumping balls of energy.

If you want to try something like this what about hound walking for the local hunt? I don't think you have the pup for as long and don't think the rules are as strict as they are for service dogs. Or maybe fostering for a local rescue? You have the dog until it finds a forever home. Then you have another.

Two years ago I puppy walked for guide dogs. I had never had a dog before, and that was one of the reasons I did it; I would learn how to raise a puppy and you get lots of support from your supervisor.
It was a full time job. It was lovely being able to take her everywhere, shops, buses, trains, offices, hospital out-patients. I was recently retired, and there is no way I could have worked from home or worked on a PhD.
After she left to go to advanced training, I missed her dreadfully, but didn't want to do it again, so I applied to rehome a retired Guide Dog. I was offered a lovely black Labrador who is only six years old.
There are also younger dogs rehomed who don't finish the training for often minor reasons (e.g. Pidgeon distraction, don't like thunder etc)
Here's the link
www.guidedogs.org.uk/supportus/rehoming-a-guide-dog#.WfSVAtHTWhA

And here is my lovely dog

Talk about jumping in at the deep end! I wouldn't do this as a first time dog owner, even mild easy breeds can be nightmares as puppies and need a LOT of input. They're worse than babies. If you want a dog that will hopefully be toilet trained and basic trained you could consider a young adult rescue dog. Hopefully less high maintenance than a puppy.

You could watch the paul o grady tv show about battersea to see the lovely dogs you can find in rescue. They match the right dog to you to hopefully get a good match first time out.

I raise Guide dogs and am currently sat with number two looking at me. She’s a lab but we do German Shepard’s too. Those that don’t end up as Guides often move into police work and detection.

We tell new people they will need to commit 15 hours a week to the dog. I probably do more but i have the time, she is very high energy and we both enjoy it.

Have you asked if you’ll be given any pre training? We get six hours, focusing on rules, Canine body language and the basic commands.

If you want to ask questions I’d be happy to answer what I can. Just send me a PM.

I'm doing a PhD. Got a puppy. Training him probably set me back at least 6 months on my work. At least.

Personally I wouldn't go for it because you'll do all the hard work of raising a pup, including the dreaded teens, and someone else gets the payoff of a lovely adult dog.

If I was going to do puppy walking, I'd do it for the guide dogs (police dog "we'll install a kennel in the back garden".lolno)

However, as you mentioned seeing an older dog in your home, fostering for a rescue organisation might work out better for you. Often they're dogs that aren't coping well in kennels and need a home environment; they could be with you from a few days to a few months. Most rescue groups will have a fostering scheme (check with your local rescue centres), but if you wanted one specifically for older dogs then the Oldies Club works nationally www.oldies.org.uk/get/fostering-dogs

I believe there are charities that arrange foster homes to look after dogs for people who are evicted/ women fleeing domestic violence. Would you consider something like that?

Purely from your description I would not do this , it sounds like they are happy for a pup to spend a considerable amount of time locked in a cage and I could not have a dog living outdoors in a kennel during colder months . I would also consider how much noise it will make if you have neighbours .

I couldn't have a dog that was kept outside in a kennel.