The Five Most Common German Shepherd Mistakes

How To Avoid Them And End Up With Your Dream Dog

This Is The Missing Manual

People more often than not spend more time researching the purchase of their next toaster than they do the dog they will be including in their lives for the next decade plus.

Same for a vehicle or a home and statistically speaking they’re hoping to be with the dog a lot longer.

This book isn’t about whether you should get a dog. The assumption at this point is you’re definitely getting one or in the process of getting one or maybe even have one and want to get things off on the right paw.

What you read in the following pages is genuinely the ‘Missing Manual.’ These are the things that are addressable, highly influential and in almost 100% of the behavior problems I’ve encountered over the last almost thirty years working with companion dogs and dog owners, ranging from the unruly to the severe are traced back to leaving what you read ahead to chance.

If breeders, veterinarians, dog trainers and companion dog owners like you embraced what you read in the coming pages somewhere between deciding to get a dog or shortly after getting a dog and took it to heart we would have far fewer dogs returned to the breeder, taken to a rescue and euthanized. Not only that, far more dogs would be welcome in public settings and so could go more places and do more things. Far better than the near house-arrest existence, so many dogs live.

Much of what you find in this information-packed booklet will apply to any breed or mixed breed dog. However, as you will read in the opening of Chapter One ‘Avoiding the Five Main German Shepherd Pitfalls’:

“Some breeds of dogs are mini-vans, and others are more Porsche-like, while others still are in the Ferraris category. Some breeds have the physical ruggedness of a Jeep or a pickup truck while other breeds are physically more military Hummer-like. There are even quite a few breeds like the tiny Smart Car.”

As a result, several versions of this booklet have been written and tailored to reflect specific breed characteristics.

Why Didn’t My Breeder/Trainer/Veterinarian Tell Me These Things?

You’re right. They should have. You’ll learn a bit more about why they didn’t in the pages ahead but suffice it to say since the dog world is entirely unregulated it’s a bit of the Wild West out there and most are doing bare minimum if that. The good news is that when you’re finished reading this book, you’re going to know more, a lot more than the average breeder, companion dog trainer or veterinarian.

Breeders

There are breeders, and there are breeders. Some are breeders because they know the difference between a male and a female dog. Others are passionate but not as knowledgeable as they should be or think they are before they start breeding. If you do not believe so, ask anyone with a purebred dog, after the dog was paid for, how frequently the breeder reached out to ask questions tailored to uncover potential strengths and weaknesses in they bloodlines related to behavior and physical soundness so that they could improve upon their bloodlines, the breed and the future puppies they breed.

The following timeline is not arbitrary. Assuming the dog was picked up at 8 weeks, if they did not contact weekly for the next month, monthly for the next 15 months and annually ever after, how do they know what addressable behavioral or physical traits lay in their bloodlines?

If that level of follow-up was not in place and it almost never is, it’s unlikely the breeder would be aware and subsequently advising their puppy buyers appropriately regarding what you find in the pages ahead.

Trainers

As far as trainers, too many of those providing companion dog training advice these days appear to think that the Disney movies, ‘The Lady And The Tramp’ and ‘101 Dalmatians’ were dog behavior documentaries. Again, it’s an unregulated industry where nothing stands between wanting to train dogs and training dogs. What you will read here is knowledge based on an almost thirty-year full-time career personally working with many thousands of companion dogs and dog owners, actual science with a fair amount of an ingredient that in the companion dog training world is increasingly in short supply. That ingredient is common sense.

Rescues

The rescue world is also unregulated and almost always are entirely run by volunteers that love dogs. It’s rare to find a rescue that has anywhere near as much to offer in the knowledge department as they do the love department. This often doesn’t get in the way of belief that one equals the other, but that’s another story.

Breed-specific rescue volunteers are often more knowledgeable than all the other categories listed as they’re in the business of coping with the realities of what happens when the breed they have come to love isn’t raised in a manner that dotted the i’s and crossed the t's.

The Companion Dog Veterinary World

The average veterinarian and veterinary technician are formally exposed in their schooling to a total of 3-4 hours of animal behavior, and that is for the cat, dog, horse, cow, etc. Also what they are being taught is the behavior science associated with controlled laboratory settings which with the right conditions can be applied in a zoo or an Orca’s aquarium but not the open ocean world that is the companion dog owners.

There is no doubt that if companion dog owners (and breeders, trainers, and veterinarians) were aware of what you read in the following pages and incorporated in the raising of their companion dogs, the following (and more) benefits would result:

1. Indoors or outdoors, in the yard or the neighborhood, dogs would actually Come, Stay and Heel - No Matter What - without treats.
2. In the home the dog would know when to bark, not bark, behave when guests arrive, stay on a mat during meal preparation and consumption, etc.
3. Dogs could go more places, more often with their owners.
4. Far fewer ‘caused by dogs’ accidental injuries indoors (kitchens, stairways, and doorway).
5. Far fewer ‘caused by dogs’ accidental injuries outdoors (sore arms, elbows and shoulders, road rash, etc.)
6. Dogs would have far more off leash )real exercise -walks aren't exercising).
7. Dogs would be house trained far sooner.
8. Far less destructive chewing.
9. Far less puppy mouthing, nipping and biting.
10. Far fewer adult-dog bite incidents.
11. Far fewer dogs with separation anxiety.
12. Far fewer dogs with phobic responses to thunder/fireworks etc.
13. Less stressed owners (and dogs).
14. Fewer dogs would be returned to breeders.
15. Fewer dogs would end up in rescues.
16. Fewer dogs would be euthanized due to behavior problems.

Embrace what you read in the following pages (and contact me if you have questions - john@askthedogguy.com) and you will have given your companion dog and yourself the best possible gift.

This e-book was written with the following people and groups in mind:

• Anyone interested in owning a German Shepherd.
• Anyone with a German Shepherd over 18 months of age wondering why it’s out of control.
• Anyone with a German Shepherd under 18 months of age wishing to avoid ‘out of control’ later in life.
• Anyone with a German Shepherd over 18 months of age wondering why it’s out of control.
• German Shepherd breeders (as a resource for puppy inquiries and buyers).
• German Shepherd specific rescues wishing to provide guidance to homes they send their dogs, also further contributing to ensuring the German Shepherds they re-home do well in life.
• Veterinarians with German Shepherd puppy owning clients wishing to provide additional best paw forward guidance.

Good Luck,

John 'Ask The Dog Guy' Wade

Embracing Science and Common Sense