Long haired German Shepherds, the canine kind...any experts?

[silverback mike]

Chaps,

I'll be looking for a pedigree long haired shepherd soon, well, May to be precise. Has to be a pup as we have a particularly aloof and obnoxious female cat called Frank...

Any Shepherd experts here?

I have knowledge of doberman pinschers and o/h has had 3 of them so were doggists (dog ists not 'ers ) to a degree (opening up all sorts of PH fnarr fnarr comments there!)

If anyone knows a good pedigree line we would be grateful for any details.

Thanks

Mike

[66comanche]

IBTM

On topic www.the-kennel-club.org.uk is probably your first port of call, then the various GSD forums http://www.mygermanshepherd.co.uk/forums etc.

[OLDS]

I had German Shepards (3) for thirty years running. Then I switched to Dobermans, two currently at the same time. Other than not being able to leave them outside alone because of their wandering curiosity, I am happier with the Dobermans. All females I should mention. It's not that Shepards are bad by any means, but the fur made me switch, and I have found the Dobermans seem to be more fun (personallity), and not nearly as sneaky as Shepards. Less bad habits too.

[VinceFox]

I thought long haired were belgian shepherds?

[toggs]

Ive always had German Sheperds until recently when I had to have my old boy put to sleep.
To the OP just noticed your local to me have you tried Monksley German Shepherd's in Rode Bath.
Speak to a lady called Ann Green not sure if she's still breeding them as it was her mother Jill Green who used to breed them and run a rehoming centre but sadly she died of cancer a few years back and I heard through the grapevine Anne had taken over.
Another place to look is champ dogs on the internet just go through the search engine it will pull up any local breeders.
One point to mention is check the hip scores on the parents pedigree as displacia is heriderity ideally the lower the score under 10 then better (my old boy was a 4.5) if its a German Import A stamped a good breeder will disclose the required information.
If they wont then leave well alone.
Also dont over walk them until the hips are fully formed excessive walking can damage the hip joint's.

Edited by toggs on Saturday 14th January 23:54

[silverback mike]

Thanks folks.

Thanks also toggs, I will look up the lady you mention.

Will keep you posted

[otolith]

Bump - we're also looking for a GSD. Mike, did you get a dog from Monksley in the end?

Edited by otolith on Wednesday 8th May 12:59

[silverback mike]

Hi Steve,

No, however fortuitously when I retired from the Police last year, on my retirement course I met the Police dog breeder. Even more fortuitously they had a beautiful long haired sable pedigree male who failed the training by being slightly environmentally challenged (bored of being in the back of a van)He was approximately 5 months old

He's a perfect pet, absolutely ginormous, weighs 10 stones, lovely nature and completely insane (in a good way)

Good luck in your search, I won't even think of having another breed now, perfect dog.



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v247/silverbackm...

Edited by silverback mike on Thursday 9th May 11:14

[silverback mike]

[otolith]

What a beauty! My family always had them when I was growing up, they're great dogs.

[silverback mike]

Potentially still can be in contact with the breeders if you are interested.

Not sure where you are but these are Avon and Somerset dogs, generally german import father, with Police bh (guess that's the only time I can get away with saying that!)

Very good pedigree, great hipscore.

[otolith]

We're just now looking at reserving one from the next litter at Monksley, but I saw the mention in this thread and wanted to follow it up - I've not found any negative comments about them, and they seem very respectable in the GSD community. We've got the same sort of middle aged cat issue you had, so we want to start with a small pup rather than a hoofing big dog!

[CAPP0]

GSDs are and have always been absolutely my favourite (only!!) breed. Mine's half asleep on her bed near me just now.

Regarding the coat, well, Duffy is a mid-coat, so, fairly short but not "tidy". OTOH, she's not a long coat. Whilst the long can look fabulous, you are in for a very significant task in both keeping the house hair down, and maintaining the dog's coat.

When Duff moults her undercoat, there are huge chunks of fine hair coming off her all the time. I groom her regularly but in order to get it all out you have to be fairly firm with the comb, and she's not a fan of that. So, we go little and often - but often is the operative word! And try (or don't) rubbing something rubber over the carpet - you'll be a little freaked how much hair it rucks up!

As a hardened GSD fan I'm definitely not saying "don't" but be aware that you will be clearing up (and getting through vacuum cleaners!) at an alarming rate at certain times of the year!

[otolith]

We only had standard short haired dogs at home when I was growing up, but I certainly remember how much fluff they generate! When they started to moult you could brush incredible amounts of fluff off them. I had a dog belonging to my parents at my house for a year - we've still got the Dyson we bought to deal with that, though I think we're going to buy a newer, better one. And we've got a Vax wet and dry cleaner, which has dealt with various substances the cats deposited on the carpets. My folks have had a couple of black long haired dogs in recent years - the one they have now looks more like a grizzly bear than a dog!

I think ideally we want a male with a black and tan short coat.

[silverback mike]

Chip is a bit of a hybrid too, sort of long haired
We have wood throughout, and if you don't hoover daily the hair is like tumbleweed through the house