Hi. I've been mostly a lurker on these forums, but seeing how breed savvy you guys are I decided to post some questions.
After playing around in dog sports with my own dogs just for fun, I'm ready to start looking for a dog I can be competitive with. I love dogs who are toy driven and energetic, and I have experience with herding and working breeds.
Agility is my main focus right now, but I've fallen in love with Schutzhund and would love to have a dog that could be sucessful in both -- so naturally I've been looking into German Shepherds. What I've heard/experienced about GSDs haven't been flattering: they're too slow and bulky to do well in agility, they overheat easily, they're not as handler orientated/affectionate as some of the softer breeds, etc.. However, some of the workingline GSDs I've seen on breeder websites and Youtube have impressed me and I'd like to get opinions from people who are experienced with them.
So, my questions are: can GSDs be competitive in agility? How well do they handle cold/heat? Are their owners the center of their world, are they independant, or somewhere inbetween? Most of the German Shepherds I have experience with are either BYB or show bred, and probably wouldn't even compare to well-bred dogs who are from Schutzhund lines.
Also, what breeders do you guys like/reccomend?
Thanks you!
After playing around in dog sports with my own dogs just for fun, I'm ready to start looking for a dog I can be competitive with. I love dogs who are toy driven and energetic, and I have experience with herding and working breeds.
Agility is my main focus right now, but I've fallen in love with Schutzhund and would love to have a dog that could be sucessful in both -- so naturally I've been looking into German Shepherds. What I've heard/experienced about GSDs haven't been flattering: they're too slow and bulky to do well in agility, they overheat easily, they're not as handler orientated/affectionate as some of the softer breeds, etc.. However, some of the workingline GSDs I've seen on breeder websites and Youtube have impressed me and I'd like to get opinions from people who are experienced with them.
So, my questions are: can GSDs be competitive in agility? How well do they handle cold/heat? Are their owners the center of their world, are they independant, or somewhere inbetween? Most of the German Shepherds I have experience with are either BYB or show bred, and probably wouldn't even compare to well-bred dogs who are from Schutzhund lines.
Also, what breeders do you guys like/reccomend?
Thanks you!