I'm a new member, so I hope I'm doing this right.
I'm planning on getting a German Shepherd. I'm a one-dog-at-a-time kind of a person, and since my beloved pittie (pit bull) died last year I've been pretty lonesome. I'm thinking about getting a puppy for the first time. In the past I always got my dogs and cats from the shelter, which is a great thing, but this time I've decided to get a German Shepherd puppy from a breeder. (Please, no posts attempting to convince me to get a shelter dog again -- I completely understand, but I've made up my mind.)
So I'm new to the world of dog breeders. I have some experience training dogs from scratch, so I'm not too worried about that (my shepherd mix, who I had before my pit bull, had never even been inside a house when I adopted her). But I am worried that I'll make a bad decision about a breeder. I know the basics of how not to get a puppy mill dog, but I'm not entirely sure how to tell a backyard breeder apart from a really good one. Also, I'm not sure how to tell a good GSD apart from an excellent one.
So I'm posting on here in hopes of getting some advice from the German Shepherd people on here about which breeder is the best in my area. Here are the websites of the breeders I've narrowed it down to (in no particular order):
E-Z Brook: www.ezbrook.com
Lindel Shepherds: www.lindelshepherds.com/lindel/Welcome.html
Pine Hill: www.geocities.com/pinehillgsds (warning: be prepared for schmaltzy music)
von Wyndmoor: www.vonwyndmoor.com/index.html
The first place, E-Z Brook, just had a litter but I chose not to reserve a puppy because the father has that German roached back look, which I hate. (Actually, they don't have a picture of him stacked, which is odd because they do for all their other dogs, but when you look at his pedigree you can see that his parents etc. had roached backs.)
Any advice will be appreciated! Especially if you can tell me which breeder has the best dogs (I'm not so knowledgeable about conformation.) Or if you know of a really good breeder in Southeastern Pennsylvania, let me know.
One more thing: I rode and showed horses most of my life, so I may be interested in showing my dog in athletic events (not the contests of which dog is prettiest).
I was thinking about this some more, and I thought of another question. I really like the look of the von Wyndmoor dogs, which I think is more of the "working dog" look, less of an AKC look. But I'd be afraid that they'd be "too much dog" for me -- aka, too much drive, too much energy, possibly even too much aggression. Should I be worried about this? I mean, I want a relatively high energy dog, which German Shepherds are, and a very smart, thinking type of a dog. But I'm don't have a farm or anything, and I'm not planning on becoming a cop...
So basically, my question is whether "working-type" GSD's are a lot more to handle.
I'm planning on getting a German Shepherd. I'm a one-dog-at-a-time kind of a person, and since my beloved pittie (pit bull) died last year I've been pretty lonesome. I'm thinking about getting a puppy for the first time. In the past I always got my dogs and cats from the shelter, which is a great thing, but this time I've decided to get a German Shepherd puppy from a breeder. (Please, no posts attempting to convince me to get a shelter dog again -- I completely understand, but I've made up my mind.)
So I'm new to the world of dog breeders. I have some experience training dogs from scratch, so I'm not too worried about that (my shepherd mix, who I had before my pit bull, had never even been inside a house when I adopted her). But I am worried that I'll make a bad decision about a breeder. I know the basics of how not to get a puppy mill dog, but I'm not entirely sure how to tell a backyard breeder apart from a really good one. Also, I'm not sure how to tell a good GSD apart from an excellent one.
So I'm posting on here in hopes of getting some advice from the German Shepherd people on here about which breeder is the best in my area. Here are the websites of the breeders I've narrowed it down to (in no particular order):
E-Z Brook: www.ezbrook.com
Lindel Shepherds: www.lindelshepherds.com/lindel/Welcome.html
Pine Hill: www.geocities.com/pinehillgsds (warning: be prepared for schmaltzy music)
von Wyndmoor: www.vonwyndmoor.com/index.html
The first place, E-Z Brook, just had a litter but I chose not to reserve a puppy because the father has that German roached back look, which I hate. (Actually, they don't have a picture of him stacked, which is odd because they do for all their other dogs, but when you look at his pedigree you can see that his parents etc. had roached backs.)
Any advice will be appreciated! Especially if you can tell me which breeder has the best dogs (I'm not so knowledgeable about conformation.) Or if you know of a really good breeder in Southeastern Pennsylvania, let me know.
One more thing: I rode and showed horses most of my life, so I may be interested in showing my dog in athletic events (not the contests of which dog is prettiest).
I was thinking about this some more, and I thought of another question. I really like the look of the von Wyndmoor dogs, which I think is more of the "working dog" look, less of an AKC look. But I'd be afraid that they'd be "too much dog" for me -- aka, too much drive, too much energy, possibly even too much aggression. Should I be worried about this? I mean, I want a relatively high energy dog, which German Shepherds are, and a very smart, thinking type of a dog. But I'm don't have a farm or anything, and I'm not planning on becoming a cop...
So basically, my question is whether "working-type" GSD's are a lot more to handle.