i have recently lost my baby girl to cancer. Gem was a 9 year old bitch gsd. she was excellent in every way possible. my parents bought her for me on my 13th birthday when dhe was 8 weeks old. i done everything with her. although she loved and protected the whole family, she was 110% my dog. we had a bond that no one could break. my family has always had dogs since before i was born but she was the first german shepherd for me and my family.
im now looking to give another german shepherd a loving home but im unsure weather to get a bitch again or a dog. will i get the same one on one bond with a dog, do they have the same loving temperment?
since gem passed on i have really read up on the breed. im not interested in showing at all. but when we got gem we didnt check hip scores or any thing (i didnt know about this) but when looking at the pred she had 5 champions in the lines, i guess we were just lucky she had good hips. now after reading about it im so scared of getting it wrong with all the hips and elbow scores etc...
any advice would be great.
thanks for reading
donna

Hi Donna,

Sorry about Gem :( It's very hard to lose a much loved dog.

I've had Shepherds for a few years now, haven't got one at the moment, have my other 2 monsters but the house still doesn't feel the same.

I would say that your best bet is to speak to the Breed Clubs and get the names and numbers of some good breeders so that you know they will do the relevant health tests and therefore make for a healthy pet for you ;) This link should help you http://www.gsdbreedcouncil.co.uk/

As for bitch or dog, I've had both and the loyalty factor is the same for both sexes. You will get the same one on one bonding as long as you take the time to train and bond with your dog.

Must admit though, in my experience, the bitches are a wee bit more on the ball than the boys, but then I've had some pretty stoopid boys :D :D

It's all down to personal choice, good luck with whatever you decide :)

Hi Donna,

So sorry that you lost Gem prematurely to cancer - from your post it's easy to tell how much she meant to you and you to her and those memories will remain precious to you forever :)

Hairypooch has already given you a good link and great advice on how to go about finding a well bred healthy GSD so I cannot add to that ;)

Re which gender to go for, like the other poster I've also got both and it's hard to come down on one side or the other for which is better.  IME (I have Belgian Shepherds) the males are more "in your face" loving and over the top whereas the bitches are slightly less exuberant with their affections (for that read less likely to nip your bum or nose :P ) but equally loving.  Males in any breed are bigger, heavier, stronger so that may influence your decision but I've found them to be more likely to hang around me and stay a bit closer when off lead than the girls - but that might be breed specific to MY breed and not necessarily in GSDs.

I'm sure some GSD owners will be along soon who might be able to give you more exact details of any (if any) differences in the character traits between the sexes.  Best wishes, Teri :)

thank you both for your help. as i said ive only ever had gem so im still a bit green when it come to gsd.
i feel much more comfident now.
thanks again.
donna
p.s does the kennel club have a way of tracking down old registerd breeders? (is 9 years to long ago?) i wanted to find gems breeder.

Unless they were very old I would imagin your girls breeder would still be around and you may well find you are able to get a Grandchild or her brother or sister or other relative in due course.

Lots of breeders have people have severral generations of their breeding.

If you didg out Gems papers and give the names of her parents we may be able to help.  If her breeders are no longer breeding the owners of her Father may well be or someone will know who has continued with those lines.

A good place to start would be contacting the breed club in the area that you got Gem from and see if they can help.

good advice!!
ive got gems papers here.
the sire was "bold enough" and the dam was "glory bea" gem was born on the 23/08/96. we called here "gem" as the breeders were naming them after precious stones.
i used to live in newcastle so i got gem from a breeder in walkergate. (not sure if i can put names on here)

Both the parents are without an affix (kennel name) that serious breeders usually have to identify the dogs of theri breeding like a trademark or surname.  Usually when one refers to a breeding line you use the affix to describe it.

Do you have the Grandparents and other relatives with the same word in their names, usually as the first word or the last if they bought the dog into the kennel.

As an example my affix is Barbelka, and all my pups will have this as the first word of theri name.

My youngest is Barbelka Iskra JW, her mother is Ch Barbelka Eliksyr, her mother Barbelka Calusek, her mother Barbelka Amorek, and her Mum my foundation bitch is Eskamere Yarla at Barbelka (she came from the Eskamere Kennel).

It rather sounds like your breeder was a one off breeder or not someone seriously involved with their breed, so may well no longer be breeding.

Any litter that you see the parents shoudl ahve their Hips scored with a result in the low teens or preferably signle figures (that is in total both hips added) the sire shoudl also have a certificate to shwo he has been tested clear of Haemophilia.  I would contact yoru nearest GSD club and seek advice and names of reputable breeders.  Visit the breeders to see if the type they ahve pleases you as there are different types beign bred.

Hi
I know you do not want to show....however this does not mean you shouldn't approach 'show' breeders.Everyone produces pet quality pups as well as show quality and show breeders look for good pet homes for those pups which are not quite show quality...these pups will however still be of better quality than most 'pet bred' ones.Their breeders will have done health tests and have researched pedigrees and lines in order to produce the best pups.An advert that says BOTH parents can be seen is not always good...it USUALLY means the breeder has used a convenient stud NOT the best!!

Archer

hi again.
from the pedigree i can only see  repeating names from the 4th generation passed down to the 3rd generation.
from the sire side, the 4th gen dam is champion labrasco chica passed down to the 3rd gen sire, labrasco kristobal.
and again on the dams side, the 4th gen sire jacqulyndon majestic passed to 3rd gen dam jacqulyndon camilla.
and again on the sires side from the 4th gen dam balquidour boushka to 3rd gen sire balquidour fynn

oh found another one. from the 3rd gen dam nickaley kizzieta to 2nd gen sire nickaley bilbo.

but then it stops. im guessing thats not good!?

??????

I have done a search on Labrasco [Link]http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=labrasco&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK%7CcountryGB[/Link]

and on jacqulyndon and balquidour I didn't find anything.

so say the people i got gem off were one time breeders or just not breeding anymore. where the hell do i start to try and find gems brothers or sisters. is it a neddle in a hay stack?

Can't agree with you more about the BSD temps!  Thought it was just my boy that "bum nipped", obviously not!!  As far as GSD's go, I've only had bitches and have found them very loving, if a little "one person dog" .  They seem to choose who's owner!  Ellie chose hubby and Rhona chose me, even though I do all the feeding, exercising etc!

Sarah.

Hi Sarah,

Personally I think it should be included in the breed standard under characteristics :D   If they ain't mad enough, agile anough or comical enough to think it's the way to win us round they can't be a typical example of the breed :P

Teri :)