Hi everyone.  Can anybody please tell me - what are German Shepherds truthfully like with children?  My children are 12 and 5 yrs old.  One person told me she wouldn't trust them with children.  Other people have said they're fantastic with children.  Any advice please.

How are your children with dogs, can they be trusted with them.........................?

Like any breed, there are good examples and poor ones.  If you go to a respected breeder who carries out the essential health checks and breeds for temperament then they are as good a family dog as you can get IMHO.

Hi Guest

I have 3 GSD's and two children aged 6 and 4.  My kids and dogs have grown up together and there is a mutual respect for each other with them.  I know that they can be trusted with the kids, but I will never leave them alone together just in case.  When we go out walking the eldest dog especially herds the kids back towards the pack and if they get too far away he is straight after them.  Take it from people with experience of the situation, they are a wonderful family dog.  If you are looking to buy one then you must go to a reputable breeder who carries out all the relevant health checks on their dogs. 

HTH

Becky

german shepherds are the same with children as any other well reared and socialised dog. I have 3 of each, 3kids and 3 Gsd and without a doubt trust them, from new born babies my children have been brought up with the dogs with no problems at all and yes they have pulled ears and tails sat on them and generally bugged the life outh of them .

I've been involved with GSD's from the age of 6, our first one(back in the 1950's)was line bed to a dog called Avon Prince of Alumvale & had a very iffy temperament & was PTS early,nervousness was at that time written into the breed standard"noted suspicious of strangers".

However from then onwards we have had only GSD's from German breeding & have never had any problems at all, one dog I bred taught his owners children(who were born after they got him)to walk & have total trust in dogs.

If you are careful in getting a puppy from a breeder who breeds to the breed standard in both looks & temperament & character. GSD should be very friendly & outgoing & all GSD's should good with people of all ages

Yes there are still breeders out there who breed from nervous animals the fall well short of the breed standard, before buying any puppy who should see the mother & the whole litter(not necessarily together) to see that mother has a good temperaament & that the puppies all play together & that they all look healthy & outgoing. & bright eyed

Breeders should be happy for you to see all their dogs(except very recent nursing mothers close up) certainly all the breeders I know will let you do this & are happy for people to see their dogs

I have owned German Shepherds for 14yrs, they were brought up with my children  and with the children I look after, the kids and dogs have adored each other, the kids were brought up to respect my dogs, I do encourage children to stroke the dogs when we are out, I get fed up with  people saying "dont touch the dogs they will bite you" I always put the person right and ask if they would like to stroke them, my westie loves children a bit too much.

i grew up with 4 GSD's from a very young age, one of earliest memories is from a toddler going to pick up our 1st bitch who must have been fully grown as i remember her towering over me. anyway  i had no problems with them at all, never any signs of aggression and my youngest cousin would torment the life out of them.  you must get one from a breeder with dogs of sound temprement that are well socialised. 

hi guest,I think at the end of the day,as long as youve done all your homework,respect the breed,teach your children to respect the dog whichever breed you choose even a labrador,i know someone with g.s.ds and rotties,with young children and they are as stupid as they come,just goes to show that they have been brought up rite, with the right owners they will be what you make them.

I had a Shepherd when my eldest child was a baby. He was from a world renoun breeder from Holland. He was WONDERFUL.....totally trustworthy with all the kids and their friends. There would be accidents during his lifetime where the kids would do things that shouldn't be done and that dog never showed one minute iota of perturbedness. (is that a word?) My son by accident fell off of a table he had climbed up on right onto the sleeping Ajax. I wasn't watching as closely as I should have. He just grunted as it knocked the wind out of him, rose and walked away to another spot to sleep. I caught my 2 yr. old son twisting his nose like a door knob and the dog just walked away. He never showed one bit of aggression about anything toward anyone, knew the difference between friendly strangers, workman, the diaper service man and bad guys. He never even barked at anyone....very friendly, not very reserved like they're suppose to be. One time a scary thing happened on the front porch while my kids, the dog and I were all inside. Someone tried to jimmy the door I think and that dog was gnashing teeth, vicious on the inside of the door. I'm not saying they're all like that but he was wonderful. (same exact thing happened with the Lab I now have in another house...wierd, cuz she doesn't appear to be any watch dog the rest of the time)

When my sister was a baby, my parents left her to nap in a playpen at the beach up against a concession stand in the shade. This was years ago when there weren't all the crazy people around. Their German Shepherd would lie by that playpen and when the baby cried, would run down closer to the water where my parents were and bark loud and run back to the baby. They had a built in baby sitter. Of course, these days no one would think of leaving a baby that far from them, but it was a safer world back then.

My Grandma had lots of Shepherds and one, named Hilde would allow the Coca cola delivery man to walk right in and down the stairs to the basement where he'd leave a full case of Coke. When he tried to leave with the empty bottles, Hilde would hold onto his wrist very gently and wouldn't allow him to leave.....no growling, no biting, just holding gently his sleeve or wrist. He'd have to call upstairs to my Grandma to ask her to call Hilde. So, he could bring anything into the house, just couldn't freely take anything out. Hee hee hee.

But, as it was said, do your research and go to a reputable breeder known for good dogs, health tests, temperament....everything.

Carrie

My two children were brought up with three Shepherds and I wouldn't have had any other breed then.  Certainly not the collies that I have now.  They were the most trustworthy dogs around the children and would also look out for them and want to keep them safe.  An uncle that we hadn't seen for a long time and that the dogs hadn't met before made the mistake of scooping up one of the children and nearly lost his crown jewels.

Lots of people would ask me how could I have dogs like that with young children and that they weren't to be trusted.  Load of codswallop.  They were fantastic with the children.

My daughter was 2 and my son was born after we had a dog so the dogs were always there.  At 12 & 5 your children would have to learn about dogs and to respect them but any dog, well reared and socialised, with the exception of the Border Collie and collie types will be fine with the children.  As someone else has said young children and dogs should NEVER be left alone together and chasing games, playfighting and hugging should be discouraged.

Hi my name is Amy and i have had gsd since i was 5 and i am now 16, i have bred one litter and show on a regular basis, my concern is how are your children, if your children are ill mannered will not do as they are told, misbehave around dogs, then a dog may not be for your family and this is any dog, children have to learn respect mum bought all us lot up with dogs and we where taught manners not to disturb the dog when it was asleep, we where taught how to groom the dogs so we could bond with them , we where taught not to nip, pull ears,or tails, or poke in eyes, yes we did do things sometimes  like bite our old bitch on the ear,that we should not of done but mam would think nothing of biting us to prove that a bite hurts, and now i can see the sense in what she did, she loved us all and did not want anything to harm us or the dogs, we now have 4 dogs at home and the youngest child of 9 can control the dogs to a fair degree the males will try it on now and again, but we deal with it, any type of dog can be a danger around children from the smallest to the largest, you said that someone said that gsd are no good around children, do they have a gsd? do they have any experience with gsd? or are they just shooting their mouth off about something they may of heard and not expericenced themselves.
I have got so much out of being with my lot that i now have gone for a career in the Armed forces in the dog handling section and will be leaving my home in november for this new job,
I would say go and see someone that has a gsd and kids and family life and see how they all get on and hopefully it will change your mind
Oh mum says if you live near us  you are welcome to come to our house and see her brood, (that includes kids, friends kids, and dogs)
Love Amy