PLAYING WITH DAD

German Shepherd puppy loves playing with her Dad.

Dad plays really well with his puppy.  Very beautiful dogs.

German Shepherds are very active dogs and are very confident. They are very eager to learn and have a purpose. They are curious, which makes them excellent guard dogs and suitable for search missions. They can become over-protective of their family and territory, especially if not socialized correctly. They are not inclined to become immediate friends with strangers. German Shepherds are highly intelligent and obedient.

Well-trained and socialized German Shepherds have a reputation of being very safe. However, in the United States, one 1996 source suggested that German Shepherds are responsible for more reported biting s than any other breed and have a tendency to attack smaller breeds of dogs.  An Australian report from 1999 provides statistics showing that German Shepherds are the breed third most likely to attack a person in some Australian locales.

The modern German Shepherd breed is criticized by some for straying away from von Stephanitz’s original ideology for the breed: that German Shepherds should be bred primarily as working dogs and that breeding should be strictly controlled to eliminate defects quickly. He believed that, above all else, German Shepherds should be bred for intelligence and working ability. Although the show dogs have been bred for traits that do not help or even hurt their working abilities, and many pets have misbred by irresponsible breeders who have caused many diseases for the breed, the working dogs, such as the ones used by police and militaries, have maintained their performance and stuck to the original intentions of the breed.

Some critics believe that careless breeding has promoted disease and other defects. Under the breeding programs overseen by von Stephanitz, defects were quickly bred out.