I have had two white GSD and have come to love the breed. My first was a older girl that her family gave up when she was 8, I had her for two years and went through a divorce and she was my rock I lost her to cancer and I cried like a little bitch for 2 days. The second was from a rescue and he was about 4 and had 2 hip surgeries so he is pretty chill. My experience is pretty limited with GSD's.

My Harley Girl


Dieter the wonder dork


My girlfriend wants to get a dog and train it to be a therapy dog, I really don't want anything else but a GSD. Is this possible? I really don't like puppies but would work through it would prefer a 9 to 14 months. I am worried about the GSD issues (hips, stomach)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Valpo Fz,

No help on German Sheperds.

Just a couple of thoughts. Sounds like your desires and her's and some different. That being the case I would take your time. Work out some of the details. Time will make it clearer as to how to proceed.

My wife wanted another dog. We have an older female. So she found a rescue. He was about four months old.
He has been good in so many ways and I am getting pretty fond of him now.

But having said that the last six month have been very tough. Snuffing him out has crossed my mind a bunch of times

He loves my older girl and she likes him a lot too. So that has made it all ok.

Looking back I cannot say 100% it was the best choice. And I tried to tell my wife it might not be the best thing before we got him.
Kind of selfish on my part as I knew it would hamstring me some in terms of things I wanted and needed to do.
But we had some family and lifestyle type things happen and change and that made the situation timing a bit better I guess

I hope he survives as we live in a pretty tough environment. He still need to learn what dangers lurk outside the green zone, so to speak.

Anyway, it is a big responsibility (puppy more so).

Just make sure you are up for the task with what you have going on.

Also, who get's the dog if the boyfriend/girlfriend thing does not work out?

Best of luck.

I'll preface my comments by stating I have no direct experience w/therapy dogs. I'm just someone who's been very interested in dogs for many years and spent a lot of time learning what I could about them. Thanks to your GF for her interest in a noble undertaking.
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Can a GSD be a therapy dog? Sure.

Are there other breeds that are typically more predisposed to that task? No doubt.

Are GSDs genetically prone to medical issues? Again, the answer is yes. So are a number of other purebred dogs. If you're really looking to avoid future medical issues, it's considered safer to choose a mixed breed.

Unless your GF has a proven track record in identifying puppies that are likely to make good therapy dogs, IMO it's a shot in the dark to pick a puppy and think you can just train it to be a good therapy dog. Some dogs are cut out for it, but most probably are not. Some GSDs can be loving and gentle with strangers, but there's a reason they're often selected for guard/protection work, while other breeds are more often selected for work that requires instant trust of strangers.

IMO unless your GF is already a pro at it, it would be much wiser to work with local rescue/foster organizations to find a dog already living with a family. If someone can tell you "we have a dog that is great in public, great with other dogs and cats, gentle with children and the elderly," etc., that will greatly increase the odds of success of officially making it a therapy dog.

Edit to add: Since it sounds like it's the GF who wants the dog, for a particular purpose, if you talk her into getting a GSD and the dog turns out to not be suitable for therapy work, guess who will get the blame?

I can take the heat...Haha

There is more than one type of GSD. Have you considered the Belgian Shepherd, Tervuren, or Malinois? GSD types, without the exaggerated stifle bend of the American Breed type, have less hip problems. There is also the King GSD which has a fairly straight stifle. The Tervuren is a handsome dog, probably better suited to your climate. Also,smart, easily trained, and not such a handful as the Mal.

Look at the Dutch Shepherd.

I'll just say it's not the best idea. I work GSD in search and rescue and have worked with many other breeds. I have plenty of exposure to therapy dogs through my work as a psychiatrist. They aren't well paired. A GSD with a suitable temperament isn't going to be a high drive working animal. Companion GSD are often poorly bred and suffer health problems. Get a different breed. In fact, contact a therapy dog group and make them heavily involved in the decision.

Daniel

P.S. I don't recommend a mal or dutchie or tervuren either. Good dogs, but going into hospital dogs they are not.

really good post Daniel.

Since it was mentioned, I have been around one
Belgian and she was vicious. Small sample I know. But i was dam nervous around that dog. Owner had know idea how to control it either.

The rescue group that I got Dieter from has a couple of therapy dogs in the group. You see a lot of Goldens in therapy work, great dogs but not my cup of tea. Thanks for the input.

Maligators are a trip. So intense. My friend's family breeds them, so I've had lots of casual contact with several of them over a handful of years now. Sure they're therapeutic, if watching them eat a hole through a wall or eat a person is therapeutic.

Small golden retriever suggested. Or, if you can find a goldendoodle, perhaps a F2 cross with double "golden" genes.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
Maligators are a trip. So intense. My friend's family breeds them, so I've had lots of casual contact with several of them over a handful of years now. Sure they're therapeutic, if watching them eat a hole through a wall or eat a person is therapeutic.

One of the local K9's is Malligator, I remember watching him hit a dud n a bite like a missile. I think I actually said "Holy Shit" and I have been around dogs my whole life and known a couple of K9's over the years.

Valpo, consider who's idea initially was it to get a dog. There seem to be two desires which are at odds. IMO, if the GF came up with the idea to get a dog for therapy work and you're going along with it but with the likely condition that it be a GSD, well, that might not be very fair to her because a GSD is far from the best choice, generally speaking, for a therapy dog.

If, on the other hand, you said you wanted to get a GSD and she followed up with comments about wanting to train a therapy dog, you'd be more in the right for sticking to your guns, for whatever that might be worth.

I'll add, power breeds such as GSDs can cause real problems for couples if the dog isn't naturally submissive to all the humans in the house. If the GF has hopes of a gentle, cooperative, powder puff, but the dog only obeys authoritative, determined leaders, that could become an issue.

Sorry if I'm veering into an area you weren't asking about. Just some food for thought.

The AKC. Has a therapy dog program. They also link with organizations that work with therapy dogs. Links below give you a start on learning about it.

The center I train at has a service dog program. It would includes training for therapy dogs, dogs for special needs children etc. training is pretty intensive.

http://www.akc.org/content/dog...raining-dog-therapy/
http://www.akc.org/dog-owners/...therapy-dog-program/
https://pawsabilities.com/coll...ce-dog-puppy-program

A GSD will be fine as a therapy dog as long as its trained from a puppy. Our rottweiler will eventually do therapy dog training, he is just too much of a puppy still, 3 years old.

I grew up around German Shepherds, had them until I was eighteen. The one thing that stood out from the two males we had, from the early 1950's until 1970 was that they were very territorial, very possessive to protect their home. And they would tolerate the family members but would usually pick one to "pal up" with.

Awesome dogs, lots of energy and very intelligent, but I'm biased.

Pictured is our 13+ year old blond female GSD who was a rescue. She hasn't had many health issues until lAst year or two. But she's had a better life for years 4-13 since we got her. She's a loving dog. Introduced a male white 8 week old pup Christmas of 2016. He's a confident, strong, playful boy that is a perfect work dog. They've done well. If i were you I'd introduce a pup with a good temperament rather than an older dog.

Had a female GSD, very smart, protective. I didn't want a GSD but my wife and her brother saw a litter in Nebraska and decided to bring her home,brother got the male. Both had health issues,mine from allergies to very expensive back surgery to Panis to shedding like crazy. She had this herding nipping thing going on, she never made it past 7 years because her back acted up again. Loved her to death, couldn't find a more loyal dog. Would I own another? probably not. At my age I don't have the energy and time to train one.