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Mean German Shepherd Dogs? Don't Believe The Hype!

by: JanRyan
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The personality of the German Shepherd (or Alsatian) is one of the biggest reasons why they are so popular - for the right reasons and the wrong reasons. Since they make great police and military dogs, some people rush to get a German Shepherd thinking it will make a vicious guard dog. The German Shepherd is so eager to please, that it can be easily taught to attack. But the German Shepherd is not a vicious dog by nature - they are just doing what they've been taught to do.

People who get German Shepherd dogs for the right reasons also keep the German Shepherd's personality in mind. They are serious, active, highly intelligent dogs that need a job to do in order to stay calm and healthy. If they are trained to do anything (good or bad) and are rewarded for learning this, they will keep on doing the behavior. However, if you are patient and persistent, German Shepherds are intelligent enough to unlearn a behavior.

German Shepherd dogs worship the human beings they either live with or are ordered to protect. They would rather hang out with their people than with other dogs. The approval and affection of their people is vital to their sense of well-being. These are not dogs that like to be alone, chained out in the yard. Any German Shepherd left to this fate will overcompensate with hyperactivity in order to get his people's attention. Since they are such large and powerful dogs, even playful boisterousness can possibly hurt someone.

This incredible ability to learn and remember can get the German Shepherd in trouble. One director of an English German Shepherd rescue had a desperate phone call from a woman clearly at her wit's end. "My son taught the dog to turn in circles and he won't stop!"

A German Shepherd dog needs regular exercise, attention and grooming. Getting them spayed or neutered will also not only lengthen their life span, but also make them more willing to pay attention to you. German Shepherds really are not suitable for apartment life, unless they get a lot of outdoor exercise.

They learn to leash train very well (and can often be voice trained), whether their owners are walking, jogging, riding a bike or riding a horse.

German Shepherd dogs are very hard to distinguish from human beings in terms of their needs and personalities. They need attention, want to know when they've good job and need a reason for being alive. In their world, they want the good to be rewarded and the bad to be punished.

This is not often talked about in German Shepherd information available from the AKC. The price of a German Shepherd's companionship should never be measured in terms of money. The German Shepherd dog, if the situation was reversed, would spend every last penny to make sure you were out of pain.

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About the Author

About the author: Jan Ryan is a passionate lover of the German Shepherd and owns a popular website where you'll discover how to have a happy, healthy and well behaved German Shepherd. Among other topics there, you can also learn all about German Shepherd personality plus a whole lot more.  

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