Dominic and Jaeger @ The Park

boy or pup

I would get a puppy. I love watching them grow up. I think introducing a puppy would be much easier and plus I can control more of the environment and imprinting. If I did get a full grown GSD then I would get him for pure sport but I am not ready for that yet. My current goals are to work with Simba and title him. Now that he is 14 months he is moving much quicker and the 12 months is crucial in his Schutzhund development. I have a lot to learn in obedience, tracking and bitework. I am very confident that I can title Simba. I was looking to get another pup in the next year because I would love to title another dog. It takes such a long time to raise a puppy. Simba is just now reaching a point where you can ask more of him. As puppies you can not ask a whole bunch. You let puppies be puppies. You socialize, imprint and let your puppie be part of the pack. Color is not that big of an issue. I actually would not mind having a female either. A black GSD has always caught my eye. The black GSD does not have to be solid. The way I see it is you want whay you want. Sometimes you do not have a lot of choices but if you are wanting a puppy then you can have more control. It may seem selfish but I am not. I think it comes from when my grandfather had a black GSD name Ceasar. Ceasar was a pure ass. He wanted nothing to do with anyone and was the best guard dog every. I admirred him and now is my chance to have a Ceasar.

guard dog

Ceasar was an ass because he was dominant. When I was younger I had no idea what that meant and why he acted the way he did. Ceasar was not friendly. He served his purpose on my grandfather's farm. Ceasar was there to let strangers know that if you come in my territory then you better be ready. He was a great deterrent to a thief. My grandfather got him because he had a lot of things stolen. He first got a rottie that was an idiot. now I know the rottie had a lot of prey drive and was very very dominant. The rottie killed another dog and my grandfather decided that he must go. He sold the rottie and then got Ceasar. The stealing stopped. I do not want to call Ceasar a ppd, watch or guard dog because everyone has there own definitions of what this means. Ceasar would let you know that you were not welcome unless you were with my grandfather or part of the family. Ceasar never bit anyone but I think he would if he had to. Ceasar was very very protective of his territory but not friendly to anyone but my grandfather. I do not want an ass of a dog but rather want a black working GSD. I do not need a ppd dog and do not want the liablity of one. I want a dog who will let you know when someone is around that should not be there. The dog is just there to warn you. The dog is a buffer. If you still want to tango then they can meet Mr. Glock. sorry if I did not clarify in the first email. I have no desire to have a dog that is a liability. All my dogs must be social with kids and family. I have no desire to have a dog as a liability. A GSD in my family will be very socialized and must listen to me. I am the alpha and always make sure I play that roll. I do not hope this souncs wrong but I have a type A personality so assuming the alpha role is not hard.

Before I even tackle Daniel's question...

Kristina and Jenni, thank you for the compliments. Yes, I realize that they're very hard for you, Jenni, so please don't feel obligated just because I think Caleb is EXTREMELY handsome. :lol: And Kristina, Jaeger is very tolerant...NOW. Perfect segway into Daniel's question.

I don't think Jaeger and Dom both being male had much to do, if anything, with how well (or how quickly) they became acclamated to each other. At the age we brought Dom into the house, HE didn't even know what he was, I don't think lol, let alone Jaeger! If he'd been older, then yes...bringing a new male into the house would have concerned me, as Jaeger is very dominant.

Either way, the first few weeks we had to supervise them VERY carefully. Jaeger was far less tolerant than he is now. He was jealous of every second of attention that we gave Dom, and all of the toys in the house were HIS. No sharing. Several times he bit Dominic fairly hard, even drawing blood once or twice, so I really had to step in and say, "Hey, I'm the boss around here and you WILL play nice". Of course, every time I did that, I honestly thought I was going to lose MY arm... 8-[ It was a huge transition, and Jaeger's personality changed dramatically for quite a while. I even considered getting rid of Dominic if it didn't improve.

Then one day, out of nowhere, they just started playing. I'd say it was maybe 3 weeks after we got Dom home? Maybe a little less?

Even so, I still had to limit their playtime to 5 or 10 minutes at first and I had to force Jaeger to lay down the entire time. He'd get WAY too excited, which led to him getting WAY too rough, and Dom would wind up scared and under the kitchen table. Then their play progressed to the point where he could stand up and bounce around Dom without Dom running away, although he was still noticably nervous. Finally, they got to the point they're at now - they can do pretty much anything to each other and it's all in good fun. =D> And Jaeger is extremely protective of Dom when we're out.

There's still no question about Jaeger being the dominant one in the house (although I have a feeling that will change eventually), but he's fair now, at least, and Dom has learned that the only thing "off limits" - PERIOD - is Jaeger's food.

The point of my rambling is that supervision, at least for a few weeks, is of upmost importance, and you have to (quickly) make sure that the older dog understands that aggression will not be tolerated, IMO. Especially since a puppy's character can be so influenced by the experiences he or she has during those first few months. And I'm sure we didn't go about this whole thing "correctly", either, but our facilities are rather limited.

Simba is probably young enough that you won't have too much of a problem with aggression - he probably would see a puppy as a playmate rather than a rival - but I guess every dog is different.

Hope that helps.

Oh, and Stacia is absolutely right - MOVE YOUR BREAKABLES! :lol: Destructive is an understatement! :lol: