From: dencisco@eos.arc.nasa.gov (David Paul Encisco)
Subject: To Greg...regarding GSD adoption
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 18:37:36 GMT

Sorry Greg (and to others with bandwidth concerns), but
I inadvertently deleted the headers of your message and
lost your address...little happy fingers!

>Since you have adopted discarded GSDs maybe you could
>tell me about your experience.  I am thinking of getting
>a GSD in the future and do not want a puppy.  Do you 
>have any advice on what to watch out for and precautions
>to take with discarded GSDs.  

Yes, avoiding puppyhood will save you from a lot of grief and
destruction. Once you take-in a discarded GSD the word gets out and
you may get a couple of calls from breeders.  So there's you first
word of advice: make some contacts with GSD breeders. A good breeder
usually follows the adoption of their puppies and quite often knows of
a family that has been overwhelmed by the "sweet" little puppy's
transition to teenhood - so to speak - and now the family can't handle
the dog. Also, some breeders will take back their dogs and attempt to
place them into another home. So I would first contact a breeder or
two (go to some dog shows and make some friends...although GSD people
tend to be some of the more antisocial dog owners...okay I'm sorry, I
just had to say it) and tell them you're looking for a forlorned
shepherd.

Okay so the drawbacks:

-	You're going to have to spend more time with your dog
	since you missed its formative years. The dog could
	be domineering, scitterish, and/or abused.

-	You might get a nip kisser. Have been know to give bites
	that require stitches.

-	You might get a dog with hereditary problems; some of the
	problems are just blemishes.

Here's my experience. 

I had one GREAT dog who was given up by the breeder as a pet because
she had long hair. The new owners gave her up because they just had a
child and Shepherds' tend to be pretty clumsy in their first year or so
(I don't mean unpredictable, just clumsy). I put her to sleep at 12
due to her hips.

I have a seven year old male who was severely abused as a pup. I got
him when he was a little over a year; he has never transcended his
fear of kids, newspapers, etc., and he has been quarantined once
because he bit a kid who had cornered him. He's very alert and
trainable, he's just forever a loaner.

My most recent Shepherd: a neglected European GSD now who weighs in at
about 70 lbs (still on the heavy side for a European). The owner paid
about a $1000 for her, but he got some of his money back when at a
year the female's mid-vertebra began to protrude a wee bit. A deal was
struck when the owner threaten to put her to sleep if the breeder
didn't refund some of his money. The breeder ended up refunding some
of the money with the agreement that she would be neutered.  So now
the owner is traveling around the world and doesn't really care what
happens to her (the owner is an old friend...and I've got his
Rottweiler too). The dog has had NO training and she's one of the most
domineering dogs I've ever seen. I work with her exclusively, hoping
to make her an attractive (low maintenance) dog in the eyes of her
real owner. She has a lot of promise, but I think she'll always be on
the agressive side since she never got any attention in those important
early nurturing months.

Shepherds I didn't take: a male that my old, old, college roommate
adopted. The dog bit the face of his girlfriend (it was serious); when
I refused to take him, to my astonishment my roommate went out and
shot it. My next door neighbor just gave up their 3 year old male for
two reasons: they just had a baby and secondly because the dog became
so over protective of the new family it just indiscriminately attack
someone one day. The neighbor and I though it best that I shouldn't take
the dog, so he gave it back to the breeder.

Okay so long story over. I love the breed and I feel that a lot of
problems can be corrected with patients and diligence. Who knows you
may find a perfect dog, I did once; the female I have now has a lot of
promise too. My preference is a neutered female between 1 and 1 1/2
who has yet to have entirely bonded with its family. One of these days
I'll get the chance to raise a GSD or Belgium Shepherd from a pup!

>Also, why do these people give up their dogs when they have kids?
>Are they worried about the dog and the baby or are they just tired of
>being responsible for the dog?  

I think I may have answered this above, but I think both premises
are true.

>Do you have any experience with professionally trained "protection"
>GSDs and how they might or might not fit into a family home?

Sorry I don't, I like to do my own training and would be a little
hesitant about adopting a trained protection dog. I would think
it would be a very intense experience. There are some out there, they
usually fail when it comes to gun shots. Have you ever seen a dog
try to stuff itself into a small box? I have.

Hope this help!
Dave