All about the German Shepherd Dog

The German Shepherd Dog is one of the most popular breeds we work with and deal, and for very good reasons. Despite being a relatively modern dog breed, it has excelled and proven itself as a companion, service dog, herder, guardian, police, and military working dog. The German Shepherd Dog is extremely versatile but also combines a number of the qualities we seek in candidates for family protection work. These include loyalty, the potential to show affection, trainability, patience, manageable work drive levels, and of course a good defensive and protective drive.

The German Shepherd Dog was originally bred as an all-around working dog which could perform a variety of tasks in farming settings. Of these, the most important were herding sheep and protecting their masters’ livestock and property. These roles required the German Shepherd Dog to develop high levels of intelligence, confidence, stamina, and protectiveness as and when necessary. Unlike certain other pastoral breeds such as the Anatolian and Caucasian Shepherds, the German Shepherd Dog was intended to protect against a human rather than animal threats such as bears and wolves. This means that it often takes easily to returning home with its master after a day of work, rather than spending nights out in the field protecting livestock from wild animals.

Although German Shepherd Dogs have developed a reputation for fierceness, we have found this to be both unfair and unfounded. While a well-trained, socialised, and adjusted German Shepherd Dog will protect its handler and family if they are threatened, at other times they will be calm, stable, and above all friendly. Unlike the Belgian Malinois, the German Shepherd Dog can have a relatively low work drive, so is able to adapt to family and home settings relatively easy. Naturally, they will need to be properly cared for, and while not the lowest maintenance breed can nevertheless make an excellent family companion and guardian.

The German Shepherd Dog is naturally active, so will need a good amount of exercise at least twice a day. They also tend to form strong bonds with their owners and handlers, and while this lends the breed to adapt to family environments, it does also mean that German Shepherd Dogs cannot be left alone for prolonged time periods. A good way of working around this issue is by ensuring that your dog is left with toys and puzzles when you are not at home, and undertaking regular and challenging continuation training. German Shepherd Dogs have to coat layers, so are known for their heavy shedding. This requires regular grooming, but grooming your dog is an excellent way of building a strong bond with it.

At Protection Dogs Worldwide, we only supply customers with German Shepherd Dogs we have deemed to be most suitable, and likely to excel at family protection work. All of our dogs are specially selected based on their temperament, and undergo extensive training with us before going on sale. If you would be interested in purchasing one of our trained German Shepherd Dogs for family protection work, please do not hesitate to get in touch, and we will endeavour to help you in any way we can.