How to choose a German Shepherd puppy video

Having decided to adopt a four-legged pet into your family, having decided on the choice of breed, it is too early to rush through advertisements for the sale of puppies. It is necessary to prepare a place for the pet, stock up on food and toys, and only then purchase the baby. Let's look at how to choose a German Shepherd puppy and what to look for when purchasing.

Is a pedigree necessary?

It is quite possible to buy a good puppy without a pedigree, which will be an excellent companion and guardian for the family. However, you need to understand that buying a dog without documents is always a lottery. There is no guarantee that a puppy will exhibit all the qualities inherent in German Shepherds. The situation with hereditary diseases in such dogs may also not be happy. Often, in an effort to get more litters from one bitch, a dog is bred more than once a year. As a result, the offspring are weak and sickly.

Often, puppies are sold to inexperienced people - a mix of a German shepherd and some large mongrel. It is not so easy to distinguish a purebred puppy at the age of 1.5-2 months from a half-breed.

When purchasing a shepherd dog from a kennel with a good reputation, the owner receives a guarantee of the health and stable psyche of the baby’s parents. In kennel clubs, dogs are selected for mating with special care, and the offspring are evaluated from birth. Sick and non-compliant individuals are discarded.

A purebred German Shepherd from a serious breeder cannot be cheap. The price of a puppy starts from 20,000 rubles. and reaches 50,000. This range in cost is due to the different class and purpose of the dogs:

There are German Shepherds that have good pedigree and good health, but have minor defects (too short or too tall, malocclusion, color errors) that do not allow them to attend exhibitions or participate in breeding. Breeders classify such shepherd dogs as the pet class. These dogs are cheaper, but will become wonderful companions, guards and simply beloved pets.
To attend exhibitions, you will have to purchase a show-class puppy. These are the best representatives of the breed, meeting all strict selection criteria. As a rule, the litter of even the most titled parents produces only a couple of show-class puppies.
The breeding class includes German Shepherd females that are intended for breeding. These representatives of the breed must not only fully comply with the standard, but also have excellent health. Particular attention is paid to the absence of inherited diseases over several generations.

Many owners seek to purchase a dog to protect their home and family members. In this case, you should pay attention to the kennels of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where working German shepherds are bred. The strict selection carried out there and constant work with dogs guarantees that the best qualities of German shepherds are fixed in the offspring: obedience, courage, endurance.

Why is this so important

A specialized breeder has spent a lot of effort and money to earn credibility and create an excellent breeding line of German Shepherds. He looks after his charges and watches them with special zeal. He knows that cleaning up after kids isn't everything. It is necessary to conduct many classes, each time giving him the physical activity necessary at his age. The dog breeder spares no time for walks, gradually noticing which qualities are most evident in a particular puppy. By training small pets, taking into account their age, the breeder instills in them initial skills and helps them get used to the world around them.

This is all that any breeder who respects himself and his kids is obliged to do. To figure out whether this is so, you need to be extremely vigilant.

When approaching a potential future seller, you should pay attention to the following things:

Nutrition

If there is no saving on food, it means that they care about the health and vitality of the pet.

Purity

The place where the puppies live should be spacious, dry and warm. It is advisable to have a fenced-off area in the open air nearby for play. All this encourages one to learn to relieve oneself in the right place.

In any other cases, it is worth considering whether you have arrived there.

Before choosing a puppy, you need to understand why exactly you need it. Do you want a show dog or do you need a reliable friend and guard? Perhaps you need a future beautiful breeding bitch to produce offspring. Express your preferences to the breeder, and he will tell you which of his pets is most suitable. The dog breeder is also obliged to show you the father and mother, if necessary, a photograph of the puppies from the first litter, and provide all the necessary information about the family tree. So that you can imagine how your future family member will grow up.

But do not forget that having all the documents and an excellent pedigree is not a 100% guarantee that your pet will become an excellent successor to the purebred line or a champion at shows. Luck and your efforts in raising, caring for and training can turn a puppy into the dog of your dreams.

Next, we will talk about how to choose a German Shepherd puppy, what qualities and properties it should have.

Choosing a puppy by appearance

At first glance at the puppy, it should be clear that the baby is well-fed, cheerful and cheerful. A healthy puppy looks fat, curious, and is not afraid of a stranger. It is better to choose the most active and lively dog from the litter. The coat of a healthy dog should be without bald spots, dense and shiny. There are no red dots or spots on the abdomen. Eyes, ears and nose are clean. Paws are straight and powerful. Dull and tousled fur, watery eyes, a bloated belly - indicate an illness in the baby.

A German Shepherd's ears may not be fully erect for up to 4 months, this is within normal limits.

To test a shepherd's hearing, they clap their hands sharply - the animal must react immediately. When purchasing a male dog, you should examine whether the testicles have descended into the scrotum (this happens already by 1.5 months). If problems arise with this, this condition may require medical intervention in the future. Such a male is not allowed for breeding work.

The body position of the German is characteristic - the croup is drooping, the dog seems to be sitting on its hind legs. The puppy also has this physique. The tail of the German Shepherd is long, straight, without kinks. In a state of excitement, babies can lift their tails up, but they never lie down on their backs. The color of the puppies is always slightly darker than the color of the parents. There are German Shepherds that are pure black in color. There are also long-haired German Shepherds. Wavy hair is not allowed.

Contacting the nursery

If a person wants to buy a German Shepherd puppy that will fully comply with international standards, he needs to contact a kennel that specializes in breeding this breed. When visiting a breeder, you should pay attention to the following nuances:

what conditions do the puppies live in?
how many babies are in the litter;
what physical condition they are in;
how often does a bitch give birth;
Was the mating planned?
There should be 4 toes on the hind legs

Attention! Each breeder must provide the buyer with pedigrees of the parents for review. When purchasing a dog, he is required to hand over a puppy card, as well as a veterinary passport, which contains notes on anthelmintic treatment and the first scheduled vaccinations.

Weight by month

Newborn German Shepherd puppies weigh from 450 to 600 g. Receiving all the nutrients the body needs from their mother’s milk, they grow quickly, gaining weight from 50 to 100 g per day. At 1 month, a healthy baby should weigh from 2.5 to 4 kg, the height at the withers ranges from 19 to 23 cm. The wide range in weight is due to several factors:

gender of the puppy (smaller females);
number of heads in the litter;
First-born bitches tend to have smaller puppies.

The one month old puppies are already walking well. Their eyes are open, their color may be bluish, but soon the color of the iris will change to brown. The eye shape is almond-shaped.

At 2 months, puppies weigh 7-9 kg. The babies are already confidently eating food, sucking less and less from their mother. This is the optimal age for weaning a puppy from a bitch and handing it over to new owners. At this age, the first vaccinations are given. At 3 months, the shepherd’s height reaches 40-44 cm and weight 14-17 kg. The puppy's owner unobtrusively begins raising the baby. By 4 months, the puppy should weigh 16-20 kg. The baby is active, runs and plays a lot. From this age you can start training your puppy.

What should you do before visiting a breeder?

Every person, before getting a pet, must determine for himself whether he is ready for such a step. He should understand that over the course of 10-15 years he will have to face various problems:

The puppy will chew furniture, wires, personal belongings, and household appliances.
The dog may become seriously ill and require expensive treatment.
You need to take your pet for walks every day, at least three times.
The puppy needs high-quality nutrition and vitamins.
In order for a dog to understand and listen to its owner, it needs to be trained.
Pay attention to the character of the future family member

Attention! If a person is ready for such problems, then he can have a pet. In this case, he needs to listen to the advice of experts to choose a German Shepherd puppy.

Character and behavior of a German Shepherd puppy

By observing the behavior of puppies, you can estimate what kind of character the pet will grow up to have. There are brave and inquisitive pets who are the first to meet people. They flirt without hesitation, run after the person leaving, and grab his legs. These kids will make excellent smart and proactive dogs. It is better not to adopt puppies that are insecure and hide when a stranger appears, as well as those that are overly aggressive. This behavior indicates an unstable psyche, which can only be corrected by long-term training.

There is a test aimed at identifying the characteristics of a dog’s psyche. It is carried out at the age of 2-3 months:

In a place unfamiliar to the puppy, they put him on the floor, walk away and attract attention by clapping their hands or shouting. The reaction of the puppy is used to judge his tendency to dominate. If a baby runs at a person, bites him, and jumps excitedly, the puppy will grow into an individual with pronounced leadership qualities and a tendency toward aggressive behavior. This dog is used for protection and service in the police or army. The excitable psyche of such a shepherd requires serious physical and psychological stress and strict education. If a puppy calmly approaches a person, showing interest, but without giving a violent reaction, the dog is endowed with a balanced nervous system and will become an excellent companion.
The puppy is placed on its back and held for 20-30 seconds, not allowing it to free itself. A dog with an easily excitable psyche will bite, twirl, and growl. A phlegmatic puppy will not resist; he will submit to fate.
The shepherd is lifted above the ground and held in the air for half a minute. The more violent the puppy reacts to his situation, the more seriously he will have to be dealt with in the future. Loud whining indicates the dog's cowardice - not the best trait of a German Shepherd.

When testing a puppy, it is necessary to conduct several tests a couple of days apart to be completely sure that the assessment is correct.

What gender of dog should I get?

The behavior and character of a bitch and a dog are different; accordingly, the care and upbringing of pets will differ. To make the right choice and not regret your decision, you should familiarize yourself with the pros and cons of males and females:

Males are larger, stronger and more resilient than females. They are more aggressive and are preferable for protecting an object, serving in the army or police.
Males are not in heat, which means there are no problems associated with it. But they live a couple of years less than bitches.
The male dog has a more independent character and is more difficult to train. It is especially difficult to keep a shepherd dog in submission when there is a female dog in heat nearby. The male can ignore the orders of the owner and run after the female.
The female German Shepherd is more docile and obedient, she is faithful to her owner and is not prone to running away.
If you have a good pedigree, the bitch can be bred and produce offspring for sale.

Difficulties may arise with the animal's regular estrus. During this period, the dog needs to be especially carefully looked after: monitor nutrition and hygiene. The most important thing is to prevent unwanted mating, which can easily happen during a walk. All these problems can be avoided by sterilizing your dog.

What to name a puppy

When the choice is made, it's time to come up with a name for the pet. If the puppy was taken from a club, then it will have to be selected using certain letters. But it is not necessary to use an official name, which can be complex and not always harmonious, in everyday life. For the convenience of the owner and the dog, the nickname should be short (no more than two syllables) and sonorous. It is desirable that the name carries some meaning.

The German Shepherd is a serious service dog, with an impressive appearance and a strict character. You need to choose an appropriate nickname. It can be:

Names of geographical objects: mountains, rivers or stars (Kazbek, Arcturus, Amur, Vega, Moon, Tobol, Terek, Araks, Jupiter, Uranus, Ural).
Names of ancient rulers or famous personalities (Caesar, Tyson, Homer, Sherlock, Genghis, Stirlitz, Timur, Batu, Ermak).
The names of the ancient gods (Zeus, Thor, Devi, Ganesha, Rogneda, Flora, Ondine, Gita, Vesta, Yangul, Hermes, Achilles).
Foreign names (Hans, Jack, Fiona, Gerda, Frida, Ursula, Sandra, Rada, Nancy, Michelle, Laura, Lotte, Eva, Daphne, Jan, Hans, Hugo, Fox, Jean).
Names of forces of nature (Blizzard, Storm, Thunder, Thunderstorm, Typhoon, Cyclone, Hurricane, Avalanche).
Gemstones (Topaz, Jasper, Diamond, Agate or Agate).

The name of a shepherd should not only be pleasant to the ear and carry some meaning, but also reflect the qualities of the dog itself. Therefore, you should first take a closer look at the baby for several days. It happens that the name itself is chosen by the dog.

Very often the choice is made by the heart - from the first glance at the puppy, you understand that this particular baby will become a faithful friend for many years. And this is correct, because it is impossible to enjoy communication and friendship with a pet if your soul is passionate about it.