# What do you think of him?



## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

What does everyone think of him?

I would like some honest critiques of him, if that's possible with the photos provided.

I got him when he was 4 1/2 months old.
He was barely trained at that stage when I got him.

He's almost 10 months old.
He has not has any professional training.
I was told he was almost black when he was born, but he has lightened up a bit.

I have seen him do flying lead changes
He has a gorgeous, animated trot.
He can be a little pushy, but with a few corrections he settles down.
He can be rough when he's turned out.
Knows voice commands already.

ok, enough talk, here he is!
Not a great view of his front legs, but the best I could get.








His adorable head 








Side Shot.. he kept moving so this is the best I could get...








Angled side shot... he was going in for the "kill" on that toy :lol: 








And a butt shot!









I have noticed his front feet turn out a bit
He's cow hocked and sickle hocked
and he also has no withers either!
He definitely has a long back and a short neck. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this!


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## snowshoehair (Sep 4, 2008)

Awwwwwwwww! He's adorable! Love that face!

Definitely a keeper


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

OMG hes so adorable!!!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Thank you 

Tom and I are thinking about doing some protective training with him. He is German bred and both his parents were in Schutzhund. He obviously already has some great protective traits, but we want to train him to know when to use it, and when not to.

Not to mention, at almost 10 months old, he easily weighs 80-90 pounds! :shock: So he's going to be a big boy, I would have peace of mind knowing that he's trained.


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## missy06 (Apr 5, 2008)

I'm not generally a fan of German Shepherds but that's one lovely dog.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

missy06 said:


> I'm not generally a fan of German Shepherds but that's one lovely dog.


Why thank you!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

He looks sooo cute!  I wish I could have him, hehe! Very adorable.


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

PoptartShop said:


> He looks sooo cute!  I wish I could have him, hehe! Very adorable.


Thank you! Unforunately, he's not for sale.

I do have to say that I love the German bred German Shepherds better than the American bred German Shep.


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## free_sprtd (Oct 18, 2007)

awwwwe appy that was cute!! thanks for sharing  he has come a long way, he's all grown up


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Well... He's on thinner side for the German shepherd (I mean the build, not starving lol!). Did you geld him? 

He's very cute and looks pretty tall for the breed (although that may be a pic).


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## Delregans Way (Sep 11, 2007)

Is he crossed with something else?


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## Kirsti Arndt (Jun 23, 2008)

*he is stunning!!! *i have a silver sable female-i adore the breed have never in my whole life been without a german shepherd!
thin side is good with the german dogs-mine is a bit too plump vet says get 10 lbs off her-hip issue especially in the dogs bred in east germany. she is also way over size in the US to show.
let me knwo how the training goes if you decide to do it-mine is started in sniffer training


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

> awwwwe appy that was cute!! thanks for sharing Smile he has come a long way, he's all grown up Smile


Thanks! I can't believe how big he is.. and he's still not done growing!


> Well... He's on thinner side for the German shepherd (I mean the build, not starving lol!). Did you geld him?
> 
> He's very cute and looks pretty tall for the breed (although that may be a pic).


Yes, he is still lean. His dad was lean while his mother was short and stocky. I'm eager to see who Chief will be similar too.
He is almost 10 months old, so he still has more growing and filling out to do.
Yes, he is gelded. He was a cryptorchid, but that all got taken care of...though I dont think Chief enjoyed that.



> Is he crossed with something else?


Nope, he's a full bred GS.



> he is stunning!!! i have a silver sable female-i adore the breed have never in my whole life been without a german shepherd!
> thin side is good with the german dogs-mine is a bit too plump vet says get 10 lbs off her-hip issue especially in the dogs bred in east germany. she is also way over size in the US to show.
> let me knwo how the training goes if you decide to do it-mine is started in sniffer training


Thanks Kristi! I had a GS when I was younger, but my parents had to give him away because he just didn't fit in with the family. It was very sad, but I'm glad to have another Shepherd in my life again.
All the drs we've been to have said that he's at a perfect weight right now. He's currently getting 3cups am and pm, and we've been adjusting that according to how much weight he puts on as well as his age.
We want to do the protective training with him. Tom has messed around with him and the power Chief can get in a little bit of room is amazing! But I would like to refine that skill of his so he won't do that on family.


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## Ernie (Sep 11, 2008)

hmm, i have never seen one with that color of coat before. Perhaps you have an entirely new breed? :wink: LOVE this post haha


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Ernie said:


> hmm, i have never seen one with that color of coat before. Perhaps you have an entirely new breed? :wink: LOVE this post haha


LOL thank you! I thought it would be fun to do.

Both his parents were dark. And they did have the typical German Shepherd coat that you would see in America like this.









But i have to say I love his markings a lot!


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

German Shepherds are nice watch dogs too, hehe!  We have a Rottie...they sure are loyal dogs!


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## valleychick2121 (May 1, 2008)

I absolutely LOVE German Shepherds. I talked my Gram into getting one, and she finally did. We have a female that is also thin like yours, from German lines. They say the German bred dogs are less likely to have hip displasia (spelling?). I've never seen a GS like that either, though I love it, lol. These dogs are so smart, its unreal! Although ours is way too friendly. If someone broke into the house, she would probably lick 'em to death, lol!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

Shepherds really are great watch dogs. He comes to work with us and stays behind the counter with me. He will bark before someone even enters the store, it's amazing!
He was very protective of me when we first got him, but he's grown up since then.

A reason we went with German lines is because, from what we've read, is that they don't have as many health problems as the shepherds do from American lines.

Chief is incredible smart, it's crazy! He knows his toys. If i say go over there and point with my finger, he'll go to where my finger pointed to. He's very good at solving problems, like if his toy goes under a table and he can't walk up to it, he'll like slide underneath the table.

Yeah, i love him


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## valleychick2121 (May 1, 2008)

Awww, he sounds so CUTE! Our GS (Mandy) will bring a piece of string for us to throw, lol. Just one, and when it only goes a couple feet, she'll get it and bring it back!!!


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

aww! that's too cute!

Chief loves his Jolly Balls. He has pretty much destroyed the one at the office, he the one at home he just loves!


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## FutureVetGirl (Aug 5, 2008)

So cute!

Two of our older dogs were German Shepherd mixes. One was Nikki... a boy dog that was my mom's. He had to be put down when I was four or five, due to arthritis and aggression that came from that. *sniff*

As for the other, her name was also Niki. But spelled with only one K. She was pretty much my dog. She was sweet, and crazy, but a stray dog almost through and through. My dad was the one who picked her up, after having our other shepherd mix pup (Molly) die from a puppy sickness. My dad took her to the vet to have her checked out... too late. But Niki was great. She was good with all kids, though she began to be terrified of balls due to the fact that she was hit with them by older kids who liked to poke fun at her. In the end... she had to be given away. The police who guarded our neighborhood (we had the mayor of town as a neighbor... WOOPIE) would hit her with their night sticks, just because they thought it was fun. She soon became agressive towards them, while still being the sweetest dog in the world to everyone else. That ride to her new home was the longest and the saddest ever. I'm tearing up now. She would have been eight years old this year. *sniff*. We had her for two years. And she died in her third year of life. She had escaped from the yard, running around like always, and got tangled up with some other strays. She was killed. I'll always remember her and her pink squeaky bunny. She treated that bunny like it was her baby.

*sniff*

anyways... you have an adorable dog. CHERISH the days you have with him. Because... who knows when you'll lose him? I'm not saying that he'll run off, or that he's suddenly going to keel over, or that you might accidently kill him... but things happen. Love him. Enjoy him. And whatever you do, don't ignore him. You'll hate yourself for it when he's gone (either of old age or something else).


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

oh my gosh! that is so sad! (((((HUGS)))))

Ignore Chief? that's impossible. He goes everywhere with us. He comes to work with us everyday, and we play with him everynight.

Not to mention, living in 2 small rooms at home, it's hard to ignore Chief.
But I understand where you're coming from.


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