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Adopt A German Shepherd and you will never be disappointed. German Shepherds are extremely social and loyal. German Shepherd Rescue groups are located all over the world.

     You can list German Shepherd Rescue Dogs and Groups on GSDsite at no charge and you can place a free Pay Pal Button for Donations (Non Profit Rescue Groups only).     

Choke Collar: Choke collars are meant to provide a temporary correction. Tightening the chain around the neck gets your dog's attention. Releasing it implies that your dog is doing what you intended. When used correctly, it is not supposed to cut off her breath. The choke collar fits around the strongest part of your dog's neck. This in of itself can present an issue. The problem with a choke collar is that your dog can literally choke herself to death. Never leave a choke collar on your dog while unattended.

Electronic Collar: Also known as the shock collar, an e-collar needs to be used correctly, or it can cause more harm than good. An electronic collar, when handled properly, provides an immediate correction. Since dogs live in the moment, it is imperative that the shock is administered directly - in the split second - the time the undesired behavior occurs. The duration of the pulse should only be one-fortieth of a second and will feel like a mild electric shock.

Important: Always read your e-collar instructions for proper use! Otherwise, your dog may not understand why she is being shocked. And it may damage the trust between you and your dog.

Halter: Also called the halti, or head collar. A halter is designed to lead an animal by its head. This is the same way humans have managed larger animals much stronger than us, such as horses. A halter is also called a Gentle Leader collar. The halter works best on long-nosed dogs, such as German Shepherds. But, without proper use and fitting, it can be ineffective and uncomfortable. The downside to a halter is that your dog may not like the unusual sensation of a loop around her mouth. It is extremely important to have a halter properly fit so that it does not chafe your dog's nose. With proper fit and effective use, it can become a great training tool.

Harness: Harnesses were designed for pulling or tracking. Not for controlling. Huskies were harnessed to pull sleds over the snow. German Shepherds sported a harness to carry loads. And Saint Bernards wore harnesses to rescue people lost in the snow. A harness allows your dog to leverage its entire weight to perform a task. Remember this the next time your dog pulls you down the street while wearing a harness. While tracking, the harness allows your dog to have full contact with the ground, unlike a traditional dog training collar.

No-Pull Harness: Dogs that do not pull may be fine with a harness, but it may trigger a pulling reflex in other dogs. There are harnesses that are designed to be no-pull or anti-pull. These harnesses place a gentle pressure on your dog's chest when she pulls. The sensation is designed to be uncomfortable to discourage pulling. While they do offer more control than a typical harness, it is not the best idea for a dog that you already have difficulty in handling.

Service animal means any dog or other common domestic animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals who are blind or have low vision, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, fetching items, assisting an individual during a seizure, retrieving medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and assisting individuals, including those with cognitive disabilities, with navigation.

The term service animal includes individually trained animals that do work or perform tasks for the benefit of individuals with disabilities, including psychiatric, cognitive, and mental disabilities.

The term service animal does not include wild animals (including nonhuman primates born in captivity), reptiles, rabbits, farm animals (including any breed of horse, miniature horse, pony, pig, or goat), ferrets, amphibians, and rodents.

Animals whose sole function is to provide emotional support, comfort, therapy, companionship, therapeutic benefits, or to promote emotional well-being are not service animals.

The GSD's high intelligence, strong athletic physique and silky smooth movement have seen the breed excel at all kinds of duties.

German Shepherds are trained and considered invaluable in such jobs as seeing eye dogs, police work, search and rescue, herding, protection, bomb and drug detection and as guard dogs. They also relish activities which stimulate their acute senses such as tracking, agility, fly ball, endurance work, schutzhund and German Shepherd obedience training.

Dogs have their own set of behavioral problems. Lack of proper training methods may badly affect your dog's behavior and turn your beloved pet into a disobedient, aggressive or unruly dog. As a dog owner you should be aware of these problems and train your dog accordingly.

If your dog bites or tears up your furniture, this is not the dog’s fault. These are types of behavior problems that most dogs show signs of having and it’s up to you, the owner, to train your dog to know what is acceptable and what is not.

Aggression related dog behavior problems include biting, jumping, barking uncontrollably and not obeying commands.

Once a dog ages from a puppy to an adult, it will become much harder to train. Training should start from an early stage, so that these tendencies do not become dog behavior problems.

Schutzhund tests dogs of all breeds for the traits necessary for police-type work. Dogs that pass Schutzhund tests should be suitable for a wide variety of tasks: police work, specific odor detection, search and rescue, and many others.

The purpose of Schutzhund is to identify dogs that have or do not have the character traits required for these demanding jobs. Some of those traits are: Strong desire to work - Courage - Intelligence – Trainability - Strong bond to the handler -Perseverance - Protective Instinct. Schutzhund training tests these traits. It also tests physical traits such as strength, endurance, agility, and scenting ability.

The goal of Schutzhund is to illuminate the character of a dog through training. Breeders can use this insight to determine how and whether to use the dog in producing the next generation of working dogs.

Dog Tip: First Aid Kits and Emergency Treatments - Prepare Now!

Those who have faced emergencies can tell you it is essential to get your first aid kit together and get familiar with first aid measures BEFORE you are confronted with an accident, emergency or sudden illness. Many situations require fast and correct action to prevent further injury, infection or death. So assemble a first aid kit now, so that you'll be ready when your pet (or a human) needs immediate help.

Be sure to read through the First Aid Kit list that follows. It will give you an idea of the situations that can and do come up. Being prepared can keep a manageable incident from becoming health-threatening. It will reduce the chance of infection and further complications...reduce stress for everyone...cut recovery time...and empower you to effectively help. Being prepared can even make the difference between life and death.

FIRST AID KIT

Keep a first aid safety kit on hand at home and in your car. Take the one from your car with you when you travel with your pet.

Each kit should include the items listed. It might sound like a lot of stuff, but when an accident occurs, these items can help you save the health or life of an animal...or a human.

Waterproof Kit Container:
Write on the container, in indelible ink, the phone numbers for your vet, the closest emergency animal hospital, and poison control hotlines. Also list your own name, address and phone numbers.

First Aid Guides:
Animal first aid book, such as Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook.

CPR for Dogs

Essential Vet and Contact Info:
Prepare and make copies of a list including:
Phone number for your vet, the closest emergency animal hospital, and poison control hotlines (such as the 2 listed in this tipsheet).
Your own name, address and phone numbers.
Your emergency contact person's numbers, in case you are incapacitated.
The name, age, breed, sex, identification (such as microchipping information), and any health problems (especially useful information if your petsitter or emergency contact needs to call an emergency medical service about your pet).

A copy of your pet vaccination records.
Photo of each pet in case it is needed for ID or other purposes.

Kit Supplies:

Scissors
Tweezers (flat slant tip instead of the rounded variety)
Sterile needle (to remove splinters and tick heads)
Turkey baster or bulb syringe (for flushing wounds, force feeding)
10cc syringe with no needle (for administering medications)
Eyedropper
Tongue depressor to examine mouth

Rubber gloves
Nail clippers
Comb
Rectal thermometer (normal body temperature of dogs and cats is 100.5 to 102.5 F; take your pet's temperature under normal conditions to get a baseline for comparison in case he gets sick or injured)
Disposable safety razor (for shaving fur from around a wound)

Towel (at least 2)
Paper towels
Blanket (the compact thermal blanket works well; uses include keeping an injured animal from going into shock)
Bandanna and/or nylon stocking (many uses, including muzzling or securing a torn earflap)
Strips of cloth
Dog booties or little socks (to cover wounded paws or to protect so you won't need to treat)
Flashlight
Matches

3x3 sterile gauze pads
Rolled gauze (for bandaging, stabilizing joints, making a muzzle)
Adhesive first aid tape (in narrow and wide widths)
Cotton rolled
Cotton balls
Bandages (including self-clinging or vet wrap and waterproof types)
Vet wrap, which sticks to itself but not fur.

Anti-bacterial wipes or pads
Q-tips
Hot/cold pack
Ice pack

Hydrogen peroxide 3% USP (to induce vomiting and to use on infected wounds; check the expiration date from time to time and keep only fresh solution in your kit)
Activated charcoal tablets (effective in absorbing many toxics)

Betadine solution (a type of antiseptic iodine medicine for wounds to deter infection)
Antibiotic ointment (such a Neosporin)
Rubbing alcohol (apply on skin as body cooling agent to aid heat stroke or fever; helps break down oils; acts as a drying agent between toes and skin folds; but do not use on wounds as it can damage skin and is not an appropriate antiseptic)

Bag Balm (especially useful for treating paw pads)
Petroleum jelly (helpful aid for taking temperature)
Sterile saline eye solution (to flush out eye contaminants and wounds)
Artificial tear gel to lubricate eyes after flushing
Eye ointment with no cortisone
Epsom salt (mix 1 teaspoon in 2 cups of warm water for drawing out infection and bathing itchy paws and skin)
Baking soda (good for soothing skin conditions)
Styptic powder (to stop bleeding of torn toenails, etc.)

Milk of magnesia (for stomach upset and certain types of poison ingestion)
Pepto Bismol (for stomach upset and some types of poison ingestion; do not give to cats)
Benadryl (for bug bites and stings and other allergic reactions. Use plain Benadryl, not the other formulas.
Gentle pet sedative such as Rescue Remedy (available at GSDsite.com. Rescue Remedy is a Bach flower essence available in most health food stores. This gentle, natural stress reducing liquid can often help both people and animals recover from injury, fright, illness, travel fatigue and irritation. Put a drop in your water bottle and in their water. To help prevent travel sickness, a common dosage is four drops in the mouth about ten hours before the trip, repeating every four hours as needed. For stressed or injured animals, rub a drop on their ear or put a drop on the towel in their crate or carrier. Flower essences can be used along with conventional medicine.

Aspirin Buffered (for dogs only, 1 tablet per 60 pounds; do not use acetaminophen or ibuprofen; do not give aspirin to cats; since aspirin and other pain relievers can be toxic to any pet, consult your vet and first aid books)

Can of soft pet food (can help reduce the effect of a poisoning)
Mild grease-cutting dishwashing liquid such as Dawn (to clean contaminated skin or sticky substances)
Plastic baggies

Muzzle (an injured or scared animal may try to bite)