Are you looking for a well-bred German Shepherd puppy? There are hundreds of GSD breeders around the country. These breeders range from exceptional breeders who have spent years of time (and often many $$$) investing in the development of a unique bloodline. On the other hand, there are backyard breeders. Their dogs are often nice, many with AKC champions in their pedigree. But the focus here is more often than not, the selling of new litters. And further out on this spectrum are the puppy mills. If you take the time to read this article, we will assume you are on this front end of this spectrum, looking for something really great. Let’s talk about what might make certain breeders stand out in this “great” category, and why you might want to stick with these kinds of breeders.
Right out of the starting gate, go for exceptional health. What does it matter what kind of genetic capacity a dog has to work, whether in tracking or protection, if the dog lacks overall good health. Many German Shepherd bloodlines are known for issues with hips and elbows. Further, there can be significant problems with a genetic disease known as Degenerative Myelopathy (DM). Start with breeders that are testing for sound hips and elbows. And by all means, be sure you are choosing a puppy that is not DM affected. Genetic testing has advanced to the point that it is both quick and easy to run genetic testing for DM. Don’t settle for a mystery. Choose a puppy that you KNOW is not DM affected. DM will cause your German Shepherd puppies hind end to drag and stop working properly. This is easy to avoid. The disease is heartbreaking when the dog you love just can’t walk. What’s worse, is that can be easily avoided.
Secondly, consider going with a working line German Shepherd puppy over a show line dog. Over the thirty years, show breeders have bred towards what can arguably be described as an exaggerated topline with the roach back leading to all manner of joint problems. It is for this reason that we at Czech Working Line stay away from show bloodlines. In fact, even if we had the opportunity to breed at no cost to a Westminster Show winner, we would decline. Our dogs come from the highest quality, imported working line. Going back generations, our dogs come from exclusive, Schutzhund titled dogs. Most of our dogs have 90% or more of their parentage going back generations as being IGP 1 to IGP 3 titled. All our stud dogs are DM clear and we only use proven, titled males. By going this direction, we are actively eliminating unproven genetics from our lines.
We stay away from the “do I look pretty show dogs.” Show dogs might be friendly and might even have great conformation, but without actual testing, these dogs quickly lose many of the traits for which German Shepherds were initially bred. These dogs were, in the beginning, bred to be working dogs. As working dogs, these dogs were expected work for a living. It was expected they would excel in an ability to track (search and rescue work) as well as demonstrate a biddable character (biddable meaning easy to train). Specifically, these dogs were bred to develop an innate capacity for training as protection dogs. Originally, they were bred to work in the fields with Shepherds who were guarding animals. Not only did these dogs guard the animals in the fields, but these dogs were guardians of their human counterparts. They guarded the human shepherds from dangerous wild animals. They were guardian German Shepherds. In time, the focus in this breed changed more and more to a focus on guarding people. Over the last five to six years this focus on human protection has become predominant in the breed. This capacity for protection means well-bred German Shepherd puppies will come from bloodlines where not only are the adults in a given pedigree sound, but they will be dogs that over and over demonstrate a proven capacity for to protect the humans in their life. They will attack on command. They will release on command. And, they have a great off switch. When it is no longer time to do protection work, they love their humans. Sitting on the kitchen floor or hanging out with their handlers (for the more serious working line German Shepherd), these dogs demonstrate love and loyalty like few other breeds of dogs.
And this last point would be our concluding point: look for German Shepherd puppies that come from a bloodline where the dogs are serious in that they will protect in a heartbeat, but come with this great off switch. Well-bred dogs are not human aggressive. Even though they will protect and bite on command, the kind of working dog you want your German Shepherd puppies to come from is a bloodline where the dogs are not a danger to people— unless need arises. Great genetics are those dogs that love their people and are safe around strangers. While looking for trustworthy German shepherd Puppies for Sale, take all the above points into consideration. Great breeders will be those who take all these factors into consideration. They are more than “do I look pretty dogs,” these are dogs that are healthy, come from proven working line pedigrees, they are biddable, and they possess a great off switch. They love their humans. They are loyal. Find a dog like this and you truly will find man’s (or woman’s) best friend. For more information, see our website at https://czechworkingline.com/.
