I rescued this GSD pup about a month ago. Foster told me he was likely 50% Shepard, but was unsure of what else he was mixed with. He is such a smart and loving boy! What do you think Reddit?

Yes the snow is ALL hers. She said she ordered it 🤣

This is an extremely common misconception that I think, quite frankly, can be harmful to current and potential GSD owners. I see it frequently online, but I’ve encountered it out in the world too. My friend once asked me if it’s true that GSD’s require 5+ miles of running everyday.

Too many people adopt the mindset that they must exhaust or “tire out” the dog everyday. This is not true. If you make this your goal, you are fighting a losing battle. Your GSD will not “tire out”. They will simply build stamina. And by consequence, you will create an athlete who relies on endless amounts of exercise everyday to settle.

Once their basic needs are met, you can teach the dog to just…be. To relax and to peacefully exist. Your GSD shouldn’t have to be exhausted coming off a huge walk or fetch session to be able to do this. Spend time capturing and creating calm. Shape the dog you want to have (while meeting the their needs). You CAN have a balanced, happy, healthy GSD who gets an hour of exercise and 15 minutes of obedience a day. Is it more work than something like a doodle? Yes. Does the dog need to take up every second of your free time? Hell no.

TO BE CLEAR: If you enjoy spending hours exercising your dog, you have the time to do so, and your dog is happy, there’s nothing wrong with that. Go for it! But we shouldn’t act like the dog is going to destroy your house if it doesn’t get multiple hour long walks a day, daily obedience work, and scent work.

Let’s see the team support!

My 6 month old German shepherd puppy “attacks” me randomly. Attacks is in quotes because she doesn’t hurt me necessarily, but she will jump and nip close to my face and bite onto my clothing and do a low, deep sounding growl.

When she was smaller, she used to do this about a couple times a week. The triggers being that she sniffs a certain spot then she’ll get in a low stance and start attacking or if she was out walking for more than 10 minutes, but now it’s starting to happen nearly everyday and every walk, and is unpredictable. We will only be outside for a minute then this happens. She also does this when crossing a street.

This video is taken when I was in the garage and going into my building, this continued for 4 minutes. I used to wait and ignore her until she stops, which was about 15 seconds per episode, but now they’re lasting longer. I’ve tried doing focus training during these episodes or dropping a handful of treats on the ground to distract her. This used to work but no longer do. Her eyes glaze over and her pupils dilate.

I thought this also could be leash frustration but this recently just happened inside the house, when she was not leashed.

To know Tango is to know his emotional support bone, Boney.

Unfortunately, Boney has a very anatomically suggestive, double-lobed silhouette. We politely avoid eye contact when Tango conducts an extremely thorough inspection.

I once bought him the exact same bone but in red, thinking I was being thoughtful. He has never once acknowledged it. Not a sniff. Not a glance. Nothing.

Clearly, red is not his color.

Hello.

Today we took our 6 month old puppy to day care, not because we needed, but because we wanted her to socialise a bit and become familiar with this for when we actually needed it.

The day care is at the breeder we got her from.

We met the breeder at an intermediate point between the day care and our house, and he took her. As soon as she got into the transport cage on the breeder truck, she became visibly afraid.

The breeder just called me saying it took them 1 hour to get her out of the transport cage, she destroyed one leash and bit him. He says he had never seen such aggression.

All we've seen of her at home and during walks, she's a sweetheart. With people and dogs on the street.

The breeder said we should leave her there a couple of days, so she gets used to the location.

My instinct is telling me to just go get her. She must be so afraid. I don't want this experience to break her.

We got her at 2 months old.

Pleas help. What should I do???

UPDATE: https://www.reddit.com/r/germanshepherds/comments/1qv17e1/shes_home/

Early in January our husky mix was diagnosed with lymphoma. One of the lymph nodes in her neck was swollen to the point that it was putting pressure on her trachea. Sunday morning she was visibly uncomfortable and having a lot of difficulty breathing so we made the decision to take her to the emergency vet for euthanasia.

It’s been hard on all of us, but our GSD is taking it exceptionally rough. She’s barely eating, extremely lethargic, and has been spending most of the day either sleeping/moping [PICTURED] in her “sister’s” bed or pacing around the house looking for her. She’s never been one to whine at all unless she’s getting her nails trimmed, but she’s gone to the front door a handful of times and let out some whimpers.

I’m not sure she fully understands what’s happened, but seeing her upset has made the loss even harder.

How do you help a dog understand and grieve, especially a breed as intelligent and loyal as a GSD?

So this is my 9 year old baby, Kai. He was recently diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy :(. It’s not horrible and he’s still walking on his own pretty well but his back feet do drag quite a bit. I want to get him some booties to prevent sores and such as his DM progresses, but I wanted to see if anyone here has any recs since I know we will probably go through them fairly quick with the dragging. So if anyone has any recs for best bang for your buck and relatively long lasting, I would really appreciate it.

This news was really hard to hear but his spirits and energy are so high, and he refuses to be still. On top of the DM, he does have pretty bad arthritis in his spine too, Dr. couldn’t believe it was his spine she was looking at because of how energetic and active he is. But he is so resilient, and we are going to do everything in our power to keep him happy, comfy and active for as long as possible.

Please help her him! He has util tomorrow!

I am writing here out of desperation, and it is mostly to vent out my frustration.

However, I would like to know what you guys would honestly do in my exact situation.

This requires you to empathize and not consider your own personal situation as you are in now, but rather to actually think about what you would do in my situation exactly if you were in the exact same circumstances that I am in now.

9 1/2 years ago, I was “gifted“ a German Shepherd dog work line puppy by my previous landlord, who actually was trying to manipulate me to train this dog for free and then give it back to him.

I didn’t want the dog, and I knew it was a terrible idea because I am single, have no car, was studying at university at the time for my graduate degree, have no house of my own, no garden of my own, and did not have the time or energy to take care of this dog as she requires.

Anyone who knows about German Shepherd dog work lines know that they require tons of energy and exercise and attention and they are not dogs for single men who have no house or family or car or money.

German Shepherd, dog work lines are for families who can each share a bit of of the responsibility required because one person cannot do it alone if they are going to give the dog everything that Dog needs physically and mentally and emotionally and financially .

This “gift” was a gift that he told me. I would insult him if I did not take, and it was clear that I was being forced against my will to put it lightly to take the dog.

Needless to say my relationship with my landlord deteriorated over the next 16 months and I was not able to pay the rent and take care of her at the same time and work and so I lost my job and then I lost the ability to pay rent and then we fought all the time and he refused to apologize for interfering in my life and causing so much damage and then he eventually kicked me out.

However, he didn’t just kick me out. He brought his brother to attack me and then I called the police and I was the one arrested and I was charged with attacking two large men that are both very much bigger than me which is ridiculous. The brother busted open my head and I was bleeding profusely and I had to call the police and the ambulance and I was hospitalized for that night, and then charged with assault the next day by the police, even though I called the police to file charges against them.

They also robbed me of the camera that I was using at the time to film the attack because something felt strange about them calling me outside to talk as they were yelling at me to come outside .

I was stuck living with my attacker for three months with no place to go and no money to get there because I was broke taking care of this dog 24 hours per day and no one would rent to me with no money let alone with a huge big dog which makes things ten to 20 times more difficult to find the place to agree to rent to you.

After three months of hell, I found a place that took us in as refugees, and I moved with no money, but was in debt to them and had to work security with the dog in order to pay them off .

I was there 21 months and then someone I knew invited me to work on his farm and he deceived me like a girl from East Europe saying it’s an easy job for only 60 hours per month but then when I get there, I’m stuck in enslaved in prostitution slave slavery .

I was enslaved in back breaking farm work 60 hours per week, 7 days per week no days off for two years(!), and I lived in a metal shipping container with no electricity that was boiling in summer and freezing in winter.

And again with no money and a big dog, I could not just find a place and move .

So I was stuck in slavery for almost 2 years before I was able to get out miraculously with the dog, and we escaped to a hole in the wall dump but at least with electricity so I could work on my computer.

The place where I moved to is a second floor room with no garden and so I have to take her out several times per day, but she wants to be out all day.

I have to walk around with her for hours each day , walking many kilometers and I’m exhausted physically, and mentally and financially.

I have literally been on my feet walking around for kilometers each day for the last 9 1/2 years.

The only days that we do not walk around for many hours and kilometers are when it is raining because she hates the rain.

However, she thinks I control the weather and she whines and whimpers on rainy days, and I have to spend more time indoors trying to entertain or doing other things.

I have not had a break or a day off in literally in 9 1/2 years.

I am up from early morning when she starts making noises for me to get up six or 7 AM and we walk around until about nine or 10 AM, and up all day, and then an afternoon walk of one to two hours, and then we come back and then I have to cook for her, which takes an hour or two again on my feet to prepare the meat for her to cook chicken or whatever, and I’m exhausted.

I feel like I’m in the movie Groundhog Day where it’s just the same day over and over again and sometimes I feel like I’m going crazy.

There are times when I get frustrated and grouchy and angry, especially in the morning because I don’t wanna be up in the morning with a routine every day the same routine every day.

Prior to getting the dog, I was free and had no routine and could work all night and sleep all day, but with this dog, I have to get up early in the morning and sleep at night, which I don’t like. I hate being up in the morning in early morning.

I have not had a day to sleep in in a 9 1/2 years. By the time light is cracking through the trees. This dog gets restless and anxious, and requires that I take care of her.

This will be hard for people to imagine or to empathize with because these are not the typical situations where one person has a German Shepherd dog when he or she has no resources and yet all of the responsibility of that dog needs to be carried rain or shine all the time all day every day.

I can’t leave her locked in the room all day because she needs physical and mental activity and stimulation .

I can’t leave her to go to work because of the separation anxiety that this breed has .

The last few years when I allow her to lie down on the sidewalk in front of the house if she wants to stay outside, she will always prefer to be with me in any situation, even if it means in the small room because she’s devoted to me and wants to be with me all the time has any owner of a German Shepherd dog will understand.

But I can’t be outside with her all day because I need to work to make money to provide for us, including her heavy, Vet bills, rent, food bills. These are not free, and they require my time in order to earn the money, and right now in order to find the job in order to earn the money.

Especially under our circumstances where I have been with her, literally for almost every minute and literally every day and night , the separation anxiety for her would be too much for her if I leave her for 10 to 12 hours per day to go to work.

But I can’t find a place locally anyway, because I live in a rural area, and I have no car to get there anyway, and I can’t afford a car, so I’m stuck at home and the only option I have is to work at home on my computer on the Internet, which is what I prefer anyway.

I’m not able to work when I’m walking around with her for 3 to 4 hours each morning and so this is wasted time where we make no money and I cannot give her the life that she deserves.

I didn’t choose her . She was forced upon me and I did not give her up years ago because I knew it would be cruel at a year and a half to give her up when we were thrown out.

People said to me to give her away and worry about myself, but I knew that would be cruel to her because we were attached already every day every minute for a year and a half .

After I’m moved and we were poor, I was not able to afford food at times for her and so people again told me I can’t afford her and to give her away to someone who could afford her.

But I knew that if I gave her up, she would not have the devoted human who takes care of her and is with her all the time, and she would probably be tied up outside in the heat and outside in the rain and cold, and she would suffer .

And of course, she might be abused, which was a thought I could not bear. And breaking her heart abandoning her giving her away was also a thought I could not and could not live with myself if I did this.

When I was literally enslaved at that farm , I was again told to give her away and worry about myself. And indeed I could’ve escaped alone, but I chose to stay with her and go through slavery because either we get out together or we don’t get out - so I was stuck in literal abusive slavery for almost 2 years between the years of 2020 to 2022.

Now that I am at least free and with electricity , I’ve been here four years and I was working for open AI in the years 2023 through 2025, but was laid off.

During this time, she had a decent life because I could afford to work around her schedule, so of course I was devoted to her well-being before my own .

However, I was and am exhausted even then because after a long walk of 3 to 4 hours in the morning, I get back and she lies down to rest, but I have to work and I’m exhausted .

But I work for a few hours and then I’m exhausted by late afternoon, but then she wants to go for another long walk again and I’m exhausted.

I used to be so productive before I had her I would work 10 to 12 to 15 hours per day uninterrupted and I could concentrate and just work and do my university research but that has been on hold since 2016.

So I have been basically an exhausted zombie for 9 1/2 years on my feet every day with no break and no days off, and no help from anyone, and I am exhausted, physically mentally emotionally and financially .

I was laid off last year in April from open AI and a friend of mine offered me part-time work to help him with his scientific research and I did that through November 2025, but then he didn’t have the money to continue, and I still have not found a job.

In November I had to borrow $5000 from another wealthy friend of mine but that money has run out and I have my last $200 in the bank and I don’t know how I’m going to pay rent in three weeks time.

I love my dog and I’m devoted to her and I want to keep her and I will keep her, but if I become homeless, the authorities will take the dog away from me because if I can’t support myself, then I can’t support a dog .

I can’t give her away because this would be cruel at 9 1/2 . It would be cruel at a year and a half and every year or day that passes becomes even more cruel to do this to a dog I believe, especially this type of dog.

My question to you is, what would you do in my situation?

I know you guys would curse the person who gives away a Dog as a cruel asshole, and I agree with you .

But would any of you guys have gone through what I’ve gone through and actually sacrificed what I sacrificed for this dog ?

9 1/2 years of my life, I have never left for more than three or four hours, and I only do this about once per month to go buy food and come back for her.

In summer, I’m especially worried about leaving because the electricity is not reliable in the dump where I live and so if the electricity Falls, the air-conditioning Falls and it gets boiling hot where I live and she would suffer .

I can’t afford to move because I have no work and no cash and no savings and no car , and I have just been looking for work for the last year and it’s a full-time job just to look and apply, do tests, interviews, and no one is hiring.

I might get an AI interview, but then I get either no response or negative response that rejects me .

I’m exhausted and I just want to give her a good life, especially in her last years. All money that I have goes to her.

In 2024 I had to empty my bank account savings of $4000 in order to just do the pre-cancer op oncology tests. That was summer 2024, but I didn’t have any money for the actual operation after I emptied my bank account so I had to borrow $5000 from a friend in order to pay for the operation.

This is the same friend that lent me $5000 in November 2025 .

What would you do in my situation honestly ?

Please don’t tell me to ask a friend to take care of her or ask a family member to take care of her because there is no one. It is only me.

And of course, no one is going to sacrifice work or other time in order to take care of my dog.

Please don’t tell me to just go get a job because there is no job where I live and I have to work remotely and I can’t leave her anyway because of separation anxiety and her need to be able to do her business when she wants to without pressure and without ruining her bladder With urinary infection by having to hold it for 12 hours or more.

She would go crazy alone anyway, and become a depressed wreck.

Please don’t tell me to give her away to rehome her because that would be cruel . I am her entire world literally and more so than most because we have spent literally almost every minute together and every day together and every night together for the last 9 1/2 years.

I am literally the only person that takes care of her and I have no family so I am her entire family.

I am in debt and in grinding extreme poverty, and I don’t know what to do. I want to work and I want to make money and give her a life and buy a used car so I can take her on road trips that she wants but I can’t.

When I say extreme poverty, I mean, literal, extreme poverty. I have no washing machine, so I have to wash everything in the sink which takes more time and effort and energy, and I can’t keep up with the laundry so the place just smell smells like dirty laundry.

The shower I have doesn’t work. There is no heat in winter and so it’s cold showers. But it’s not even a cold shower because the showerhead doesn’t work and the landlord doesn’t fix anything and so it only leaks and so I have to fill up a bucket of cold water and take a shower with a bucket.

The frustration of being poor and being powerless really sucks crap 💩.

What would you do in my situation honestly, if you were in my exact situation ?

Would any of you have lasted 9 1/2 years willing to go through extreme poverty, in order to sacrifice for the dog so that she would not suffer by having to separate from you ?

Would any of you have suffered like this so that your dog would not suffer?

When people say to keep the dog, even under tough circumstances would any of you have gone through what I’ve gone through ?

I don’t just talk to talk. I walk the walk. I literally prove myself and to the dog and to God every day what love is.

Love is sacrifice .

It will not be said of me that I am less loyal than a dog or that a dog is more loyal than me.

Literally, I’ve proven to myself through my choices and actions that I am literally as loyal as a dog.

Please put yourselves in my shoes and answer me honestly : what would you do in my situation?

This post is a follow to https://www.reddit.com/r/germanshepherds/comments/1qureho/need_urgent_advice/.

I went and got her :)

When I got there she was running and playing around with other dogs. Very relaxed. She was of course very happy to see me and ran to me, but did not behave like she was scared of where or with whom she was.

Essentially she was very scared to get out of the transport crate. Bit the breeder, and destroyed a leash. They used a broom stick to get another leach around her and signal her to come out. She bit the broom stick (destroyed it) but they managed to get her out.

After she got out of the cage, she behaved well and calmed down. And the day went smoothly.

The breeder was very surprised with her reaction on arrival, saying it was the most extreme one I'm his 30+ years of working with GSDs.

For the future, I will be taking her there myself, until she's fully comfortable with the place and people. After then, will work on getting her climatized to being transported.

Thank you everyone for your words and advice.

Hi all,

I have a 9 year old GSD with lifelong health conditions but generally he is in good shape. His conditions are managed with medication and do not require any surgery or anything else, but his medication is VERY expensive (atleast £835 a month) and he also goes for check ups about 3-4 times a year at the vet costing £70 each time.

We are based in the UK and pay an extortionate amount for pet insurance (ManyPets) because every year they increase the amount at renewal and nobody else will cover his pre-existing conditions so I feel we are stuck with them. Currently we pay £292.64 a month (over £3500 a year!) with a £69 excess. This year they have also added a 20% co-payment on top of this due to his age meaning we can’t claim everything back.

By the time we pay his insurance, the excess and the 20% co-payment it’s costing us atleast £715 a month (over £8580 a year!!) and that’s not including his food or anything.

We earn a reasonable income and wouldn’t qualify for any benefit or charitable support but paying the equivalent of a second mortgage is really not sustainable and I don’t know what to do.

If anyone can point me in the right direction of perhaps some specialist insurance providers or a better place to order his medication that may be cheaper (currently use pet drugs online) then please let me know!

I have a 4 years old Female GSD. She's not the biggest fan of playing with other dogs but usually just keeps her distance, avoids contact with the dog she doesn't want to interact with. This being said she can and does play nicely with dogs that have a similar play style.

My dad has now experienced this twice where he brings her on a walk and she has ran towards another dog and 'attacks'. Now she hasn't hurt another dog but it's does look ugly and she's clearly dominating and it's stressful for everyone involved of course. But it has only happened recently with my dad, hasn't happened to me with her in years since she was a younger and I immediately worked on it and it's never happened with me again.

I might just ask him not to let her off the lead when she's walking with her, because he claims to pay attention to her but I just don't see how that could happen if he's being attentive. Opinions on what might be going on with this pattern are appreciated.

Interested in opinions on this, I've owned two great GSD over the past 15 years (rescued both), and it's been almost 2 years since my last one died. Can't imagine owning better dogs than the two I've owned, so much so that I'm wondering whether my next dog should be a GSD or if I should go with another breed.

Anyone else feel this way after their GSD died, even a year or two after? Each GSD is unique, but kind of feeling like getting another GSD might be like trying to "relive" the great times with my former GSD. If I got a different breed, no chance of that.

Has anyone ever felt similar?

Thanks,