My husband and I were living in an apartment in Traverse City MI and had just started house hunting to buy our first house together. I grew up on a farm with many animals and of course dogs but we wanted to research which breed to get. I bought a book on all the breeds and read it, and we knew we wanted a larger breed and both agreed upon a German Shepherd.

We got Reggie a week before we closed on our house in the country and have been here over 16 years.

We got Reggie from a lady downstate and have learned so much since that. First of all she met us halfway. I think he might of come from a puppy mill. We got him home and he was covered with fleas. We bathed him and took him to the vet the next day.

We moved to the country and Reggie was the most loving, intelligent dog we could of ever had. My husband fell in love and they were inseperable. Reggie could anticipate your next move and be ready for it. In his 9 years of life with us there is only 1 person he did not like. A friend of our brought someone to our house and Reg told us in his way that he did not like him so yes, we did not trust that man and thank goodness that is the only time he was at our house.

We have now owned 6 Shepherds in 16 years. Reggie who passed at 9. Tonka who passed at 2. Tank who passed this year at almost 7. And we have Jessie almost 14, Max 6 and Cash 9 months. I love this breed. They are my friends, family, heart and soul. I do love all dogs but there is just something so special about a German Shepherd that they will always be our dog of choice.

A stray GSD showed up on our front porch. We fed and watered it while looking for it's owner. It was a sweet and brilliant dog. We were able to find the owners, I knew the dog must have been sorely missed as it was a great dog. After turning it over I started researching the breed and found that we would make a good fit. Penny followed not too long after.

So happy the stray dog found us that day.

I got to know my first GSD as a young child living in a neighborhood where dogs ran loose ("back in the day"). Was his name King? Something like that. He watched over all the neighborhood kids (and other dogs) as we played during the summers. He was huge! Problem was when unknown cars would come down the street, Mr. Childcare Worker GSD would become Vicious Protector in a matter of seconds, lunging up at people's car windows and snarling. We wouldn't even bat an eye. Finally, one man got really angry one day. From there on out, poor King was tied up in his yard during the day (although they would let him loose overnight). I don't know why that one strange man called the shots -- We didn't know who he was, and he never came back. I always felt sorry for King after that .

As a teenager, I met Heidi, who belonged to the family of my boyfriend (now my ex). I was completely taken by her loyalty and smarts. The family got a second GSD, Holiday, who was a hoot. The two of them together were something else. In my late teens I babysat for a woman who had a similar situation: Gretchen was the boss dog, all business, who commanded respect, while Hickory was the younger goofball GSD. One time I was chasing Hickory around the kitchen table with my arms out while I was making monster noises at her, when Gretchen, previously unseen, lunged across the kitchen from nowhere and placed her jaw on my arm (with no pressure whatsoever) and let out a little growl to tell me, "Enough!" Gretchen knew I was the babysitter, but she always had her eye on me and knew I was not family, so as far as she was concerned her job was also to keep me in line!
I got my first GSD several years later from a backyard breeder. Sigh. While I would never recommend getting a dog that way, I can't say I regretted the purchase at all (although she was quite the personality to handle)!

I'd always loved German Shepherds ever since I dog-sat a family friend's GSD for 7 years (started when I was a kid, stopped as a teen). My senior year of high school, we had a special k9 presentation. The police brought in their dogs and showed us how the dogs help them with their jobs. They showed us a bit of the training the dogs go through, show us how good the dogs are at sniffing things out (they hid things throughout the room for the dogs to find) and demonstrated the strength of the bite. There were two dogs total, a Malinois and a German Shepherd. Both of them stunned me. I saw the obedience, the way the two worked as a team, the loyalty, the trust, and I wanted that. I was hooked from that day.

Now I have my first pup and, while I'm still very new at this, he's been amazing.

I thought I'd answered this, but found that old post on the old blue board...



Dancing with her was just plain fun. It may have been that experience which too many years later led me to put on a sleeve. Back then attendants pumped your gas and took your money. Folks would crack the window less than an inch and push cash out the window because the dog was there. She didn't bark at them, just observed intently, and her gaze was enough to command prudent respect. That worked for me.
I didn't actually own a full gsd for many years, as my first 2 were mixes, but I always knew where the best parts came from.

I have been looking for a few years for a shepherd.I tried a few on trial and then Roy came up on a local trade site.He was dropped off for a days trial.I fell in love with Roy the minute i first met him.We bonded within hours of first contact.A doggy love story.!!

When i was a young child my dad was a handler in the Dog Squad for the Police force. We had a GSD named Muddy, he was my best friend, i loved him and he loved me.
My parents split, ,y dad left the dog squad but i always liked big dogs.
When i turned 18 i got myself a petshop pup Sam, a gsd x rottie.
He was the most fantastic dog, he was my best mate, my heart.
When he died and i was looking for another dog, i looked at GSDs, but then my husband said he didnt want a big dog, only a little dog so we got a jack russell.
then i got a foster pup called Barker, who was a gsd x kelpie, sadly at 16mo i came home to find him dead
Then i started looking again, and a friend was getting a gsd pup once they were 8 weeks...the bitch was just mated when Barker died.
I thought about it, and asked if i could buy one of these pups. That is how my boy Daire came to me.
I still have the jrt but i will always have a gsd or 3 in the yard.
They are where my heart lays

When I was born my Mum had a GSD x Kelpie (Sheba) who looked mainly like a GSD. I loved Sheba, she was so loving and gentle with me, I absolutely doted on her. She passed when I was 6 and I spent the rest of my childhood begging for a GSD.When I was 5 I was convinced that when I grew up I'd live on a property in the Hills just outside of my states capital and I would have a LOT of GSDs- I was going to have pedigree GSDs and also go around the country rescuing GSDs from shelters . I flirted briefly with the idea of having a GSD and a Siberian Husky for a few months, but eventually settled back to wanting just GSDs. I loved dogs in general but German Shepherds are special, they are much more than ''a dog'', they are incredible dogs, intelligent, loving, versatile, regal looking, gorgeous. I pretty much watched/ read anything featuring a GSD on TV and books/ magazines. I had 2 dog books and I used to spend hours staring at the GSDs and daydreaming.

Fast forward 20 years and at 26 I was finally stable enough health wise, residentially etc to realistically look at bringing my GSD into my life. I saved my money, did plenty of research on how to select a suitable dog, how to purchase from rescue or a reputable, registered breeder , looked at my state canine council website and found a wonderful breeder. Brought Brennan home at 8 weeks back in June 2009 and the rest is history.

I am so thankful to my Sheba girl- my GSD cross- if she had not been in my life when I was born then I may never have fallen in love with our awesome breed.

After I lost my Newfoundland and then a short time later we lost our Pomeranian, I swore I would never own another dog. I couldn't stand the thought of going through that heartbreak and sadness again. About a year later my wife decided to get another Pomeranian. It was then that I realized that the friendship, love, and memories that a dog can give you is too hard to be without.

Being in Law Enforcement I had the opportunity to do alot of training with German Shepherds. There hard work, drive, and intelligence impressed me. The thing that sticks out most and amazed me was after we were done training, which by the way I was always the volunteer to put on the bite suit or sleeve, I could sit down with them and play and they were my friends. It amazed me how they could distinguish between wor, training, and fun time.

After talking my wife in to GSD's, which she had the stereotype of aggression and mean, she fell in love with ours and tells me all the time how glad she is that we got Sasha. Especially after Sasha cuddles up next to us and stares at you until you pet her.

Needless to say I will never own another breed of dog.

I used to dog sit for friends of the family growing up. My favorite of all the dogs was a German Shepherd that I watched on and off for ten years. He was the least noisy, most intelligent, and most fun out of all of the dogs. He grew to be protective of me over time, as well. That's how I grew to love the breed. I never really thought about owning one though--my dream dog was a Border Collie. When I was in high school the police k9 squad came in to do a demonstration on the k9 team and drug busting. The dogs were incredibly well trained and behaved. They were smart, but in a different way from Border Collies. That was when I decided that if I couldn't have a Border Collie (after all I was going to college and wouldn't own land for a long time) the dog would have to be a German Shepherd. I was absolutely in awe of what they were capable of.

I've come to learn no dog gets that way on its own. Behind every disciplined and obedient dog is a master that worked their butt off to get to that point. But it's worth it. My GSD is five months old and knows more commands than several of my friends' 10 year old dogs from various breeds.