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.