How much ‘work’ do you find your GSD to be?

[iamkate]

Most people when meeting my GSD assume “High energy working breed, must be a handful”

Surprisingly not actually , at least not this year.

My pup’s almost 2 now and he’s genuinely so easy to take care of. He wakes up whenever I do, meaning I can sleep in forever if needed. I give him breakfast and leave the door to the garden open for an hour. Then he alternates between chilling/sleeping and playing quietly with his toys throughout the day with the odd belly rub, until about 5pm where he gets a surge of energy, which is when I take him to the park to run around, play fetch etc for an hour or two, and then he’ll be shattered for the remainder of day. He’s very quiet, just barks at the door like it’s WW3

Although he can be a pain at times , and every once in a while he’ll destroy something that’s not his

I think because he’s almost 45kg (100lbs), he’ll run around for a bit but then be absolutely exhausted. I see loads of cocker spaniels, even border collies etc that are on the go 24/7. My dog tries to keep up with them but then decides it’s time to lie down hahah

Am curious about how life is for fellow GSD owners, and also if their dog’s size could play a role.

Was prepared for a somewhat ‘difficult’ life but maybe I got lucky. The most difficult thing is the guilt probably, I know my boy hates being alone at home because he gives me those sad eyes and then will just sleep - which makes me not want to leave him much lol.

Also as much as I know he’d love the company, it makes me a bit hesitant to get another dog in case they’re the polar opposite of him. It’d have to be a GSD I get because they are the best!!

 

[marcelino99conrad]

@iamkate For the first 18 months you will get tested for your patience daily. After that it's sporadic. I have a 5 year old and a 4 year old now. They will still occasionally act a fool but 90%of the time they are great and very little work now.

 

[michaeljamesstone]

@marcelino99conrad This could well be the most accurate description of GSD ownership ever written.

 

[mhcapa1]

@iamkate My current 2 1/2 yo working line GSD is a big boy, around 110lbs. His play drive is nonstop and he’s always bringing me a ball or frisbee to throw. But he doesn’t have much stamina, so I can play fetch with him for 10 minutes and he’s ready for a break. I do this about 3-4 times a day and he’s happy and chill afterwards. Easy peasy.

I think it helps that we already had a mellow, senior dog when we got him. He seems to have mirrored the old dogs personality a bit.

 

[marcelino99conrad]

@mhcapa1 I too have a 110lb working line male that bases his entire existence on playing ball. Any time I get up from the chair or the couch he runs to the door and stares at me. Inside he has an array of stuffed toys from the local thrift store he brings to me constantly to throw. Now that he is 4 and slowed a little I can just say "take a break" and he will just take his toy and lay down for a bit. From 1 year to 3 years old he was like a ball of energy that never ran low though. I could chuck a ball 200 feet and he would sprint there and back like 10 times before he needed any kind of break. Glad he has chilled a bit.

 

[harveyg]

@marcelino99conrad i have a 10 month old, i’m not actually sure if she likes playing ball or if she just thinks i like throwing it and wants me to be happy. but like a lot of other people have said my girl loves playing but tires out pretty quickly, and then after a few hours is ready to play again

 

[marcelino99conrad]

@harveyg This is the easiest way to explain drive in a dog. When most dogs tire, a dog with high drive like mine will just keep going. They might stop for a minute or 2 but the second they see the object of their drive, its on again. My working boy will literally stop breathing while he is focusing sometimes. He could be out of breath and panting like crazy but if I grab his ball he just freezes in place motionless staring at his object. It's crazy sometimes to witness how driven an animal can be.

 

[harveyg]

@marcelino99conrad yeah, i have to make the decision most of the time to stop play time before her heart explodes. though with other dogs she has no stop conditions

 

[afc]

@marcelino99conrad Mine 2.5 and waiting for that slown. Same for when I stand up he assumes we going outside for ball.

 

[lewis5398]

@mhcapa1 This is an exact copy of my Bear, same age, Bear’s about 100lbs though. Nonstop wants to play but gets tuckered out quick

 

[boyofthefuture]

@iamkate I found my GSD the most difficult puppy I'd ever had, but as an adult, she's no more work than any other dog I've had.

 

[hisnameisjesus]

@boyofthefuture This is part of why I started adopting rescue GSDs. There are always problems to correct, but holy cow, they are so chill at 2yrs compared to 18mo and under.

I have a gorgeous all-black rescued GSD girl, and she literally herds my rescue terrier away from delivery people. (He pretends he’s going to nip, but doesn’t.) The FedEx guy thanked my GSD, lol.

 

[adandt]

@boyofthefuture Ayoo me too! She was my 2nd puppy experience and even my parents who have owned many gsds felt like we weren't equipped to handle her. The biting tantrums and random "attacks" drove me nuts. I thought my ankles would never recover

 

[naomimara]

@iamkate I grew up with GSDs as a kid and it's the only breed I'll ever have so i guess i don't know any different. I've never found them difficult but they do need work and energy put into them. My latest girl is now 2 and a working line (55lbs). She def has a higher prey drive and more energy but that's easy enough to deal with by implementing structure and routine. She gets 2-3 short duration but high intensity exercise sessions a day and she's good with it, along with mental games. I think some people often make more work for themselves by exercising their dogs too much and simply building stamina.

The posts i see of dogs needing miles of hikes or hours of fetch to tire out i think you're only making things more difficult for yourself. Exercise is important but you can tire a GSD out mentally much faster.

 

[parsonbigs]

@naomimara What mental games do you suggest? My girl GSD is 3 and about 70 lbs also working line who asks me to go out almost every 1.5 to 2 hours for 5-10 of outdoor play. I work remote and at home all day, so it makes it easy to do this, but I’d love to create more mental work in her daily routine rather than weekly.

 

[tifernie]

@parsonbigs I have a 7mo GSD and our favorite mental stimulation games are:

• grass snuffle: throw a couple handfuls of treats in the grass and let them find them. This is the highlight of our girl’s day. We now use cheap tiny dog biscuits because my husband just about choked when I told him the freeze dried training treats he was chucking into the grass cost $30 a bag.
• knotted towel: take an old bath towel and lay it flat. Spread a variety of treats or kibble on the surface and then roll it long-ways so you have a tube, and then tie it in a few knots. The first time, just do one loose knot so they figure out that they have to unravel it to get the treats. Gradually make that knot a little more snug, and when they get good at that, make two knots. Recently we had a day of nonstop rain and this entertained my GSD for 25 minutes, and at the end she was so exhausted from unknotting the towel that she literally fell over and slept for 3 hours.

 

[esdivine7]

@tifernie Haha, I tried the knotted towel one. My 6 year old GSD just chewed straight through it to get to the treats. Didn’t even try to get them to open. She just holds it down with both paws and uses her front teeth to surgically cut through the towel.