Leading the Pack: Life's Lessons from my GSD

 Let me establish that having a German Shepherd (GSD) as my first companion pet was, in hind sight probably not the best choice, but we as animal lovers may not always have a choice, right? If this is you, don’t fret! I have a few insights I can share with you and rest assured, your GSD will be right there to train you too!

First: You need a human pack leader in the home. I cannot stress this enough! powerful breeds like GSD’s need a pack leader to create boundaries, set rules and to take the pressure off him or her from becoming the dominant one. resulting in a very big, hard to control and over protective dog.

Second: Be prepared to spend considerable time and money exercising, socializing and training your German Shepherd. These dogs need a LOT of exercise, training and socialization around other dogs and people. GSD’s are very high energy and if you aren’t regularly exercising them they will find another outlet, and believe me when I say this is one thing you really want to avoid.

Third: Proper physical and even emotional care is essential. GSD’s can be a bit high maintenance, requiring annual vet check ups, quality food (watch out for allergies!), lots of love, companionship, to feel a part of the family or “pack” and included in the family activities and outings.

Lastly, keep in mind: “big dogs wreck stuff” and that is all there is to it.

Aside from learning most of the above information via “the hard way”. My German Shepherds taught me some very valuable life lessons too! To preface, we had two GSD’s, named Zeus and Cooper and they were fairly close in age. Zeus was the younger of the two, we adopted him as a puppy. Cooper came into our lives a little later. We met him at doggy daycare and since his owner worked long hours, Cooper needed a more suitable home. German Shepherds have very independent and distinct personalities, they are stubborn, smart, engaged and also beautiful.

Life Lessons from my GSD #1: Establish your place, early and often.

Without fail every time someone opened the door to go outside, they would push their way out ahead of them and start haggling with each other about who was the dominant one. They would be so wrapped up in it that if you weren’t paying attention to the foray, you were likely to get knocked over while they duked it out. to this day, we still aren’t sure who actually was the dominant one but we believe Zeus, held the position most often. Because Zeus was such a snob, his motive would be simply to maintain his position on the “throne” and on the flip side, dominance wasn’t really high on Coopers priority list. The point here is that, you need to know your place and constantly evaluate the performance of those in the upper ranks, ready to step in and lead if needed.

Life Lessons from my GSD #2: Know thyself and defend your values to the end

German Shepherds thrive when given a “job” or role in the family. In our pack, Zeus was the protector and alerter of of other humans i.e. “Stranger Danger” and Cooper kept an eye on the animal population threat. Their one priority was to protect us. They knew this to their core and never deviated from the mission. They wouldn’t shrug it off, they didn’t sleep in or allow any distraction to keep them from fulfilling that mission, ever. This was their “one thing” and they fearlessly, consistently honored it.

Life Lessons from my GSD #3: Dedicate yourself to the ones you love, unapologetically.

Unconditional love is just one of the many perks of owning a dog and German Shepherds are no exception. You’ll find that your GSD will follow you everywhere, much like Velcro dog, while they earnestly and constantly check on your well being. They can act like giant lap dogs with no concept of their size. They lean their heavy bodies into your leg, sit on your feet, or push their noses into your hand, basically saying, “I love you, and I feel safe with you. They will insist on sleeping in your bed with you, they will comfort you when you don’t feel well and gaze into your eyes with deep affection.

Life lessons from my GSD #4: Keep them guessing!

I mentioned before that Cooper came into our lives a “little later”, he was about two years old I think. His previous owner worked in the medical field and had him trained in search and rescue. So, to say he was smarter than the average pup is an understatement. Cooper would open the garage door to let himself outside, go potty and then let himself back in. Based on various reports from our neighbors, he let himself outside quite often when we weren’t home. He would open the treat drawer and pry caps off containers to feast on his favorite delights. Thing is ... he never opened doors, drawers or jumped out windows in front of us. Of coarse we knew he was the one who licked all the frosting off the cupcakes on the counter and pulled the roaster down onto the floor to eat an entire ham. He just never performed any of his best tricks while we were watching.

#5: Bear Hugs!

Our newest edition, Bear starts each day with enthusiasm, and ends each day with a snuggle and his famous “Bear Hug” where he burrows his nose into my neck, plops his paws on my chest and deeply sighs his content while we humans wake up begrudged, and roll out of bed with disdain for the oncoming day of stress. He appreciates life, the gifts of each day and the love that is available to him.

Two of our German Shepherds have crossed the rainbow bridge, (but not all!) we miss them so much.  They were and are a huge part of our family, and our conversations. They bring us joy, laughter, entertainment, and unconditional friendship and love.