Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Bird Dogs => Topic started by: longstevo on December 13, 2009, 11:30:45 AM

Title: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: longstevo on December 13, 2009, 11:30:45 AM: When I get back home and get my own place, I want to look into getting a dog. I would like a German Shepherd, but I also would like a dog that I could take hunting also.

But a German Shepherd just simply isn't a hunting dog, is it?
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: Birdguy on December 13, 2009, 01:42:16 PM: My thought would be it depends what you are going to hunt :chuckle:. The law enforcement community seems to like to hunt with them. As for a bird hunting dog there is certainly a lot better choices. Perhaps one of each.
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: WDFW-SUX on December 13, 2009, 01:47:44 PM: I trained a GS to hunt pheasants.. It did pretty well. I was able to find birds on most occasions out. Its mouth was like a rock though.
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: 1bowhunter1 on December 13, 2009, 01:48:11 PM: Being a Owner of 2 German Shepherds the 1st one for 15yrs and the 2nd for the last 5yrs. What ever you do!! Dont let that Dog see Elk or Deer!!! Never ever ever ever. I found my Dog 3 days later! Not even Kidding you. I wanted to shot that Damn Dog but the wife said no....I swear it gets me 9 diff. types of pissed off when I think about that day! That Dog was last seen 3 ridge's away chasing 50 Elk!! Alls I was doing was trying to Cut some Damn Fire wood!! :bash: :bash: :bash:
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: Pathfinder101 on December 13, 2009, 01:49:09 PM: Only if you want to hunt German Sheep... :chuckle:
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: Axle on December 13, 2009, 02:10:58 PM: I've owned German Shepherds too and they are NOT Shepherd dogs. That is a false name. They are police dogs.
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: longstevo on December 13, 2009, 10:41:35 PM: Alright, so they're not a hunting dog.

Are they good family dogs? I mean, they won't be aggresive to kids, will they?

I know they make awesome police dogs, so there's got to be some aggresiveness in their persona somewhere...
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: tomy salami on December 13, 2009, 10:49:16 PM: Minty family dogs.

Hope you dig hair.....they got a little bit. If you go the Shepperd route, get a well bred one, preferably from Germany. Lots of American Shepperds got some jacked up hips in their blood. They are smarter than hell, easy to train, and a bitch to groom.

Top five or six smartest dogs. Mean as a snake if required, but if you socialize him properly, he will have the discretion of when to git that way.
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: floatinghat on December 16, 2009, 10:48:07 PM: Great and loyal dogs if trained and treated right. I grew up with a couple of GS and never got bit,nipped,or chewed. They will protect you, your family, and your stuff. We used to own and lease a bunch of land to corn farmers in the SJ delta. Our shepard would point pheasant and mice. He wouldn't retrieve worth a damn.
Title: Re: German Shepherds: any redeeming hunting qualities?
Post by: chef bama on December 18, 2009, 01:35:53 AM: There are three kinds of herding dogs: driving, stalking, and tending. Any herding dog may have some tendencies of each of the three, but most have been bred for one in particular.

Aussies (shepherds and cattle dogs) are herd drivers. They mass the herd and drive it in a direction. Border Collies are extremely specialized as stalkers -- they pick out one sheep, stalk it all the way back to the farmhouse for shearing, then go get another.

German Sheperds (and Belgians) are tending herders. They "tend" the sheep in that they watch them to make sure they are eating the grass and not the vegetables or flowers. (This has to to with how German agriculture was set up at the time when the breed was developed). Being able to make fine distinctions like that is what makes them good police dogs.

FWIW