Ok, new here, interesting question/situation - Page 2

Firstly, Gunner was weighed at the vets at his heaviest at 109lbs. The photo of him with me, was not at his best. He was muzzled because he came from a bad situation where his previous owner did NOT take the time to work with gunner. Things excited him greatly, like Cats and strangers. The day the photo was taken, was early on during his rehab. And I had company over. The muzzle was a PRECAUTION. Eventually he learned to coincide with the cats fine. Gunner suffered from severe anxiety, from his upbringing.. he was muzzled at the vets, as he was in there for a painful rash/allergy and the vet would be required to handle his under side. Again, muzzle was a precaution. Used to avoid issues. NO MY Female GSD NEVER wears a muzzle. She is an amazing dog. I got her as a puppy, 10 weeks old. Have worked with her from day one. She was quarantined after having parvo, and I was told by the vet I was using them, that she was potentially contagious for up to 18 months! So she had to be worked with extensively after that, to ease her anxiety etc after we were allowed to start taking her out and about without jeopardizing other peoples animals. Again a precaution, and I was thinking of others, it made working with her harder later, but now she goes all kinds of places with me. I volunteer with a GSD rescue group, she attends events with me. She is a wonderful dog. My pets are ALWAYS Spayed/Neutered. I almost exclusively rescue... but i miss my Big Lug Gunner. And simply wanted to trace his breeder, find out more info. IF his breeder was one that I didn't like the looks of, that is MY decision to make, and one I would have made. I Volunteer with the local KILL shelter/pound for my area. I Spend my free time, my lunch hours, and my early mornings, late evenings, saving all the dogs in the pound that I can. I network, photograph, walk, and more. I have countless hours logged helping and enjoy every bit. But I want to own what I want to own. And this was my attempt in finding that. I have had my cat since he was 10 weeks old. a rescue pound kitten, he is 9 years old now. My dog is 7. I do NOT re-home animals because they are not "perfect"  I took gunner from an unruly beast to a pet i miss dearly. Where do i seem to be this disgusting person you are portraying me? Who are you to pass judgment on me? Animals can be worked with, I advocate it daily working with the rescues and shelter... I even foster when I can. But in the end, we all want what we want. If i am going to open my home to another dog, for 1-15 years or more.. i was hoping to find one that looked like my gun gun. Chastising me did no favors to you. I simply figured everyone would jump on me for having to re-home Gunner in the first place, not that I was searching for a puppy again. We do not have shows in my area for GSDs...  but I attend every GSD rescue event i can.. If i could go back and undo re-homing him... i would in a heart beat.. as all i seemed to get from this post is flack :(

I got gunner off craigslist.. I call it an adoption, because he was in need of the right home.. me getting him gave him that chance. He got neutered, to avoid more breeding , or potential backyard breeders getting him. He got training and care.. and then in the end, he became a happy, working dog, placed by the very gsd rescue group I volunteer with. Go ahead and badger me... but I am not this horrible person you are making me out to be. SO I personally dont care about lineage, and I have NO plans on breeding.. the animal will be altered at the age best for it. :/.. where am I wrong for wanting a pet?

No one is saying youre bad for wanting a pet. After all the issues you had with gunner, how do you know for a fact it was environmental and not genetics? Specifically looking to get an oversized gsd and bred by your previous dogs breeders, while not knowing where the temperament issues originate is not so great. If you could get another gsd that is representative of the breed, go get one like your female...she is looks like a nice dog, and you say she is a good.
Stop supporting breeders on Craig's list and maybe, if nobody will buy their dogs, they'll stop breeding them.

I don't really think anyone was bashing you, I think you are just taken aback because you didn't hear what you wanted to hear.  The points that have been brought up are very valid, and something you should take into consideration. No one implied that you are a "disgusting person".

Why would you want to find the breeder that you got a dog that had issues that could have been environmental, and/or genetic? You mentioned he had skin allergies and rashes, why would you want that? That very well also could have been genetic, or just a fluke with him as an individual dog.

As someone else has mentioned, there is no guarantee that you will get the same over sized dog that you fell in love with a pedigree that is similar to his.  I have a female that all of her siblings are 70-80ish pounds, blocky heads, built like tanks, and she is 55 pounds and built like a Greyhound. Uniformity is not guaranteed.

If you want a 100lbs+ dog, go buy one from a breed that it is healthy to be that big and within the standard.

Since you work with the shelter, you should be all too aware on where dogs from BYBs and Craigslist end up. Why not adopt something through your GSD rescue, or if you plan to buy, support a breeder who breeds healthy dogs with good temperaments?

You seem like you have very good intentions, and I am sorry that you feel like everyone is bashing you, however, it appears you are inadvertently supporting the very people who produce the shelter dogs that you work so hard to save.

OP have you considered a king shepeherd or a shilo shepherd, they are an off shhot from the GSD and one i think is a recognised breed.

they are often advertised as huge huggy bears and they are huge.

do your research on hips and breeder ethics, i am pretty sure some members here have had king's or shilo's???

it give you the type you want and would decrease demand for overstandard GSD and support for BYB.

 

just an option that i think might be the perfect fit for you.

 

from google -

shilo's;

 

 

 

 

 

 

king shepherds

 

 

 

 

If you show up here and your first line says not to chastise in any way (your words, not mine), then that pretty much says you already know what you want help doing is something that breed enthusiasts are going to dislike, most likely because it's bad for the dogs. I guess you don't like my humor, but I always chuckle when people put their business on the internet and then try to control people's reaction to it. Sorry, but I was trying to make a point that if you try to restrict what people say, you may not get a lot of people bending over backwards to help you. 

Find a reputable breeder and tell them what you want in a dog. If they're honest, they'll tell you the truth about their dogs, not what you want to hear. Then you can perhaps see if a GSD bred to the standard is really what you want. 

Why not adopt one in need from the shelter where you work or another shelter? Why would you, working in a shelter, knowingly support anyone breeding oversized dogs with sketchy temperament and poor health? You keep talking about size; maybe another breed is what you want. Why support a breeder who breeds against the standard with health issues to boot? 

 

My post seems to have taken forever to post. Hntrjmpr said exactly what I was thinking, only better. 

 

jen i may have missed it, when did the Op say they are going to "knowingly support anyone breeding oversized dogs with sketchy temperament and poor health?"

this is saying a lot that the OP never said, unless i missed it?

 

 

The picture of gunner at the vet, the rash inside his right thigh is very evident. If it was caused by allergy, the is likely genetic.

Vk, you missed it.