"This national hero is versatile and a faithful companion for life "

OVERVIEW:

This breed is one of the most popular breeds in America. They were also known as Alsatian in Great Britain. There is one word that describes them well is "versatile" as they are very intelligent, devoted, courageous and are very capable of being a working dog. They are the one who cannot sit at a place for constant hours, which means they cannot be a couch potato at any cost as they love being active and exercising. The most important point, which should be always kept in mind is that they should never be shy, nervous and aggressive because that can cost you. And such aggression issues come up when either they don't get to exercise well or if they are alone for long hours, so if you are the one spending more time away, from the house then this breed is not for you. Although these dogs have the best traits still they are not for everyone. Now we will discuss his description in detail :

BODY :

• They are large-sized dogs.
• They have a balanced muscular structure.
• They are slightly longer than tall.
• They have erect ears.
• They have a medium length coat.

HEIGHT :

• The male German shepherd is from 24 to 26 inches.
• The female German shepherd is from 22 to 24 inches.

WEIGHT :

• Males weigh from 66 to 88 pounds.
• Females weigh from 49 to 71 pounds.

To check whether your dog is overweight or not you can perform a very well known method:

First, look down at him. You should be able to see his waist. Then place your hands on his back, thumbs along the spine, with the fingers spreading downward. You should be able to feel his ribs even though you can't see them, it means he needs less food and more exercise.

LIFE SPAN :

German shepherd will make your journey special for 10 to 14 years.

COAT :

• They have a double
• Some of them are long haired also.
• Colours: black, black and cream, black and red, black and silver, black and tan, blue, grey and white.
• They shed a lot so try brushing them more.
• As they shed a lot so they are even called as German shedder (nickname)

JOBS :

• They are no doubt the national heroes.
• They have been cast up in many movies.
• They are the perfect watchdog.
• They help in police and military services.
• They can perform drug detection.
• They can lead the blinds.
• They can chase the criminals well.
• They can sniff illegal substances.
• A German shepherd was the search and rescue dogs who crawled through all the ruins of world trade center after the terrorist attack of 9 /11.

FOOD HABITS :

They don't need to eat in bulk. You cannot make them eat for the whole day, you have to stick to a schedule and divide the meal between two times a  day . They need 3 to 4 cups of high-quality dry food in a day.

But with this, I would even tell that the need for a dog's body varies from one dog to another because that depends completely on their physical needs. If your dog is sporty and an active one, then, of course, he will need more food than others. So it's important to watch out your dog and accordingly develop up their eating habits.

It's important to feed your pet with the right quantity and quality of food to help them grow in the best manner they may can. The quality of food matters a lot to keep special care over the quality of food you are feeding to your pet.

You should never share human food with your pet because that may contain elements which can be toxic for your pet for example potatoes, chocolates, etc.

TRAINING :

They are very active kind of dogs so they just love exercising and being involved in activities. They always want to be busy in exercise and activities and if you will not keep them busy then that will create a problem for you because when they get bored they start barking and chewing ( these are due to anxiety ). They even love being trained mentally so try to concentrate on training the dogs mentally and physically, both. You should remember you cannot house train them at all. It is good if your dog goes through carate training because that is really important for this breed because carate training not only helps in physical training even it helps them being happy and calm. Like you know that you cannot be away from your pet for long and if you are away, then they may suffer anxiety attacks of separation but through carate training, this can be, even controlled. As the German shepherd is suspicious to strangers so it is important for you to train them being in the company of people from their initial months itself.

CARING TIPS :

First of all, just take care while selecting your pet because there are many dogs sold at the name of German shepherd so choose a reputed breeder. If you are adopting this breed then you should know they are not at all a family dog. As they are not friendly with strangers so while raising them to try to socialize them as much as you can by making them experience places and people as well. They love action and being sporty so try to keep them active. They are fearless, alert, eager and confident.  Yes, another thing is you cannot make them overeat because overeating will spoil their health and behaviour. They shed a lot and you have no way out for that and one more thing is that if you observe something wrong in your pet immediately take them to the doctor because they are prone to genetic health problems. Their nails should be trimmed once a month because when the nails are grown they may start to hurt. You should brush them two to three times a week and you should brush them with a soft brush to keep the gums stronger and teeth in shape.

BATHING :

The dog should take bath every month, at least. Never break the rules or the habit of bathing you develop in them. If by chance you find the fur has become too dirty and there is still time for next bathing session then you can clean their fur with a towel and dry shampoo but never go with the excess wash logic as your excess wash habit can destroy the quantity and quality of their fur. Another important thing which you should keep in mind while washing your pet is that you should dry their ear well so that there lies no chance of fungal or any other infection. Try not bathing them too often.

MEDICAL TIPS :

HIP DYSPLASIA-

• In this condition, the bones don't fit into the hip joint.
• A dog will have pain and will be low on rear legs.

ELBOW DYSPLASIA -

• It is caused due to the different growth rate of three bones that together make up the dog's elbow causing joint laxity.

ALLERGIES -

• They catch but allergy very soon and it can be caused by anything. If he starts licking his paws or if he rubs his face more often then it's time to get him checked up.

GASTRIC DILATATION VOLVULUS -

• In this bloating happens which can be a life-threatening thing. In this, the dog is not able to vomit out the extra air in his stomach.
• Mostly deep-chested dogs are affected with it.

EXOCRINE PANCREATIC -

• They mainly occur in the pancreas and in the pancreas, in this condition, the digestive enzymes stop working at all.

DEGENERATIVE MYELOPATHY -

• It is a kind of disease where the spinal cord cannot communicate information to the brain regarding hind legs.
• When dogs have this disorder they act like they don't have the back leg

HOW TO SELECT YOUR GERMAN SHEPHERD :

There are two most important things you should keep in mind if you are planning to buy a German Shepherd.

First and the most important thing is to approach a reputed breeder because if you are not doing that remember you are on the verge of getting trapped and will be fooled out with a dog of the different breed. No doubt, that there are many beautiful dogs which will give you an illusion of being a German Shepherd but as we know looks is not all that is needed in a pet. So choose your breeder wisely and smartly. Try not getting fooled up from the fake breeders. Last but not the least choose the breeder with your area of interest. 

The second thing I believe comes as being an important point of concern is the quality of pedigree and remember only a reputed or a good breeder will only know what is pedigree. Actually, quality pedigree means what kind of parents, grandparents and ancestor that particular pet had, because through that only you will understand the abilities, temperament and health of that pet, as almost the same traits are passed as hereditary. Basically track record of a quality pup is very important.

Now what mostly happens is that at times we confuse the two important terms pedigree and puppy's registration but they are too different. Through pedigree, a reputed breeder can tell you what qualities the pet must have inherited but through registration papers, you identify who are the parents and ancestors of the pup but they will not tell you about the qualities.