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Large breed for SD work

The Service and Therapy Dog forum is for all service and therapy dogs regardless of whether or not their status is legally defined by federal or state law, how they are trained, or whether or not they are "certified." Posts questioning or disputing a person's need for a service or therapy dog, the validity of a person's service or therapy dog, or the dog's ability to do the work of a service or therapy dog are not permitted in this forum. Please keep discussions fun, friendly, and helpful at all times.

  
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y

dog-sitter in- charge.		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 6, '12 4:17pm PST 
wow! I'd like to know some of the registered names of the 15 year old + Danes.. that'd be great info for some of the GD friends I've got.
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Mandi

Many hands make- the load- lighter.		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 6, '12 5:21pm PST 
Lilith, I'll talk to the friend who owns the specific Dane I am thinking of and see if she would be willing to get in touch with you. smile
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Sarge

Teddybear		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 6, '12 6:19pm PST 
15+ years for a great Dane is not the norm. It's sad but for a lot of the large breed dogs 10+ years is a good long life.

German Shepherds can be whiney but I agree that a lot of that is their drive depending on their breeding. Some have a really high drive which makes them want to work. That's one thing they look for in a explosive detection dog, narcotics dog, search and rescue dog, personal protection dog and so on because of their intense toy drive. With that high drive and their excitement one of the ways they release it is with their whines and cries. I know my husbands current German shepherd is an explosive detection dog and he can drive my husband nuts sometimes with the whining and constant need to play. He can't even kennel him with the other dogs in the kennels and has to keep him in his room with him because he will bark and carry his water dish around and bang it against the fence like a prisoner for hours until my husband gave up and just kept him in his room. Lol. Worst part is the kennels is up against the house that the handlers sleep in and they can hear the dogs loud and clear through the walls. Lol. That being said, not all german shepherds have that high drive and can can be taught to quite down and not whine or even bark. They can be amazing service dogs with the right training.

Personally my favorite is rottweilers. I've never had any issues training them because of their eagerness to please. Out of all the dogs I've had they were the easiest for me to train. Now the only issue I would have is that one thing you would have to be prepared to face with them is the stigma that is attached to them. I've had people walk to the otherside of the road to avoid them when they were only tiny puppies because they are rottweilers. Don't be surprised if parents grab their kids and pull them away when they see you. On the other hand it would also be a good ambassador for the breed if you trained him right. I know mine changed quite a few opinions after people met them.
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Crazy Sadie- Lady

Im a SD and- proud of it so- there!!!! 		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 6, '12 7:39pm PST 
I have had Many different breed in my life for pets. But my fist SD is a American Bull dog witch is close to a pit bull breed or at most people consider to be one of the breed. She is a wonderful SD I use her for mobility,PSTD and diabetic dog. I've trained her for my own use. Yes, Cause of her breed lately at home next to my apartment, how ever I have had trouble with her form the landlord next door. He inherted the run down apartment house next to my place form his father and desided to fix it up to rent out. Just this month he was able to finally able to do that. Sadie dose not like this guy or his repair man. There is something wrong with them cause Sadie has been tryed and true with many strangers and children alike. She has never been aggressive nor showed unwanted behavyor to anyone exsept for these two. We all agree that there is something not right with those guys. My Land lord who did not like Sadie in the begining but now she will really jump down anyone elses back if ever they cause her trouble or talks bad about her.
I have not been able to get out so she spend a lot of time on her run I do have some people that like to take her out for me every now and then. Sadie has the short fur of the american pit bull cause she is a cross breed of the Mastive and A. Staffy bull breed She is a bit bigger then the pit though and most people use them for the weight pull sports. She a good strong breed.
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Ginger DSA- ThD TT CGC - &hearts

My Angel
 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 6, '12 7:56pm PST 
What about Bernese Mountain Dogs? I know several Berners who are service dogs some for mobility.
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Scooter

Work hard; Play- harder.		 
 
Barked: Sun Oct 7, '12 8:44am PST 
Mandi, while you may know someone who has had some success, they are not the norm. Yes, any SD needs extreme socialization, but those breeds (Canes & Pressas) need as much as a normal SD GSD to just make an adequate pet. That isn't stacking the deck in your favor. You also don't seem to understand that while certain breeds (GSDs, Rotties, etc) can make good SDs for certain conditions, they can also make horrid SDs for others; the same can be said of quite a few breeds.

It isn't soo much that the breeds you mentioned need more work learning to focus on the handler, but more like they must learn (and the handler has to be committed) to teaching time/place and then following through by giving the dog an opportunity to satisfy that particular drive. Even that has a limit; one must still choose so that the animal's needs can be met. I've been working with hounds for nearly 20 years and my SD is a hound from working lines.

As for your assertion that the GSDs that Thor has seen that were/weren't anxious, I've seen quite a few that obviously (by body language) are anxious/nervous. In some of those situations it has been the wrong personality given the wrong job, but mainly, it was just that they chose the wrong breed for that particular job specialty.

Lilith, I get back up to Maryland and I'll see if the person is still around; she was knowledgeable about which Dane lines were routinely getting dogs that were making it to 11/12.
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y

dog-sitter in- charge.		 
 
Barked: Sun Oct 7, '12 10:18am PST 
Thanks Scooter! The breeders I know have or know of dogs making it to 10-12 but I'm curious which are routinely making it to 15 and beyond..
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Thor CGC

God of Thunder		 
 
Barked: Sun Oct 7, '12 3:22pm PST 
I am seriously considering a Shiloh Shepherd. I know there is a lot of negative things about the breed such as the split, but if you are careful it seems like you could get a nice dog.
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Happy

The Boy Wonder		 
 
Barked: Mon Oct 8, '12 5:58pm PST 
If you're looking into Shiloh's look up Mali's mom. I believe she breeds if not she could tell you where she got her dogs, she's in NC and has a Shiloh service dog.
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Crazy Sadie- Lady

Im a SD and- proud of it so- there!!!! 		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 13, '12 9:54pm PST 
As I said Sadie is a ASB/Mastiff She is a lg. breed for her breed also cause of the Mastiff in her.
I have compared her with full blooded pits. Her legs are longer and her nose is wider and shorter then a pit. The body is simular and looks almost the same. I use her for mobility as well as other tasks. She is very smart breed and learns fast she also is a figgures her own stuff out for new tasks.
Cause of my allergies her short fur keeps my allergies at bay. Also less care and very lil shedding.
She is a good dog I did not get her form a breeder but a private owner whom got her form a breeder.
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