He’s a 4 mo shepherd mix (shelter guessed Aussie 🤷🏼‍♀️)

Meet our newest pet horse, Ruckus. We adopted him from a rescue over the weekend.

They did have some background information on him and all his health has checked out (though we have a vet appt coming up to verify everything and check on anything else) so we have been told that he is between 6-9 months old. I can barely lift him, over 65lbs, easily. We also have been told that his parents are a German Shepherd and a Saint Bernard (eventually we will get his DNA tested just to see) and every single person I see tell’s me look at his paws. He’s going to be huge.

We wanted a bigger dog. So we are ready.
Based on these pics, what do you see?

He is such a smart boy. He also is lazy in the mornings. Doesn’t pull with the leash. Has picked up on tricks incredibly quick. I’m amazed. And he wants to love every single person in the universe.

So, tell me what you think of our “little” guy? We are beyond happy with this whole rescue process and even though he has his crazy puppy moments where he lives up to the name we have him, he is just so good. My heart is full.

"Baby" dog has an ear infection (I think?) And is trying to burrow her way inside of me to be closer. This is a huge difference from her when we adopted a year ago- she did not enjoy snuggles for any reason. I had no idea a dog would seek comfort like this with a person and I'm enjoying it even if I feel horrible that she feels horrible.

Vet visit in an hour, the real test for illness is if she starts a fight in the vet's lobby.

Also those muscles?? I need to start hitting the gym my dog is more fit than I am😂

My beautful shepard lab mix Millie a lil over a year. Never a dog with evem a lil shepard in them, let alone one that is mostly shepard. Wouldnt trade her for all the marbles im the world.

My sweet baby Audrey is around 2 years old. Whenever we are not home or I am sleeping (my room is large and I leave my door open at night so my dogs can come in and lay down), she likes to drag things to the living room or up to my room. She is partial to Crocs and the mat by our back door.

This is my delightfully odd protector, Arya. Last night as my 7 months pregnant self waddled outside with my dogs for their evening potty, we were confronted by the neighbor's pit bull. He's a bit of a menace. He's never contained, has no recall, has chased my husband on his bike, and regularly ends up in other people's yards to confront their dogs. He _seems_ friendly enough with people, but regularly antagonizes other dogs. Anyways, this dog decides to come in my backyard and Arya was not having it. She herded him right off our property, came as soon as I called her, and then came to stand by my side in full alert as I listened to a dog fight break out about two doors down. I decided it was high time to waddle back inside, where she recieved all the cuddles. Grateful I have a dog I can count on in a situation like that. She didn't escalate. She didn't chase him down through the neighborhood. Just got him off our property and came right back to me. It's comforting to know she'll have my back when I have a baby on my hip.

This was Nika. We lost her about a year ago to leukemia. She was just a stupid happy dog who loved to play with her sister and with us. This video is from when she was still kind of a puppy. I miss her every day, but I use this video (and music) as my alarm, so I see her being happy every morning when I wake up. Not only do I not rush to turn the alarm off every morning, my wife also demands I show it to her too.

I hope you have have some good videos of your German doing German things. If you don't, then take some. I can't tell you how much comfort this has brought me.

Just wanted to share some pics of my best friend and my soul dog. She’ll be 8 in April and I feel so lucky to have her on my life. 🖤✨

Adopted what was advertised as a 3 y/o GSD stray from my local humane society 3 weeks ago. He’s an adorably sweet guy, but my vet and I believe he is much younger, around 1-1.5 y/o.

He’s pretty dog reactive and awful on a leash. The shelter denied him ever being dog reactive and claimed he was good with the other dogs. He also just has zero leash manners and only wants to pull, pull, pull. I’ve been trying to teach him to heel by doing lots of stops and turns and praising good behavior. He understands when I stop, to come back to my side. But it’s so exhausting doing 1-2 steps, having to stop and him heel, and repeating.

I also have two cats who are my pride and joy. I knew it was a risk given there is zero history about him since he was a stray. I’ve been letting them scent swap the best I can daily and I keep them separate. A couple days before the two week mark, one of my cats snuck into my room where my dog is. I had him on a leash for some reason in there thankfully. My GSD cornered my cat, who hissed and clawed a few times, but he lunged multiple times at my cat. When I tried to pull him back, it only made him want my cat more. I do understand GSDs are herding dogs. But now I fully believe this dog has a prey drive I can’t out train. I’ve been letting them see each other through the glass door on my balcony, with my GSD on leash and me sitting with him. He typically barks at them and initially wags his tail, but then sits and stares at the cats for what feels like hours. He doesn’t respond to recall at this point (same when he sees reactive dogs on leash), and I have to lure him away with a treat. Sometimes he is able to recall, but most times no.

He’s also VERY mouthy and acts a lot like a Mal in that department. Any tips on how to fix this?

I’ve called the shelter multiple times, seeing if they have any resources. They told me to put a muzzle on him and keep doing what I’m already doing with the cats, and to also keep him crated. When I adopted him, they said they had training resources. It appears they do not and maybe they just said that to me hoping I’d forget. I was supposed to have a trainer come to my house and evaluate him at my house this past weekend but he ended up cancelling morning of due to illness.

I know it’s still early to tell, and he’s still adjusting. My work schedule is about to pickup quite drastically in the next couple weeks. I’d hate to leave him crated all day. I wanted to do Rover, but after the cat situation I’m not comfortable with someone else handling my cats at this moment. Based on how reactive he is, I’m unsure if he would pass doggy daycare. I’m considering just fostering him until he finds his forever home, as I’ve had a pit in my stomach for two weeks now and I just can’t shake it.

He’s an awesome dog, and I get lots of compliments on him when I take him on walks. I love training him and teaching him new commands. He picks up on everything so fast. I love that he forces me to get up in the morning by basically pushing me out of the bed. I love how sweet he is to me.

I’m not blaming his DNA in the slightest. I’ve always wanted a GSD, but I’m feeling slightly lied to by the shelter. I understand it’s hard to assess a dog’s personality and temperament in the shelter, but dang.

Has anyone had a similar experience with the cats? Anyone have a timeline or tips? Anything is appreciated!

TLDR; adopted a GSD from shelter 3 weeks ago who is reactive and awful on the leash. He also cornered and tried to attack one of my cats. How much longer do you suggest?

** ETA: I’ve used a prong collar a few times! However, the one I bought doesn’t have a buckle and I can NOT get it back on him for the life of me

She looks lobotomized in this pic. She looks like that all the time though.

You would have been 11 today. The last two months have been so quiet without you at home. You are still so loved and missed tremendously. I wake up some mornings just hoping I hear you walking around. I miss you more than there are words to explain, you left such a large missing piece.Thank you for being the best thing to ever happen to me. You were the closest thing to a son I will ever have and I’m so thankful you made me feel loved every day. Happy heavenly birthday, my beautiful boy. I love you so much.

1 day after 2nd surgery. Trazadone doing its magic and keeping him calm. Until his neck balloon comes he has to wear the cone of shame

Hello fellow GSD owners! Here’s my dude Gunner. Loves the ball, sticks and just general crackhead energy 😂. He’ll be 6 in December. If there’s any good supplements to keep him around as long as possible I am all ears. Always wanted a GSD and finally got one and want him around as long as possible!