First Memory of Encounter with the GSD? - Page 2

I read a book when I was 9 or 10 called "Follow My Leader" about a GSD guide dog. That book totally changed my life. I was never allowed to have a GSD as a kid as my parents had horrible associations with them. Both my parents were children during WWII, my dad in the UK and mom in New Zealand. I think they just had bad connotations I guess and couldn't get past it. I now live in a house with 8 GSDs LOL.

Annette

My uncle had a female GSD, Nikki.  Very nice black and tan blanket back.  He trained in schutzhund with her and apprehended a fleeing felon for the PD with a beautiful hold and bark from the story I got... and from that point on my obsession began.  Nikki got loose one night and never made it back home alive.  She was found by the train tracks about a half mile from my uncle's place.  RIP Nikki, thank you for the proper introduction to the GSD! 

The first GSD that I ever met was owned by the neighbor across the street when I was about 6 years old. His name was Rex and he was not a nice dog at all. Then when I was in my early 20's my sister got a GSD. What a great dog. She only had it a couple of years when it went out in the street after a motorcycle and got hit by a car. By then I had gotten attached and I was hooked. Got my first GSD at the age of 37 when i finally settled down in one place. My brother later told me he was half pissed at me because I had gotten a GSD (he remembered the one from across the street too). She was a great dog and very social once she got to know you and told that you were a "friend". The first thing she would do when told you were a "friend" was get a ball and lay it in your lap so you would play with her. Between her and my present 1 year old pup they have won him over. He said "I never knew a GSD could be like the ones you have had". His wife won't allow a dog in the house or I think he might very well have a GSD now too.

WHEN I WAS LITTLE I WATCHED THE MOVIE RIN TIN TIN(WHO HASN'T) I JUST LOVED THAT GSD. I TOLD MYSELF"ONE DAY I WANT TO OWN A DOG LIKE THAT".................. AND SINCE THE I HAVE OWNED MANY, AND LOVED EVERY ONE OF THEM!!

My childhood memories include a couple GSDs that I wasn't allowed to touch or go near, because they were 'mean'. I remember 1 of them barked whenever I went near my grandparents hedge. The other lived next door at the florist's greenhouse that was next to the little house my parents rented when i was about 4 or 5 & my brother was a baby. He would growl softly at everyone that came into the florist's shop from the back room, but never came into the main room of the shop. He let me put flowers on him, & tolerated me being a pain, poking him with flowers until my mom would figure out where I was. I wasn't supposed to go into the florist shop, but sometimes I would hide there, & the florist would let me toture her dog with leftover flowers until my mother would come & drag me away, apologizing for me being there. But the florist would always wink at me & give me a handful of little flowers to take away with me. I always felt safe there, & I think that tolerant dog was a big part of that. The dog had standing ears, & walked stiffly, probably old, I remember he had a lump on his hip. But undeniably GSD! jackie harris

My parents used to have a big black and red male back in the 70s, before I was born. They would always tell me stories about how great of a dog he was. They lived in Detroit, and on a block where the neighbors were always changing, some of them decent and the rest not so much so. There wasn't a person who would so much as even look at their house with his sharp eyes looking out the front window at everything that was going on. That was where my obsession started, really. With those stories.
My first real time meeting one was when I was ten. He was actually a GSD mix that belonged to the woman my mom babysat for every once in a while. His name was Sparky, and he looked the part of a pure GSD until you got to his half-prick ears. Anyway, he was an awesome dog...played well with the neighborhood kids, watchful. I remember when the woman had her second child and decided that Sparky was too much work for her and that she needed to find a new home for him. I remember crying and begging to my parents to let us take him since at the time, he was like 6 and would be easier to take care of than a puppy. But they said the house was too small. That there wasn't enough room for a dog that size. I was heartbroken.
I live in the same house now with two female Shepherds, occasional visitors and plenty of room to spare...lol.

My dad's family were mostly farmers, so my first memories of dogs are of the farm dogs they had, which were mostly mixed breeds, predominantly collie. If there was a shepherd in there, I don't remember it.

I do remember the movie shepherds: Rin Tin, Tin and the Littlest Hobo, and Roy Roger's Bullit. I actually got to see the Hobo dogs perform live during the '70's, and was blown away.

I also remember reading a book about the Seeing Eye german shepherds. "First Lady of the Seeing Eye", I think it was called. That made a profound impression on me.

Then, in the early 80's, I met a guy named Chris who had a male GSD that was very well trained. He really impressed me, and I would have loved to have adopted a dog like him, but I was living in an apartment at the time, and didn't feel it was right to keep a dog, let alone a large dog, under those circumstances. I was also single at the time, and had no one to walk the dog while I was at work.

One day, during this same time period, I visited my uncle's farm, and found this pathetic bag of bones lying underneath his kitchen table. She was a purebred GSD, 26" tall, and (as I later found out) weighed 35 libs.

The story was she'd belonged to his neighbour, an elderly batchelor. He'd started to go senile, and could no longer look after himself of the dog, and had to go into an old age home. My uncle had promised him he'd look after the dog.

Well, it turned out she wasn't a good farm dog, in spite of having been raised on the farm. She was scared of the cows, and wouldn't even kill a groundhog. When a local vagrant wandered by, my uncle sent her outside to chase him off. When he looked out a short while later, he was sitting on a bench in the garden, and the GSD was sitting next to him, and he was petting her.

After leaving to go home, I couldn't stop thinking about this poor animal. My aunt claimed she was so thin because she woudn't eat, but I also knew my uncle wasn't one to waste good food on a dog he didn't want. There was something wrong here, and I had a feeling that if someone else didn't take her, she was going to die. I talked to Chris about the dog, and he said he wanted to have a look at her.

So, the next weekend, I dropped by the farm again, with Chris and his dog, Shep. Chris confirmed she was a GSD, and also noticed there was something wrong with her eyes. A dirty brown film was partially covering her pupils, and affecting her sight.

In spite of being so terribly thin, she did show some spunk when she met Shep, and actually played with him a bit.  Chris encouraged me to adopt her. "I live in an apartment, too, and they can't kick you out unless the dog is being a problem," he said.

The next weekend was our annual family reunion. I took my uncle aside and told him I had made up my mind. I was going to take her home. I dropped by the farm after the reunion was over, and picked her up.

That's how I acquired my first GSD, and my very first dog.

Of course, I took her to the vet shortly after I brought her home. He told me she had pannus, and he was really concerned about how thin she was. He thought she had some sort of chronic wasting disease, and told me he wasn't sure she was going to live.

Whether her thinness was due to neglect, or being depressed over the loss of her owner, I'll never know. But as soon as she knew she was loved and cared for, she began to put on weight, and was soon up to a normal weight for a dog of her size.

Her first owner had called her Lassie. I renamed her Lili Marlene, after the old WWII song.

Okay, won't let me edit my post, probably because I got too long winded...

The book I referred to was indeed called "First Lady of the Seeing Eye" and was written by a blind man named Morris Frank. Disney also made a movie based on the book. I remembered I loved the book so much that I read it more than once!  Link: http://www.amazon.com/First-Lady-Seeing-Morris-Frank/dp/B000IU9WX8

I was18 years old  (and married!) and wanted a dog. My husband brought home a Labrador puppy b ut within 2 days it became obvious he had distemper. No cure so eventually he was put to sleep. I still wanted a dog so a while later we saw an advert for an adult 'alsatian' as they were then called. We bought her but she was so dreafully shy and nervous. I tried to socialise her, taking her everywhere, to the shops, on buses, to the park but she seemed to get worse in stead of better. I tried to obedience train her to see if the success from that would help her but it didn't. She took fits, probably epilepsy and had to be out to sleep.
Then I decided to learn about this breed. Read lots of books from the library, went to a dog show and talked to breeders. This learning curve took about 4 years and eventually I decided I wanted 'the best'. In 1965, I purchased Lindel of Brittas from her breeder, Gwen Barrington and this was the best days work I ever did! She cost me £50 which in those days was a lot of money! Super bitch, calm, well-balanced construction, a pleasure to live with and a delight to the eye.
She is behind my dogs even today.