Craigslist german shepherd puppies for sale near me

Let me preface my post by sharing that for 4 months, I have been diligently searching GSD rescues and craigslist for a young adult German Shepherd for my daughter and her boyfriend. Owning a wonderful rescue GSD myself, I initially focused on that source. I soon discovered that because of COVID quarantines, people are adopting dogs as quick as they're posted. All the reputable rescues have a lengthy application process, so if you see a dog online and you haven't already been approved, it is certain to be gone by the time you are approved. So basically we had to apply to half a dozen rescues and wait. It was our experience that the best dogs went to the applicants who fostered first. Most of the available dogs had behavioral issues from neglect or abuse. The most common issues were timidity, fear reactivity and separation anxiety. There were some dogs with potential, but they were going to be a work in process.

Out of desperation; I turned to the dreaded craigslist. I conducted at least 25 telephone interviews, engaged in countless dozens of text messages and emails and actually met 8 owners and dogs. I came to the conclusion that 70% of the sellers were exasperated by a puppy they weren't prepared to commit to, or they had a dog they left out in the backyard chained to a tree and neglected. Some owners were facing eviction, health issues and other hardships that prevented them from keeping the dog. There were numerous backyard breeders, most of whom were strikingly ignorant of breeding standards and practices and a couple of "European importers" offering dogs of dubious origin. The cheapest dog I encountered was free; the most expensive: $5000. I had a lot of culling and vetting ahead of me. Despite my daughter's repeated pleas to settle for a "cute" dog. I made her wait for the right one.

It quickly became apparent I was going to have to be patient, and have a systematic process if I was to have any hope of success. About 15 years ago, I took a forensics linguistics course at work that featured textual analysis of emails and text messages to detect deception or impute motive and intent in criminal investigations. I thought it was psycho-babble, mumbo-jumbo at the time, but came to appreciate it's potential. To describe it at it's simplest terms is it teaches you to "read between the lines".

The first step was to interview experienced GSD owners, trainers, a schutzhund enthusiast and a vet to identify traits and characteristics to avoid in dogs, but just as importantly, to avoid in owners. My target owner was an individual who obtained basic obedience training for his dog, had detailed current vet records and was selling his dog because work commitments or changed living arrangements prevented him from keeping the dog.

The next step was to formulate questions regarding dog's origin, health issues and supporting vet records, level of training, detailed questions about specific behavioral issues, living arrangement, type of diet, drive, and equipment and toys. I then identified key words and phrases featured in ads that raise flags. Some of the ads that raised alarms had the following descriptions:

• Aggressive, needs to be the only dog.
• Inside and outside dog.

*Hyper or high energy
*Suspicious of strangers
*Shy
*Not a lot of leash experience, pulls on leash.

Individually, any of the above terms are not necessarily disqualifiers. They just warrant further inquiry. If an ad interested me, I emailed, rather than call for the first contact and posed the series of questions I prepared. I would submit from between 6 and 11 questions. A significant number of sellers didn't respond back to my email. Some respondents were evasive or ignored some of the questions. Most were surprisingly candid. I followed up with a telephone call, and if I got a good vibe, met the owner and dog. All the above was a lot of work, but less effort than living with an out of control bundle of K9 neurosis.

The outcome: A healthy, 2 year old male with strong foundational obedience, high play drive, good off switch, impeccable house manners and good heel and leash. He came with $500 worth of items including a high quality crate HS collars, toys, flirt poles and leashes. I've begun private instruction with a reputable trainer who also competes in Schutzhund. She was horrified when she heard we got the GSD from craigslist. Her horror was dispelled soon after she evaluated him. Her assessment was my daughter and boyfriend needed more training than the dog!

In the final assessment, what were the greatest factors in getting a fabulous dog on craigslist: PATIENCE and LUCK!