Recollections of our First German Shepherd
By
Andrew Cuthbertson
Publicity Officer
November 2003
1. Introduction
This article documents the personal experiences that my wife, Linda, and I have had in raising our first German Shepherd, named Ashish. It is the second in a series of articles that follows his life (Cuthbertson, 2003) and is written with a view to helping would be first time German Shepherd owners address the important issues associated with:
Understanding why they want to get a dog,
Deciding whether they have an appropriate lifestyle to make such a commitment,
Deciding why they specifically want to purchase and raise a pedigree German Shepherd dog,
Raising a German Shepherd in a family environment,
Managing the protective instincts of a German Shepherd,
Recognising the value of joining the German Shepherd Dog Club of Victoria, Inc. (GSDCV) and their interstate affiliates located throughout Australia.
It has been our experience over the years that it is quite common for first time German Shepherd owners to go on and purchase a second and third dog as their faithful companions come to the end of their lives. Linda and I are currently at the point of deciding whether to follow this trend as Ashish enters his twilight years at the age of ten and a half. This article is a warm reminder of why we have thoroughly enjoyed raising our first German Shepherd.
2. The decision to get a dog
By late 1993, despite our best efforts, it was becoming increasingly apparent to Linda and I that we would be only able to have one child. A string of ectopic pregnancies and resulting miscarriages between 1990 and mid-1993 had left Linda’s reproductive system shattered and ongoing IVF treatment had led to a number of false hopes. For two people who loved children and saw them as an integral part of their life goals, this was a cruel reality.
The decision to acquire a dog therefore rested on the belief that a dog would not only prove a worthwhile companion for our only son, James, teaching him the values of friendship and mutual respect, but also effectively give Linda a second albeit four-legged child to love and nurture.
Pets had always been an integral part of our lives and frankly we missed not having them around. Both Linda and I had had a succession of cats and dogs from childhood, and our early married years together in Indonesia had been shared by a faithful Slow Loris, a low primate, who died of old age shortly before we were posted back to Australia.
Certainly, our lifestyle was conducive to taking on the responsibility of owning a dog. After years of working in the international mining industry, I had been posted back to Australia in late 1991 by my employer, a multi-national mining company, to take up a three-year appointment as a research geologist at their Canberra based Research and Development facility. For the first time in our marriage, Linda could look forward to a degree of stability without the continual threat of frequent transfers at short notice and the consequent hassles of moving country, looking for new accommodation, and developing a new circle of friends. While I continued to travel frequently both within Australia and overseas, Linda was able to call Canberra home and develop a stable routine revolving around taking James to and from preschool and swimming classes, and looking after our first home that we had actually owned and lived in. With our son approaching school age, Linda could look forward to a degree of predicability.
3. Why get a German Shepherd?
The reasons for deciding to acquire a German Shepherd were varied. Certainly, I had always been attracted to them, impressed by their noble appearance and track record as loyal workers with the military and police services.
As a young soldier in the New Zealand Army during the 1970’s I had come into close contact with German Shepherd dogs guarding the gun positions of the artillery battery I was posted to from the attentions of “unwelcomed night time visitors”. Indeed, I have vivid memories of running towards the command post during a night time “fire mission” and having one of the guard dogs make a lunge for me as I ran past him. The dog’s handler managed to restrain him with the lead within a few centimetres of my rear end!
A more immediate practical influence on the decision to investigate the German Shepherd breed was that as of April 1993, the German Shepherd Dog Club ACT (GSDCACT) was the best organised of the Canberra dog clubs to give advice to people investigating the options for acquiring a pedigree dog.
After investigating the options of acquiring either a new puppy or an abandoned older dog, and dwelling on it for a few months, matters came to a head one Saturday afternoon in August 1993. While returning home from a father and son day out to the Cotter Dam playground located on Canberra’s outer western boundary, we drove past the RSPCA pet refuge and made the on the spot decision to go in and see what dogs might be available for placement in new homes. Upon entering the kennel area of those dogs looking for new homes, my eyes were immediately drawn to the only German Shepherd, a young two-year old female sable coloured dog called Tessa occupying the largest kennel space right at the end of the building. It was love at first sight as far as she was concerned, possibly influenced by the fact that she saw in me the possibility of someone saving her from an untimely appointment! Upon the commands of sit, stay, heal, and drop, she was a perfectionist and was very keen to talk to me eye to eye as she stood up against the wire mesh fence between us.
Having been impressed by the young lady’s “style” we went home to dwell on the matter with Linda. After agonising on the issue of not knowing why Tessa had ended up with the RSPCA, I telephoned the RSPCA refuge the following Monday afternoon to say that we would like to offer her a new home. Imagine my disappointment when a charming secretary told me that Tessa had already found a new home that morning, and was “too good a dog to be in a place like the pet refuge!” That sealed it, and later that day I telephoned the GSDCACT to make enquiries of their current puppy listings.
4. Viewing the new puppy
As it happened, there was only one puppy available through the GSDCACT at that time, with no new litters in the pipeline. So, one Saturday morning in September 1993, as a family we paid a visit to the breeder, a young couple with two larger adult dogs that were clearly the focus of their lives.
We first set eyes on Ashish through the lounge room window playing with his mother, Kylie, in the garden and interacting with the breeder’s other dog, a large unrelated male named Sieger. All seemed to be well and when the breeder called Ashish into the house it was love at first sight as he responded positively to the sight of visitors keenly interested in playing with him.
Ashish, at four an a half months he had already lost the “fluff ball” appearance of puppies in their early months and was already starting to grow as an adolescent. Indeed, James was most upset at his size and protested to Linda that “he is not a puppy, he is a dog! I want a puppy!” Given Ashish’s age, the breeders had already started puppy socialising and he already had a grasp of responding to commands. It was not clear how much interaction Ashish had had with other puppies and older dogs at the Sunday morning training sessions of the GSDCACT.
After much discussion, we took the decision to purchase Ashish for the princely sum of $400 there and then. The fact that the breeder’s wife could not bear to participate in the negotiations was a fair reflection of the degree of bonding that had taken place. The lasting memory we have is of loading Ashish into the back of my large four wheel drive vehicle along with his favourite squeaky rubber toy bones and him cuddling up to Linda as we drove off. Ashish kept his head firmly looking out the back window and quietly whimpered as he left the breeder behind.
In later years we never got to the bottom of why Ashish had been so long with the breeder. We surmised that they had originally intended to keep him but their financial resources proved inadequate to meet the demands of feeding what was to later prove a very large male dog.
 
Photographs 1-2: When viewing Ashish for the first time at the breeder’s residence we were able to view the Mother and how she interacted with her remaining boisterous puppy. Unfortunately we were not able to see the father, a past Australian champion, as he was acting as a nationally recognised stud dog elsewhere (Photographs curtesy of Heide Guenther, 1993).
5. Investigating the new puppy
Ashish, was one of two surviving puppies from his mother’s first litter at the early age of eighteen months. The mother had been mated with another GSDCACT dog member who had previously been an Australian Champion and was now seeing out his days as a nationally recognised stud dog. Both the mother and father had impressive imported German bloodlines. Of sixteen puppies born by caesarean section only two males had survived. Indeed, Ashish was born unconscious and was revived and named by the attending veterinary surgeon, who had just returned from an extended stay in India as a volunteer aid worker. The name Ashish is a boy’s name from the Indian subcontinent meaning “hope” and seemed quite appropriate for the circumstances of his birth.
We understood from the breeder that the mother had not been very attentive and almost immediately after the two puppies had started venturing out from the whelping box had lost interest in them. Indeed, the mother apparently took the view “you wanted them, then you have them”, and so the breeder became effective surrogate mother until the puppies became more mobile. Interestingly, the breeder’s other unrelated male dog, Sieger, was extremely good natured with Ashish and could be seen playing with him for hours on end.
As new owners, the first decision we had to make was whether to keep or change our new dog’s name. In the event, we decided to keep Ashish’s name since it was quite distinctive and he was responding nicely to it. We subsequently went through the drawn out process of transferring ownership through the national governing body registering pedigree dogs.
Fairly early in the piece, we took Ashish to a local veterinary surgery to get him checked out and continue the requisite series of inoculations that all puppies endure. Ashish was given a clean bill of health, although it was pointed out that his ears were extremely dirty. While the breeder had done a great job of keeping his fur and general health in good shape, his ears had been neglected and required a really good clean to get them up to scratch.
Photograph 3: As a seven-week-old puppy, Ashish already displayed the aloof inquisitive character features that would be seen as an adult dog (Photograph curtesy of Heide Guenther, 1993).
6. Settling the puppy into the new
home
We encountered no major issues associated with settling Ashish into his new living arrangements having taken the approach that bringing a new puppy home from the breeder was perhaps no different to bringing a new baby home from the hospital! Ground rules were well and truly set in stone before Ashish arrived. He would only have access to the kitchen and main family living areas, with the bedrooms and main hallways strictly out of bounds.
To emphasis this arrangement and also ensure that Ashish was comfortable, I slept with him on the floor in the family living room for his first night at home. While Ashish woke up a number of times through the night he was prevented from investigating the rest of house in his effort to locate Linda and James who had both comforted him during the trip home from the breeder. Already, Ashish had clearly started to bond with the family members.
This bond deepened in the coming months since Linda was both at home all day and primarily responsible for walking, feeding, and interacting with Ashish. Indeed, where Linda went, Ashish was sure to follow, and would sleep at her feet while she worked in the kitchen. The depth of this bond became self-evident a couple of months later when Linda and I had a ferocious row in the kitchen late one afternoon. Thereafter, Ashish would not let me near either Linda or the kitchen without growling at me and letting me know in no uncertain terms that he considered me a threat to his “mistress”! Who could blame him, given the limited amount of day to day involvement that I had with him?
This display of protective instincts was solved almost immediately by me actively becoming involved with his welfare through taking him for walks when I was back on leave. Indeed, as the relationship developed in those formative early years, Ashish increasingly came to see me as the dominant “pack leader”. When I was around, he always looked to me for direction to the extent that when Linda gave him a command, he always looked at me as if to say “do I really have to obey her command?” To avoid getting into trouble with Linda, I always looked the other way, and this served to reinforce Linda’s commands.
By the time that we purchased Ashish from the breeders, he was already entirely comfortable with the idea of sleeping outside at night. Since we had a fully enclosed back garden with high fences and firm gate, his dog bed along with plenty of blankets was set up on an enclosed veranda close to the living room. He would spend his days with the family in the main living and kitchen areas based from his “corner” day bed and at night would independently ask to be let out so that he could go to bed religiously at eight thirty pm. From his veranda vantage point, Ashish could see into the main family living area while he gently drifted off to sleep.
Another advantage of having an older puppy was that by the time we collected Ashish, his mother had already house trained him. Ashish would let you know in no uncertain terms when he wanted to go out side into the garden to relieve himself. Progressively as he settled into a familiar routine of family life, so he timed his need to relieve himself with the scheduled times of exercise. To this day, Ashish hates to leave calling cards in the garden, preferring instead to leave them elsewhere.
Indeed, over the years there have been very few instances in which Ashish has disgraced himself in the home. On those occasions when this has occurred it has invariably been due to illness.
Photograph 4: As a seven-week-old puppy, Ashish never backed away from a challenge! (Photograph curtesy of Heide Guenther, 1993).
7. Family routine
Right from the start, Ashish was placed in a very strict family routine that involved regular exercise, and religiously joining the family on daytime trips away from the home. Indeed, great effort was made to ensure that he was well socialised in a variety of environments that involved human and other animal contact. In particular, regular trips were made to shopping malls, rural farm locations, and centres of busy vehicle and pedestrian traffic in Canberra and later central Melbourne. Critically, Ashish was considered a member of our family, and as such was expected to be able to become actively involved in all family based activities and be comfortable around visitors to the home environment.
Photograph 5: Ashish, at five months of age, was an active member of the German Shepherd Dog Club of the ACT, participating in ongoing puppy socialisation training. Club instructors proved useful in setting our minds at rest as we faced each new growth phase that Ashish entered.
Photograph 6: While Ashish slept outside at night in his kennel, he spent his days inside the house interacting with the family and adult visitors to the home. A dog bed was set up in a quiet corner of the central living area that Ashish grew to know as his “corner”. From this location, Ashish was able to watch the on-going household activity and feel part of the family.
8. Exercising
Physical exercise was a major part of our family routine and Ashish was expected to participate in our activities that ranged from running, swimming, and bush walking.
The length of Ashish’s walks were naturally kept very short in the early months, but by the age of twelve months he was able to cope with a fourty-five minute walk every second afternoon when I came home from work. By eighteen months, Ashish would enjoy regular morning and afternoon walks, and the option of a midday walk when either I was home on leave from overseas work assignments, or Linda was not otherwise “pre-occupied” in the home environment.
Ashish generally looked forward to these walks and would round us up close to the normal time of departure. Indeed, the carry on that Ashish made if he missed a walk was analogous to a runner going through “cold turkey” at the thought of missing a training run!
The only exception to this occurred during Ashish’s first winter in Canberra when we gained an early realisation that dogs have a keen sense of what “comfort” is all about. That winter, characterised by fierce snow storms and deep frosts, Ashish encountered an electric heater for the first time and once it was turned on in the late afternoons would race to get a prime position in front of it. Frequently, he would insist upon lying so close to the heater that his whiskers got singed! Leveraging him away from it to go for a walk in the cold weather frequently had the potential to degenerate into a game of cat and mouse. On many an occasion, upon the sight of his lead he would race over to where Linda was sitting and try and sit on her lap, all the time telling me with his high pitched voice that he wanted to say inside. A firm tug on his correction chain was usually enough for him to realise that exercising in all weather conditions was a key feature of this family environment.
Photograph 7: Ashish, at two and a half, was firmly under the command of Linda, and displaying the benefits of ongoing obedience training through the German Shepherd Dog Club of Victoria.
9. Chewing
As Ashish grew his early milk teeth, so chewing became a growth phase that had to be actively managed. An early temptation to chew our hands was discouraged through pressing his lip firmly under his own teeth and calling out in mock pain. Whenever Ashish showed a desire to chew, he was quickly directed to the series of rubber bones that we provided him in the garden and family living room. If however he got bored with them, he turned his attentions to the garden hose that through the course of time was gradually converted into a “designer” sprinkler system with multiple punctures from his teeth! Interestingly, never once did we ever have an instance of Ashish chewing the traditional targets of the household furniture, clothes on the washing line, or our shoes.
As Ashish gradually grew his adult teeth, so he eventually grew out of his chewing phase. Over the course of several months, walking around the living room of our house in bare feet became hazardous, with the ever-present danger of stepping on sharp well-camouflaged baby teeth. For some reason we never did collect and save these teeth for future prosperity.
10. Dealing with the veterinary surgeon
Ashish unfortunately did not develop a healthy relationship with our local Canberra veterinary surgeon. As a consequence of an unpleasant early experience with him while on a visit to cut his nails, he developed a life long fear of all veterinary surgeons. No amount of socialising him with veterinary clinic waiting rooms or staff made any difference, for the mere sight of the veterinary surgeon would send him into a blind state of panic.
Reflecting on the circumstances of this unfortunate state of affairs it is quite clear to me after all these years that as a new puppy owner, one must be very careful when selecting a veterinary practise. If we had recognised the effect that the initial veterinary surgeon had had on Ashish early enough, then I believe that we could have rectified the situation. As it was, once Ashish had reached adulthood, I was effectively the only member of the family strong enough to take charge of Ashish when visiting the veterinary clinic.
Over the subsequent years, we actively sought out veterinary surgeons that had both a background with German Shepherds and who were prepared to take the time to try and develop a “relationship” with Ashish. Ashish generally reacted more favourably to being examined in large open areas by female veterinary surgeons, usually in their veterinary clinic car park, rather than being confined in small examination rooms.
11. Children and dogs
While our son, James, has effectively grown up with Ashish from the age of four and considers him his best friend, he had until his thirteenth birthday never been allowed to be left alone with Ashish. Linda or I supervised all interactions between child and dog until that date when we felt that James had developed the degree of maturity required to supervising Ashish in the home environment.
Religiously, James would join Linda and me when attending formal German Shepherd Dog Club sponsored obedience classes with Ashish, and has over the years learned the importance of clear and effective command and control over him. On selective occasions, James would be allowed to take control of Ashish’s lead and feed him while under effective parental supervision.
The bond between child and dog has progressively become very strong. As a pre-schooler, James would often be found either sleeping with Ashish or sharing his afternoon snack with him. Indeed, on those occasions when James was in trouble through the years he could always be found cuddled up to Ashish while poring out his heart to his ever-patient and non-committal friend.
As James has faced major changes in his life, so an equal effort has been made to ensure that Ashish has been able to cope. Imagine the degree of distress that Ashish went through when James started school for the first time? Suddenly, the little boy that Ashish had always had around him was no longer there! During the first week and a half of the new school year, Ashish spent his entire day walking around the garden and home whining and searching through the undergrowth for his lost pack mate. Only upon James return did Ashish relax as both child and dog gave each other an enthusiastic welcome.
As James grew up, so we had to manage visits to our home by his new found friends. While Ashish was quite comfortable around children, Linda and I were concerned about the boisterous nature of adolescent boys. For this reason we built a purpose designed kennel and run close to the house to which Ashish could be retired to and so enjoy some peace and quiet when James adolescent friends came to visit. Indeed, we became aware that not every member of the wider community has as firm a grasp of the finer qualities of the German Shepherd, and the parents of James friends were far more comfortable in the knowledge that Ashish would not be present during their children’s visit.
12. Moving
house
At the end of 1994 I was transferred from Canberra to take up a senior appointment in Melbourne, and for those who have experienced the hassles of moving house, selecting new schools, and developing a new circle of friends, they will appreciate the stresses and strains created among family members. Ashish as an integral family member was aware of the uncertainties and arrangements for his travel had to be actively investigated.
In the final event, arrangements were made with a reputable animal transport company to board Ashish at a boarding kennel that Linda and I had previously inspected, and then fly him to Melbourne once we had settled into the new house. Naturally enough the period of separation was kept to a minimum, and in the final event Ashish and family were only separated for some two weeks. By the time Ashish was delivered to the new house, his kennel and run had been reassembled, and so he was able to immediately associate with the stability of the new home environment. As a matter of priority, Linda and I then went to great lengths to establish a series of new exercise routes in our region of suburban Melbourne so that Ashish became familiar with the wider surrounding environment. New dog collar identification tags were made, microchip contact telephone details updated, and contact was made with the new shire council to register Ashish and gain an understanding of the regulations governing dogs in the Shire. Immediate contact was also made with the GSDCV via GSDCACT contacts.
13. Holidaying with the dog
Given the degree to which Ashish had became an integral member of the family, going on holidays away from either Canberra or Melbourne caused many sleepless nights among family members. In the early years, we accepted that Ashish would have to stay at a boarding kennel and spent considerable time investigating appropriate kennel facilities that both Linda and I was happy with. Needless to say, while enjoying our holidays, we were all quite happy to return home to an enthusiastic welcome from Ashish. As a general rule, Ashish would follow us around for the first three days at home to ensure that we did not suddenly leave him again!
In later years, we agreed to holiday with Ashish at selected destinations and accommodation facilities in Australia that either catered for or tolerated dogs. Indeed, I would have to say in the final analysis that holidaying with Ashish was far more enjoyable than leaving him at home!
14. Managing the positive aspects of a protective instinct
As Ashish matured, so he grew into a big and powerful dominant male who was exceptionally protective both of our property and individual family members. While he was never allowed to roam unattended in our large fenced garden, he was exceptionally alert to strangers in our semi-rural environment. Indeed, given that he would only bark to alert to a potential threat, such as a stranger touching our front gate or accessing a neighbouring property, we along with our neighbours knew to take this as a signal that something unusual was happening and required investigation.
On two occasions, Ashish warned me of thieves attempting to enter our neighbours’ houses in the middle of the night. Once Ashish alerted to unusual activity, he came quietly to the side of my bed and woke me up by forcefully nuzzling me with his wet nose and giving a very distinctive quiet deep growl from the depths of his stomach. The growl left me in no doubt that there was a problem that needed to be investigated. The fact that Ashish did not bark suggested a cunning side to his character, aware that a loud bark would give the game away to who ever was attempting to enter the neighbouring properties. On both occasions, Ashish alerted early enough for action to be taken, and the thieves made off empty handed. Interestingly, once the thieves had been sprung, so Ashish began to bark very loudly and in a manner that would have left them in no doubt that they were not welcome.
The front gates to our property were always firmly padlocked and visitations by workmen such as gas, water, and electricity meter readers were generally by appointment only. One has therefore to admire the lateral thinking of one enterprising gas meter reader that Ashish alerted to. This particular gentleman drove his vehicle up the right of way beside our property, and was spotted standing on top of the vehicle bonnet, leaning over the top of our fence and attempting to read the gas meter through a pair of binoculars! Needless to say, Ashish was less than impressed.
15. Managing the protective instincts in a stressful family environment
With the benefit of hindsight we did not adequately recognise until it was almost too late that the positive aspects of Ashish’s protective instincts needed to be proactively managed in stressful family environments. Dogs, just as their human owners, react to stressful family situations in a variety of positive and negative ways.
At the end of 1998 I was retrenched from the international mining industry in a particularly difficult employment market and this caused enormous on-going stresses, strains, and uncertainties in the family environment. Ashish picked up on these nuances and became noticeably far more protective of the family at home than had previously been seen. While I was on frequent "job-hunting" trips interstate and overseas, Ashish would increasingly appoint himself night watchman, moving around the house at night continually checking that Linda and James were safe and sound. Indeed, only upon my arrival home would he relax, and then curl up for a long sleep to recover from his marathon periods as night watchman.
Matters came to a head while I was on a business trip to the United Kingdom to attend a job interview in April 2000. While Linda was walking Ashish through the local neighbourhood shopping centre on one of their regular lunchtime routes, he bit a member of the general public as they attempted to pass them at a particularly confined section of the footpath (Cuthbertson, 2003).
In piecing the events together later, it would appear that Ashish had got caught in a situation of having a strange person not only entering the personal space of both Linda and himself but also quite literally standing over him. Before Linda could take corrective action by stepping back to a wider section of the footpath and letting the person pass, Ashish “arced-up” and gave the person a hold-bite on the top of their left arm that required minor medical attention.
That one bite was to set in train a series of events that was to result in enormous restrictions on all our lives. While Ashish was fortunate enough to receive a six-month probation from the local Magistrate for what was recognised as “over-protective behaviour”, he was less fortunate in the author’s negotiations with the local shire council who only after exhaustive negotiations agreed to give him a second albeit final chance. From the age of seven and a half, Ashish had to live with the stigma of being declared as a “Dangerous Dog” and endure all the negative ramifications that this entailed.
In the years since this unfortunate event I have often reflected on the lessons to be learned from it. Quite apart from proactively managing Ashish’s protective instincts in stressful family environments, it is important to recognise and understand that members of the general public generally have little knowledge of dogs. Just as one drives a car, one has to manage our dogs defensively when walking in public areas.
16. The important role of the German Shepherd Dog Club
The German Shepherd dog clubs in the Australian Capital Territory (GSDCACT) and Victoria (GSDCV) played a critical role in helping Linda and I raise and train Ashish to be a responsible member of the community. From Ashish’s first arrival at home, he and I regularly participated in formalised puppy socialisation, obedience, and agility training classes. Indeed, these regular weekend training classes became a focus of regular family outings.
A critical decision point on Ashish’s education came when he and I had completed the formalised basic obedience and agility training programs. While we had attended a number of “fun day” obedience trails, Linda and I felt that we had no great desire to formally compete in either “show” or “obedience” trailing, that as of the mid 1990’s were the main forms of advanced training available through the German Shepherd dog clubs. Indeed, by the end of the formal obedience training program, Ashish and I had grown bored and were looking for new challenges.
To a large extent this boredom was the result of a training regime in vogue at that time that failed to motivate either the dog or handler. Fortunately, with advances in training methodologies over subsequent years, it has been replaced with a far more satisfactory training regime that emphasises food based motivational training.
Linda and I resisted the temptation to cease our contact with the GSDCV. We both recognised that regular contact was important for not only Ashish to meet fellow German Shepherd dogs, but also for us to gain further ongoing knowledge about the life and behavioural phases that these dogs go through as they mature. Indeed, we were grateful to be able to call upon this depth of knowledge and support when negotiating with our local shire council the future of Ashish in the fall out from biting a member of the general public in April 2000 (Cuthbertson, 2003). For a number of years therefore, we continued our contact with the GSDCV in a passive role while gaining a more physical satisfaction with family focused sporting pursuits.
This subsequently changed some years later when we were introduced to Dog Tracking as a sporting option, at a time when the range of formalised physical sporting activities available to dogs was growing rapidly. Indeed, Ashish and I commenced formal tracking training when he was eight and a half years old, an age when most German Shepherds are starting to be retired from the working/sporting environment. Ashish subsequently gained his Tracking Dog title at the age of nine and a half, an achievement that Linda and I have always been very proud of. Regrettably, Ashish was unable to continue competing in the formal tracking competitions for the remaining tracking titles due to old age and a decline in health.
With the passing of the years I have reflected deeply on the biting incident that blotted Ashish’s record of behaviour. While as his owner I accept full responsibility for his actions, with the benefit of hindsight I now realise that German Shepherd dogs like their human counterparts have a range of characters that require ongoing individually tailored training regimes. Whilst Ashish, as a big, dominant, and very protective male German Shepherd was perhaps not the wisest choice for a first time German Shepherd owner, I recognise that I should have continued more advanced ongoing obedience training at the conclusion of the above mentioned formalised obedience and agility training programs. I had made the incorrect assumption that this basic level of training would be sufficient to last Ashish’s lifetime. In fact, the German Shepherd dog, like their human counterparts, requires ongoing challenges throughout their lifetime and continual positive reinforcement of their role in the family environment.
17. The situation today
As Ashish now enters his twilight years, so he continues to look forward to the regular weekly meetings of the GSDCV, with the opportunity to socialise with fellow veterans and new puppies alike. James now rarely attends these meetings, for at the age of fourteen, he is now starting to make his own way in life and is developing a range of competing interests.
In the final analysis, Linda and I remain convinced that we made the right decision in acquiring a German Shepherd, and that Ashish has not only played a critical role in our son’s character development, but also fore filled our need for a four legged second child. We have still to decide whether we will acquire another German Shepherd once Ashish departs for that German Shepherd heaven in the sky, for that will depend upon how we assess our future life together in the years ahead as our son makes his own way in life.
It is too early to know whether James will consider acquiring his own German Shepherd at some point in the future. It is heartening though, that he recognises and understands the life long commitment necessary to ensuring that a German Shepherd is a responsible member of the community. The GSDCV motto “My Shepherd, My Friend, My Responsibility” is forever ingrained in his head.
Photograph 8: Although Ashish and James grew very close through the years, they were never left on their own together until James was thirteen years of age. By that age, Linda and I were confident that James had developed the degree of maturity required to supervise Ashish in the home environment.
18. Bibliography
Cuthbertson, A. S. 2003. “Ashish, a story of hope: The rehabilitation into society of a dangerous dog”. German Shepherd Dog Club of Victoria, Inc., Australia, Internet website www.gsdcv.org.au, October 2003.
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