Having read all about Shepherds, and thinking I knew what I was getting into when purchasing one, I looked all over the net to find a kennel that specialized in training canines for security of one's home and self. Months later and many phone calls to a kennel in Tennessee, I set out on my trip from Illinois to purchase and take home a dog. (Mistake number one, allowing the kennel owner to pick a dog for me from the group he had available). Made the costly trip down there and stayed at a motel for a night so I could visit the dog two or three times in his current home environment. This man was not a breeder of dogs but a trainer.
Although Quicko was friendly, very obedient to my commands, my friends, the trainer, and his partner, in my eagerness, I saw what I wanted to see. It was a beautiful facility. Very nice, clean kennels with a fenced in area so large I could not see past the tree area to where the privacy fence ended. The man had only six dogs and a total of ten kennel runs. Very well protected from the weather, in door/ out door, concrete, and set under the natural shade of lovely trees. The man spent a long time talking with me about this dog. He explained that based upon what our phone conversations had been , this was the dog for me out of all the rest he had on the property. I was allowed to visually see the other dogs in their runs but it was explained to me, all so very logical at the time, that each was trained to a different level of protection and it would not be good to allow them out to visit. His explanation went to say that each dog was trained for a specific job such as; drug detection, search and rescue of lost people, cadaver (deceased ) searches, and some for very high levels of apprehension of criminals. The man himself had an impressive resume of certificates for training and placing each type of work dog, along with newspaper articles of the many searches he had participated in with law enforcement. Again, on the surface, all seemed to be an excellent kennel with an owner who appeared to know what he was talking about.
Things are not always as they would appear. As we signed the contract to change the dog ownership to me, he even offered a seven day guarantee on the health of the animal. The pedigree was produced along with vet records to show that both parents had x-rays for hips and elbow issues and found to have none (common problems in Shepherds that good breeders take extensive care to make sure the parents are free from these problems before breeding ). Happy with Quicko, I thought, I loaded him in my car and for the long drive home he was the perfect companion. The average person who was just looking for a great dog would have been content with this outcome. However, did I mention that the cost for this "Personal and Home Protection" dog was $ 7,000 !!!!
A huge sum of cash to pay for what I thought I was getting, but not exorbitant for a truly well trained personal protection dog. When I got home Quicko molded seamlessly into my band of dogs that already lived with me. He was well socialized and appropriately submissive coming into a new house with an established pack. Off leash and on leash this dog obeyed and I never worried about him wandering away when we walked in the 60 acres of woods I own or at the lake. So where was the problem you ask ?? Simple, I had been sold a dog under false pretenses. He would not protect, bark, alert, or do anything when a possible threat or stranger showed up at my home. Quicko knew no strangers. All were welcome into his new home. This is not what I paid for. Although he was vet checked and found to be in perfect health, x-rays were taken of hips and elbows and they too were perfect, I was not in the market to get a show dog for that amount of money.
After the seven days were up for the health guarantee, and I had called this man several times to explain the dog did not show any interest in protection. Yes, while at the kennel , the man demonstrated that Quicko would bite a "sleeve" ( a burlap and hard plastic sleeve placed on the arm of a trainer to show the dogs willingness and level of bite performance ) but I was totally undereducated about reading how the dog reacted when commanded to do this task. If I had been more knowledgeable or had hired a person who I trusted to pick out a dog for me I would have never purchased Quicko.
Subsequently, I gave the dog a month to settle into the home and get to know me better. More phone calls to this man and his kennel went to an answering machine and were never returned. At that point I looked up the original advertisement on the web and found it was gone! In fact everything about this man's kennel had vanished from the web. (Big red flag there). I do not have advice on how to avoid a mistake like this for the kennel appeared well established and the dog I purchased was in perfect health, he was simply sold to me as a trained protection dog, and he was not.
At that point I was unsure of what to do with Quicko and realizing I did not have that kind of money to spend on another dog, which would only add to my crew of five indoor dogs with yet another one, I turned to a man I had known for years who was a trainer and breeder of German Shepherd Dogs.
After a few phone calls I made the trip to Pana, IL and brought Quicko with me for an evaluation of the dog's skills (first correct choice in all of my mistakes). Why I didn't go to this man in the first place I don't know and regret.
Always helpful, vastly skilled in the reading and training of dogs for more than 20 years, and specializing in German Shepherd Dogs, his evaluation of Quicko took about five minutes. Ruefully, he shook his head and said the dog had absolutely no desire or inclination to protect anyone or anything let alone himself. I asked if he was able to teach the dog these skills and he gently explained that some dogs are born and bred through a long line of genetics, each puppy carefully evaluated and picked for it's courage and balance of defensive and offensive skills, then raised to cultivate those traits. He offered to show me a prize dog he had that he was considering placing named Brasso.
The dog was beyond brave , highly intelligent, and showed remarkable skills for personal protection. He wanted to sell the animal because his concentration of training was into the sport of Schutzhund and this dog did not make that grade. Being the fantastic person he is, and seeing how I had been dooped, hearing of the vast cost I had placed into Quicko, along with his wife telling him she was interested in showing him in confirmation as well as having a great house pet, he offered me a trade. I was well aware that he could have charged probably more than $10,000, easily, for the amount of time, care, training, excellent genetics and everything he had placed into Brasso.
Eagerly, I accepted the trade and signed the papers of Quicko and Brasso to exhange ownership.
This was an excellent home, with ample space for Quicko to play, four growing boys to wrestle with, along with daily mental exercise and the opportunity to excel at what this dog was made for, confirmation shows and being a great pet. Quicko went on to live a full life in a lap of luxury, being played with every day.
My lesson here was just because everything looks good on the surface, and even when digging deeper it appears that one is getting what they paid for, it behooves a purchaser to seek out a trusted source when spending large amounts of cash for a specific attribute in a dog. Read all you can, study everything, learn about the breed and reason you want a specific type of dog, then, find others who have a great deal of experience to help you make your choice.
© PawEarFull Legacys
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Hello fellow animal lovers. I welcome comments and questions. Thank you in advance.