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Match-Me
Utah, United States
parrotology
I'm an artist, amateur fiction and fan-fiction writer, gamer, daughter, sister, aunt and bird-mom. Sometime in the future I will be a vet tech and an ornithologist.
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. She was easy to train and knew how to sit, shake hands and stay when we brought her home. We never knew why she was at the Humane Society, as she'd obviously been a family pet before, having been taught the basics of obedience and a trick.<br><br>Luna is very loyal and protective of the family (her pack), but she's very standoffish with strangers and is extremely aggressive with strange dogs (she attacked my aunt and uncle's miniature bulldog puppy when they came to visit last summer). She's a good watch dog, as she barks at practically everything that passes by in the street. She's great with my niece and nephew, who are 3 and 4, and loves the neighbors' kids. She turns into a mommy doggy when she's surrounded by kids, but she also turns into a puppy who wants to play, and smaller kids can get hurt if she tries to jump on them like she would another doggy playmate. She frequently chases our cats around, either because of prey drive or because she wants to play, or both. But if one of the cats comes to her and is affectionate while she's lounging, she grooms them; nibbles on their hair and licks, etc.<br><br>Shepherds are great family pets and single-owner companions. They're loyal and dependable, friendly, loving. Shepherds are very high-energy, though. I wouldn't recommend one for a laid back family or one with kids that like to rough-house, as the dog might want to get in on that and may end up accidentally hurting someone. Training should also begin early, especially socialization, because as a shepherd, they naturally watch and guard their family, and a shepherd that's difficult to control or untrained may end up biting the FedEx guy, or a neighborhood kid that just reached over the fence to say hello, or even attack another dog that comes into the yard (like a jerk walking their dog who lets their dog use your yard as a toilet when your yard is clearly your dog's toilet).<br><br>Shepherds also have REALLY thick double coats. A soft fluffy layer close to the skin and a coarse wiry outer coat made up of guard hairs. The outer coat makes them hard to bathe because the guard hairs shed water easily, and in the spring and summer both layers shed HEAVILY. I've also noticed that shepherds seem to be fearful of water. My Luna and a shepherd I grew up with (that belonged to a family friend) named Tasha are/were (Tasha died 8 years ago) not fond of it at all. Luna acts like its the end of the world when its bathtime, and I recall Tasha trying to leap over a 10-foot-wide (shallow) stream instead of just wading across when my family and Tasha's owners all went out on a hike in Coldwater Canyon (I was 8 or 9 when this happened).<br><br>Luna is about 7 years old now and has recently become afflicted with a neurological disease called Degenerative Myelopathy. It's more or less the canine version of Multiple Sclerosis. Degenerative Myelopathy afflicts many large-breed dogs and some medium-sized breeds, but it is most common in German shepherds. It's incurable and there's no treatment for it, but the disease does not cause pain. However, it gradually takes away the functionality of the hind legs, so injuries caused by falls from instability are a different story. The disease starts in the hind legs and usually presents as an unsteady gait or wobbliness when standing, and from there it progresses. Eventually, the ability to use the hind legs and control the bowels and bladder is lost. If allowed to progress further, it can reach the chest and paralyze the diaphragm and heart, or go up to the brain. Once Luna loses the ability to walk and control her bowels and bladder, we're going to put her down. It's hard enough watching her stagger and stumble and slip and fall now as it is.<br><br>There is a screening test that can be done now to check for the Degenerative Myelopathy gene, and if I get another shepherd in the future (which I'd like to do), I'll only go through a reputable breeder who screens for this disease. I do not want to watch what's happening to my beloved Luna happen to another dog.<br>){kind=link}