German Shepherd

azdryheat

Member
I'm looking to get a German Shepherd as a pet and was wondering how accepted they are in RV parks. I wouldn't have a dog that is aggressive or that barks at the moon; just a mild mannered companion. The only dogs I ever see at the parks are the little ankle biters and am wondering if I will run into any problems with a Shepherd? Thanks
 

DuaneG

Well-known member
We have an ankle biter and love him so much. The reason we travel with him is because if he does have an accident it is easy to clean up. I have seen German Shepard's poop.

We have seen many travel with bigger dogs and they seem to make it work. I have only seen a few places list dogs that they would not accept on their property, but even those places still say they can ban any aggressive or loud dogs as they see fit.

If you seek out dog friendly parks, you should not have a problem with the German Shepard as long as it is behaved and you follow the leash laws. With that said you still may want to call ahead to make sure each park doesn't have any special rules.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
I have owned larger dogs my whole life and camped with them. About 5 years ago we got two ankle biters. (Yorkies)

After fulltiming and staying in many parks over the past few years, I have noticed there seems to be a growing predjudice against larger dogs in general at some parks. Probably not justified in most cases.

Often, certain large breeds are sometimes banned altogether. Also, sometimes it is done by restricting weight, ie under 20lbs., etc.

You might want to get a camping book such as Woodalls. Pet restrictions are usually listed there. Happy Camping. Trace
 

ksmith555

Active Member
CIMG2380.jpgI have 3 shepherds, (Jager, Whiskey, and Harley) they go camping with us regularly. They are one of the reasons we purchased a toy hauler. When the bike comes out it becomes my dog room :) To date I have not encountered a park that they were not welcomed in, but I do make sure to check for restrictions when booking at a new campground. To date the only restrictions I have noticed are with pit/pit mixes and I saw one that banned rotties as well.

I'm not sure if you have owned a shepherd before, but if not I would recommend enrolling the pup in an obedience class. They are very intelligent dogs and pick up on commands very quickly, they excel as working dogs and love to please their owner. My youngest one is turning out to be a barker, which does not make a "good camping neighbor". I am working with her to correct that now and she is catching on quickly. One thing guaranteed, they will be a loyal life long companion and family protector!
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
As we travel around we have seen a number of RV parks that ban aggressive breeds and usually list them as Pit Bulls, Rottweliers, and German Shepherds. We have owned 2 German Shepherds and neither were aggressive but since they are used as Guard Dogs they are thought of in that respect. We have two ankle biters now (Yorkie and Toy American Eskimo) and the Eskie is the mean dog. But she is just very protective. My advise is always check ahead.
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
I am not interested in camping any where my shepherd/husky cannot go, so for us we have never had a problem.
 

wino2

Well-known member
i have never seen German Shepherds not allowed. PLEASE REALLY CONSIDER RESCUING A GERMAN SHEPHERD, THERE ARE GERMAN SHEPHERD RESCUE GROUPS. They know they have been rescued and make the best companions. Actually any RESCUE makes a great pet.
 

azdryheat

Member
I'm looking at three Rescue Shepherds. Got turned away from puppies @ $1,500 - 2000 - are they kidding!? Did have a negative experience with a rescue dog, a terrier mix. Wanted to attack anyone coming through our front door including our granddaughters. Psycho dog - had to give her back :(

Thanks for all the replies.
 

porthole

Retired
Rescue - yes!
a proper rescue program will not have aggressive dogs for adoption and do great jobs matching dogs to families.

Restrictions we have seen in order of frequency:
Rotty's, Doberman's and pit bulls
Dogs over 40 pounds
1 dog limit (only once so far)
No dogs (we don't patronize, even if we didn't have the pups with us)

i like Rotty's and Dobie's and want nothing to do with pits and agree with the restriction with them.
 

Crumgater

Well-known member
We mostly camp at the WA state parks - and they have zero pet restrictions (but they do have clean-up and leash laws).

The private parks we've been to have all been dog friendly.
One has some restrictions - so I always check the fine print to make sure we're AOK.

Our last dog was a 100# Dane/Lab, so size was our only concern. Our new pup is an English Mastiff... expected to be ~185lb when she's full grown. Size will still be an issue, as will the "Mastiff" part. One park we visit cannot allow "Bullmastiffs" (due to insurance policies)... but I think since Denna's "English" we are OK (we haven't been back since we adopted the new pup). She's a great couch potato (even as a puppy), and loves everybody (true to the EM breed).
 

ziggy

Retired Oregon HOC
I second the obedience training suggestion. Our GSD is almost 2 years old and has been in training since she was 12 weeks old. She is a sweet girl and loves everyone including all other dogs. Part of that is the breed history of her parents and the care of the breeder. Sometimes you do get what you pay for. I believe in rescuing animals, but sometimes there is a good reason they were given up and the owner better have some real training skills to handle it. GSD are not born couch potatoes. They are high energy, smart, and fast growing animals that need lots of love and a firm/consistant hand. We easily spent 20 hrs per week when Kona was a young puppy socializing and training her to get her to the point she is. We still make an effort to take her everywhere we can and expose her to everything we can. It is a life long process with any dog, but with big powerful breeds, its even more important.

We were denied entrance to a park in ID last summer because we had her with us. They do a blanket breed ban that includes GSD. When I found that out, I immediately decided it wasn't the type of park we wanted to stay in anyway. We stayed down the road at a beautiful park and the people at the park loved Kona. When we drove through the park that denied us, we were not impressed anyway.

Now our mini-doxie is another story. She will sneak up on people and bite them in the back of the leg if they have scared her. She doesn't like little kids at all. She barks .... a lot. We got her at 6 mos old from a "breeder" who had her at a show for sale. We were promised she was house trained, socialized, and raised in a house around lots of people. She is timid, nervous, was not house trained or socialized, so you can see how easy it is to be drawn in by a story. This breeder seemed like she knew what she was doing. Her other dogs seemed fine. We know what we are doing raising dogs and she is our third doxie. It should have all worked.... but sometimes they don't tell you the truth or they don't know the whole story with the dog so they can't tell you what you are getting into.

If you want info on GSD and/or the Monks of New Skete breeding program and training program, it is worth checking out. Just Google them. Kona's mother cames from their program. Their training books are good for all breeds.

BTW Crumgater, Kona came from a breeder in Long Beach, WA. They had another litter from the same mom, but different sire the end of July.

Flood Farms Lake Lodge and Barn

Kristy
 
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2TrakR

Well-known member
Have GSD since childhood. Last one and current one camp with us everywhere we go. Obedience training is a must, but I'd say that for any breed (or lack there of).
Problems we've had are other idiot campers who don't believe their dog needs to be on a leash.
Have not had campground issues due to breed/size.

Big dog, big poop, but clean up is clean up...

Our experience has been that GSD are well recognized ("police dog") and lots of folks/kids want to meet the dog. Ours are no service dogs, just our family/pet.

One fun fact is if you have an official looking jacket (one of our club coats had logos placed that looked remotely like conservation officer badges and was the right color) and walk the dog like you know what you are doing, many folks will think you are on "official business" and give a wider berth. ;-)
 

ziggy

Retired Oregon HOC
Fortunately Kona loves people because little kids run up to her and pet/hug her all the time. It happens before the parents even have time to react, they get a terrified look on their face and then start to laugh while they watch our baby play with theirs. She is so gentle, having been raised with a doxie, that we can let her play with little dogs if their owners ask us to. That is hilarious to watch!

We looked for the right breeder with the right puppies to find a dog with this temperament. Mark is retired police and handled a GSD as his partner. Matching the right dog to the right family is a skill that requires a lot of experience and the ability to read dogs and people. We were clear that we don't want a dog for protection or intimidation. We want a dog we can trust to play with our grand daughters even while they are to young to always understand that running by a big powerful dog is not the thing to do because small running people can trigger a dog with a strong prey drive. Pulled tails, playing in food, and being crawled over is just normal kid stuff for Kona and she smiles the whole time!

So, go ahead and get a good dog and keep them socialized and obedience trained. Give them a job or two to keep them busy mentally challenged and physically busy. A tired GSD is a good GSD. That goes for other dogs and for kids too. Lol We love camping with "our girls" and almost 100% of the parks we've been in are happy to have all well behaved dogs with responsible owners.

Good luck finding that perfect new member for your family.

Kristy
 
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