So my gsd just turned 5 years. Sometimes I notice that he has a bit of a difficulty standing up. This is something I noticed in past couple of months.

A little backstory: He has always been in a good shape because me and my sisters take his health very seriously. We play fetch with him as much as we can throughout the day. Throughout his 5 years, one of us has always been home and we took care of his food and playing. He loves to play and go on walks. He runs super fast and very agile. There were some periods where he didn't eat much and he was generally on low weight side before.

But since about June, only my parents took care of him because we went to uni and jobs etc. We only come home some weekends. The thing is, now he doesn't get to play as much as before. He has certainly gained weight. So, he has become a bit lazy and gets tired a bit fast. But after playing with him for a little while, he falls back to the old rhythm and runs fast and all. But I noticed a difference when he gets up. This is more noticeable after he gets up from a short nap. Sometimes even if he sits for 20 mins, he is a bit wobbly.

I'm a bit concerned now. What do you guys think? Should I be concerned? Is it maybe an early sogn of hip dysplasia? I know i might be overthinking. Any advice and thoughts are much appreciated 🫶

I attached the video on comments because I can't seem to do it on here.

Every GSD owner has that one moment where they think: "yep, that's a shepherd." Herding the kids, guarding the bin like it's top secret, following you to the bathroom, or giving the delivery driver a full inspection.

What's the moment that made you laugh and say "classic shepherd"?

Bella is crazy for these plastic ear piercing squeaker toys. Surprisingly she doesn’t annihilate them.

Those eyes get me every time 🥹❤️ German Shepherds have such a special way of stealing your heart.

German Shepherd

Basic Description:
22-26 inches tall
50-90 pounds
Lives around 12-14 years
Herding group

Coat Colors: The AKC recognizes the following coat colors: black, black and tan, black and cream, black and red, black and silver, gray, sable, white, liver, blue, and bi-color. The AKC does not recognize any markings.

History/Origins:
Max Emil Friedrich von Stephanitz loved the high intensity and intelligence of the sheep herding breeds he met in Germany, and he decided to dedicated himself to create a formal breed; he even bought a large estate just to raise his breed. For centuries the German Shepherds looks was ignored and breeders heavily focused on their temperament (specifically their high intelligence) but eventually their looks came into play. For example, Friedrich Sparwasser focused on the upright ears and wolf like appearance of the German Shepherd. WWI brought anti-German sentiment across the globe and forced the American and British clubs to change their name to from German Shepard Club to just Shepard Club. Thanks to the famous German Shepherd actor Rin Tin Tin, popularity rapidly increased for the breed. Today the German Shepherd is one of the most popular breeds and is famous for their work in the military and police force.

Health Issues:
Genetic health issues can be avoided by responsible breeding. Here are some genetic health issues breeders need to test for:
Hip and Elbow Dysplasia
Degenerative Myelopathy (DM)
Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (PAA/EPI)
Those are some of the main ones but there is many others
There are some health issues that aren’t due to genetics. Here are some examples:
Bloat
Pancreatitis
Panosteitis
As long as you get an ethical and responsible breeder, and take care of them, your German Shepherd will be perfectly healthy.

Coat Care:
German Shepherd are known for their long and thick double coat. They shed A LOT! Here is an article about what tools to use, when to bathe, causes of excess shedding, and more.

Behavior:
German Shepherd are deeply loyal and highly protective of their family, even being called Velcro dogs, but their protective nature causes a natural distrust with strangers. They also have a herding instinct that shows through circling and sometimes nipping.

Trainability:
German Shepherd are one of the easiest (and some argue the easiest) dogs to train. They are very intelligent and very eager to please

Vocalization:
German Shepherd are extremely vocal: barking, whining, grumbling, etc. This is because they were bred to herd and they have very high intelligence. Also known to talk back to their owners if they don’t want to do what they

Energy Level:
German Shepherd are very high energy, but it does vary quite a bit within the breed. Some owners claim their German Shepherd is on 24/7 and can only be satisfied with a full day of work, while others claim their is chill throughout the day with the exception of bursts of intense energy. I believe this is due to working line/Show line and on/off switch. A working line German Shepherd is bred to be intense working dog: working line goes into the military and police. a show line is bred to be much calmer and a companion dog. The on/off switch is just how a dog can settle down, a German Shepherd with a good on/off switch will be able to have instead play but be able to calm down while in the house.

Exercise Requirements:
German Shepherds need a balance of physical and mental exercise. At least 1-2 hours of play, walks, and training a day, but if you want to do more, German Shepherds are able to work all day.

Nutrition:
Get a high quality food and be carful with what you feed: avoid table scraps and high fat foods.

Living Spaces:
German Shepherd are highly adaptive and can actually live in an apartment; however, they NEED exercise and stimulation so if you want one in an apartment you must be able to provide their high physical and mental needs.

This breed is so majestic and goofy :)
This was fun to do as one of my friends is OBSESSED with GSD so it was fun to share my research with them.
If I missed anything or have something wrong please let me know and I will fix it!

German Shepherd

Basic Description:
22-26 inches tall
50-90 pounds
Lives around 12-14 years
Herding group

Coat Colors: The AKC recognizes the following coat colors: black, black and tan, black and cream, black and red, black and silver, gray, sable, white, liver, blue, and bi-color. The AKC does not recognize any markings.

History/Origins:
Max Emil Friedrich von Stephanitz loved the high intensity and intelligence of the sheep herding breeds he met in Germany, and he decided to dedicated himself to create a formal breed; he even bought a large estate just to raise his breed. For centuries the German Shepherds looks was ignored and breeders heavily focused on their temperament (specifically their high intelligence) but eventually their looks came into play. For example, Friedrich Sparwasser focused on the upright ears and wolf like appearance of the German Shepherd. WWI brought anti-German sentiment across the globe and forced the American and British clubs to change their name to from German Shepard Club to just Shepard Club. Thanks to the famous German Shepherd actor Rin Tin Tin, popularity rapidly increased for the breed. Today the German Shepherd is one of the most popular breeds and is famous for their work in the military and police force.

Health Issues:
Genetic health issues can be avoided by responsible breeding. Here are some genetic health issues breeders need to test for:
Hip and Elbow Dysplasia
Degenerative Myelopathy (DM)
Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (PAA/EPI)
Those are some of the main ones but there is many others
There are some health issues that aren’t due to genetics. Here are some examples:
Bloat
Pancreatitis
Panosteitis
As long as you get an ethical and responsible breeder, and take care of them, your German Shepherd will be perfectly healthy.

Coat Care:
German Shepherd are known for their long and thick double coat. They shed A LOT! Here is an article about what tools to use, when to bathe, causes of excess shedding, and more.

Behavior:
German Shepherd are deeply loyal and highly protective of their family, even being called Velcro dogs, but their protective nature causes a natural distrust with strangers. They also have a herding instinct that shows through circling and sometimes nipping.

Trainability:
German Shepherd are one of the easiest (and some argue the easiest) dogs to train. They are very intelligent and very eager to please

Vocalization:
German Shepherd are extremely vocal: barking, whining, grumbling, etc. This is because they were bred to herd and they have very high intelligence. Also known to talk back to their owners if they don’t want to do what they

Energy Level:
German Shepherd are very high energy, but it does vary quite a bit within the breed. Some owners claim their German Shepherd is on 24/7 and can only be satisfied with a full day of work, while others claim their is chill throughout the day with the exception of bursts of intense energy. I believe this is due to working line/Show line and on/off switch. A working line German Shepherd is bred to be intense working dog: working line goes into the military and police. a show line is bred to be much calmer and a companion dog. The on/off switch is just how a dog can settle down, a German Shepherd with a good on/off switch will be able to have instead play but be able to calm down while in the house.

Exercise Requirements:
German Shepherds need a balance of physical and mental exercise. At least 1-2 hours of play, walks, and training a day, but if you want to do more, German Shepherds are able to work all day.

Nutrition:
Get a high quality food and be carful with what you feed: avoid table scraps and high fat foods.

Living Spaces:
German Shepherd are highly adaptive and can actually live in an apartment; however, they NEED exercise and stimulation so if you want one in an apartment you must be able to provide their high physical and mental needs.

This breed is so majestic and goofy :)
This was fun to do as one of my friends is OBSESSED with GSD so it was fun to share my research with them.
If I missed anything or have something wrong please let me know and I will fix it!

6 month old male GSD (we think). We adopted him 2 weeks ago from a GSD rescue after he was dumped in a rural town with Parvo and picked up by animal control. The rescue pulled him from the pound and got him through Parvo treatment, which is why he’s so skinny. The more we look at him, the more doubts we have on whether or not he’s full GSD or if he has some or a lot of Belgian Malinois in him. His face looks more Mal to me, but I’m not an expert. We got a DNA test for him and are waiting on it to get here so we can do it. Thoughts?? Does he look like a 6 month old GSD or could he be a Mal?

I wish I could post video here but omg she’s such a big help for me. And she’s so pretty in her gear

He had a good last few days at the cabin.

My girl Kaya got out last month and thanks to the help of amazing people in my community and an amazing individual who called and reported a sighting we were able to get her home.

Shoutout to Toby the elderly chihuahua for helping out as she would have never approached us if he wasn’t there.

She stays double leashed on walks going forward 😂

Love this girl so much.

Almost 3 and a half and challenges me every day, but I love her!

Then... .they stop the shenanigans they were up to!

a few months ago i posted abt my soon to be puppy lookinh a bit funny. the backlash i got was a bit suprising. some comments actually were trying to be helpful which i still very much appreciate but most of them were very … accusatory? Which on one hand i understand, but when i tried to explain things some outright called me a liar. So! here she is 5 months later beautiful as ever. she just had an awkward puppy stage, but now shes one of the most beautiful dogs ive seen. she has absolutely zero health issues and her overbite has actually fixed itself (which i said it might). Thank you reddit, for scaring the shit out of me. Im glad i didn’t listen to you. (SARCASM ALERT)

Is it only me that feels like there dog is a crackhead addicted to balls? If he’s not sleeping he’s trying to get me to play any game that has balls in it. Fetch which requires 2-3 balls or else I’ll just throw the ball once and then it becomes keep away. Even after 15-20 mins of constant non stop fetching he’s locked on to balls even when I can see him getting slower and more tired he can only see balls, ball is life. Even if by the grace of god he lays down he’s either chewing his ball or keeps in front of him and stares at it. After a 10 minute rest he brings it to me and is ready to go again. We live on a farm so actually playing is not an issue but that much running can’t be healthy for his joints. I also have 2 other dogs (gr x husky siblings) who he also plays with but they are never able to keep up, he’s on a whole different level. He’s adopted so I can never be sure if he has working line genetics and he definitely doesn’t look like it but I’d say his intensity is probably comparable to Belgian Malinois ( I don’t have experience with Belgian malinois but I know for a fact that that’s above average intensity for a gsd)
He’s 15 months old

Hi guys, we have a 4 year old GSD who started to lose weight in the last few months. She always has been a lean pup but never underweight. Our vet suspected EPI after observing her body condition and poop frequency. She is always hungry even though I feed her 4 meals a day.

I started giving her digestive enzymes (Creon) and B12 last month but she is still losing weight. She is very energetic and she doesn't poop that frequently anymore but weight loss is a big issue for us.

If anyone here has a dog with EPI or faced something like this please share some advice, I would be very grateful.

I'm not sure if I should continue assuming EPI or something else is going on. We did all routine blood work and everything came back normal CBC, Glucose, thyroid , cPLI , LFT and KFT.

PS: The cTLi test for diagnosing EPI is not available in my country so that's not an option.

Thank you