If you read my previous post you’d know that we bought an 8 week old male, working line, German Shepherd puppy. We named him Kane.
He was absolutely adorable! I’ve never owned a pet before, so I was in awe at this cute little living teddy bear I had!
However, Kane had a high drive. Luckily we bought Kane from a highly reputable breeder, who was knowledgeable and experienced. They offered expert advice and got to know us as a family to understand the environment the dog would be in. He recommended a female. As a young and growing family with a large extended family full of children and elderly, he advised us on getting a female pup. However we still went with cute Kane as he came running up to us on the day of collection.
After taking him home and living with him for two weeks, we came to realise that he was a higher drive puppy with a dominant characteristic. Nothing wrong with that at all! For an experienced dog owner, maybe a family with more time or older children, he was perfect! But for our 9 to 5 schedule, house renovation, family children running around and future babies, we weren’t the right fit for him.
So we went and swapped him for his sister. Our gorgeous Nova!
Now don’t be misunderstood, Nova has a high drive, she’s a little bit crazy, and she can be dominant. But she’s an all rounder. Loving towards everyone in the family, can switch off (at times it takes a while) and still a brilliant protection dog! She fits our family perfectly!
Once that stress of picking a gender was over… the real fun began! Raising puppies is not for the light hearted. It all starts with Crate Training.
