What is the hardest part about having a German shepherd?

They shed a lot (birds molt) But you can help control the shedding with a high quality food and a good daily brushing. I would suggest that being done outdoors when ever possible. Between those two things you can greatly reduce the amount of dog hair all over the house. REDUCE, not eliminate.

They are great dogs, smart, loyal, easily trained. My favorite dog in my whole life (65 yrs) was a Shepherd.

Love my GSD, but if you take good care of it and do all the right things you will be fine.

As for shedding? Never had an issue. We brush our GSD weekly so the hair has always been manageable. No fluff-balls rolling through our house!

As for size, it depends entirely on where you get the dog. A Czech line GSD will not get large at all. People are always commenting how small our adult GSD is. Czech dogs tend to run small. West German tend to be larger. AKC show dogs - while I avoid them - are also on the larger side.

I think the most difficult part of owning a GSD is going to be TIME MANAGEMENT! This is a breed that needs your constant dedication. This means that they need exercise, and SOCIALIZATION UP THE WAZOO! We have been bringing our GSD out to socialize daily when she was a puppy up to 4 months old. Then every few days. Now that she is over a year we do it a few times a week, but we ALWAYS socialize. This is how you prevent problems. The largest issue I have seen with others who own my dogs siblings, neices, and nephews are that they become problematic around other people and other dogs. We have never had this issue because of the socialization we do, which these other owners have admitted they dont do.

Every time I am not at work (work 8-5) I am with the dog training, exercising (physical and mental) and socializing her. The GSD is a time consuming animal if you want to raise it properly. We do weekly groomings, two daily training sessons, she gets walked in the evenings, and we have play sessions a few hours a day. Nothing extreme, maybe fetch in the yard, or a game of tug and chase.

Also the testing is rather difficult. A GSD will test your leadership. Testing can be anything from deciding they dont want to listen to you on one command, or for a whole day. This is why you MUST enforce yourself upon the dog. Command must be followed, disobedience punished, and obedience rewarded. The GSD is not a breed that can be trained using only Positive Reinforcement. People will argue me to the ends of the earth, but from my experience with the breed, this is not true. You need both correction and reward for this breed, or they will walk all over you.

But the rewards of owning this powerful, wonderful, dedicated breed are worth it. Just make sure you have the TIME TIME TIME, and the MONEY MONEY MONEY! We shelled out almost 2,000$ for my dog, and she is worth every penny

I have a german shepherd and they are the best dogs in the world. Th hardest part may be the shedding they need to brushed daily or every oher day. Other than that thy are great

As a owner of Shepherds, I would say the best part about owning a Shepherd is their loyalty to you, and there intelligence that makes them very easy to train.

The worst part is there size. They are big, and if you let them into the house, they will knock things all over. Their tail can put a lamp on the floor in pieces with one happy wag. Also people are afraid of them by virtue of their size, even if they are the most friendly dog in town, kids and women scream when they come running up expecting to get a treat or pet on the head.

I own a 4 year old GSD and 3 small breed dogs .

Mine is trained obedient and well exercised.

For an experienced owner i dont think there is any hard parts .

Hmmm... 8 other people own a GSD.... interesting.

Do you have work for it? Will you train it? Will you socialize it?

Whatever you do not do that is essential for a GSD, will be the hardest part of owning one.

Oh, you're a kid... in this case, EVERYTHING will be hard about owning a GSD unless you live on a farm or got it for performance.

The hardest part is when people keep reminding the dog about the atrocities of WWII.

I've never had one but my ex boyfriend had one. And SHEDDING! It goes everywhere and sticks to everything. The dog had its own couch because it shed so badly that no one wanted it on the couch with them.

The hardest is the amount they moult! The seem to shed more hair than you could ever imagine they even have on them! Lol! The best part is how loyal and loving they are. They are truly one of the best dog breeds you could ever want!

The bit where they die from some horrible genetic illness aged 5.

Check this list http://ic.upei.ca/cidd/breed/german-shepherd