What You Need To Know About German Shepherd Temperaments and Drive Before Choosing A Pup

The temperaments of German Shepherds can vary drastically. Three things come into play here - bloodlines, drive and socialization. Each are components of a pup’s personality and the following paragraphs will dive further into how they come into play.

What are German Shepherd BloodlineS?

A German Shepherd can come from a solid background of one bloodline or can be a mix of different lines. These include West German Show Lines, West German Working Lines, Eastern Working Lines, Czech Lines and American Lines. Each are predisposed to having their own ‘drive’ - which essentially refers to the dog’s intensity level in terms of energy, focus and trainability. Working and Czech Lines tend to have higher drive because they’re bred to work. They need a higher degree of focus and intensity level than Show Lines who in turn tend to have lower drive. Read German Shepherd Bloodlines Explained.

What does ‘Drive’ Mean?

A dog will have low, medium or high drive. For the average family home a low or medium drive pup is generally the best fit. A low drive dog will have a calm disposition and won’t require a ton of exercise. Medium drive pups are the most common. They’re right in that sweet spot of a pup that has the ability to calm down but has that get-up-and-go attitude when their owner wants to do something.

A high drive dog is a firecracker that can be an unstoppable force. These are the pups that crave constant exercise of the mind and body. They’re often highly trainable but require more effort on their owner’s part otherwise they tend to show behavioral issues like excessive chewing, potty accidents, excessive barking, etc. It’s important a high drive pup is matched with an owner who’s up for the task. They’re best suited for some kind of work whether it be Schutzhund, agility, K-9 police dogs, a running companion for their owner or even going to work with their owner everyday.

High drive dogs aren’t suited to staying at home all day and often people who own these dogs and have to leave them home for long periods of time find themselves having issues that they blame themselves for, when really, the breeder should’ve urged them into a pup with a low or medium drive. I’ve seen this many times, a breeder has a dog who’s high drive and has won titles in competitions. In theory, a dog winning a title is supposed to mean they’re the best of the best and have proven their pups are well suited for a home. They call this ‘workability.’ The potential owner brings their pup home and as the pup grows they find themselves having a hard time when the pup is 10 months to 2 years old. They contact the breeder who tells them they just aren’t training enough, essentially blaming the owner for not being dedicated when really it was the breeder who’s done both the family and the pup a disservice by not listening to the needs and wants of the family.

We have one high drive dog and she’s retired. She’s truly an incredible specimen. She’s got it all - beauty, unmatched intelligence and an almost human-like understanding of things. But her drive makes her a real handful. She could excel at any job she was trained to do, but our sweet Ruby has kept me up at night. With her pups, I agonized over who their new owners would be. I worked hard to have potential owners understand their pups could end up being real handfuls. And thankfully they’ve all been successful in their new homes. I can’t worry like that though and most of my families are not looking for a Ruby. So I decided never to breed a high drive dog again.

When I know have a high drive pup (which can happen even with the lowest of drive parents) I’ll only place them in a home that knows the pup is high drive and is up for the challenge. This is the difficult part - it’s hard to tell if a pup is going to have high drive when they go to their new homes at 8 weeks old. There may be little things that stand out, but you really don’t see a pup’s personality until they’re closer to 12 weeks old. If there’s an alpha I can normally tell who that is at 8 weeks but it’s honestly hard to get a really clear picture of who that pup will be by only 8 weeks old.

People often ask me about temperament testing. To be honest, I don’t place much stock in it. We used to temperament test and I didn’t find it to be accurate. I mean, you’re basically introducing the pup to a number of different stimuli in order to gauge their first reaction to it, and in theory, that’s supposed to determine what type of dog they’ll be as an adult. How can a dog’s entire personality be summed up by their first reaction to something?  This doesn’t take into consideration that the pup could’ve been tired or grumpy or any number of things during the test. It also doesn’t factor in that some pups adjust very quickly to new things so a poor initial reaction could be easily shaken off and be a non-issue going forward. Then when you factor in the environmental aspects that help shape a dog as it grows I just don’t buy it.

In a nutshell, we avoid high drive pups by choosing parents that don’t have high drive. We closely watch our pups to see if anything stands out. If we know a pup has high drive we disclose that information because we want our pups to be successful in their new homes and placing a high drive pup in a low drive home is setting everyone up for failure. So although I don’t have a crystal ball - I take it seriously and do my best to help owners choose the right pup for them.

How does socialization come into play?

This is where training and early interactions comes into play. A well-socialized pup is one exposed to different places, people and animals early on.  Although there are pups who are born shy or aggressive that may require a behaviorist, most of the time socialization and training can be done by the new owner. A puppy obedience class is a good place to start. Not only does this help you work on training your pup, it can also be a good indicator of how your pup responds to new people and animals.

Some pups are highly social and get amped up while meeting other animals but can play nicely. Some are the opposite - getting anxious or upset when meeting other animals. Some are shy or afraid. Getting an idea of how your pup reacts is important so you can break bad habits before they have the ability to get worse.

We work hard to socialize our pups from day one. We’re a social family ourselves so our pups are handled by friends and family early on. We take them outside after they’ve had their first shots so they can start to explore the world. We allow them to be safely exposed to other dogs, people and noises.

If we have a pup past the age of 8 weeks old we start taking him or her into public places to continue socialization.  Things like this may not sound very important but they’re crucial to a pup’s development.

Nature vs. Nurture - The drive of a pup (Nature) and the socialization and training of a pup (Nurture) play a big role in who your pup will be as an adult and those things start with the breeder. A breeder who gives a pup a solid foundation by choosing suitable parents and doing their part to socialize is an important part of your pup’s beginning. A breeder who lacks in these areas by not disclosing the drive of the parents  or pup, or does a poor job exposing your pup to new things will start him or her off at a disadvantage that could have lasting effects.