Looking For A New Puppy

I started looking for a new puppy this week.  Although German Shepherds are my favorite breed, I am thinking of getting a Golden Retriever this time.  Or perhaps a Golden Retriever/German Shepherd mix.  As time goes on and I find myself slowly becoming less able to get around, having a dog to bring me things seems more beneficial.  Golden Retrievers naturally fetch with just a little encouragement.  German Shepherds, in my experience, are not so easy to train for that.  Well, actually, they are easy to train to fetch, but after a while they just refuse to do it.

I have only had one Shepherd that would consistently fetch for me.  His name was Ranger, and he would bring me anything I wanted.  I could get him to bring me a stick, a ball, or even my boots.  Once I shot an arrow and lost it, and Ranger found it and brought it to me.  When he was just about six months old I was standing outside and the wind blew a Walmart bag out of the back of my truck.  It went blowing across the yard and I pointed and said, "Get that bag!"  Ranger took off, grabbed it and brought it to me.  He was such a good boy.  Everything he did was to please me.

With all the other Shepherds I've had, however, fetching seems to be beneath them.  Cody, the male I have now, knows exactly what I want him to do, but he refuses.  I can toss something and tell him to fetch it, and he will go pick it up.  But then he drops it and walks off defiantly.  He will do most anything else I tell him, but fetch is not one of them.  I have talked with others who own German Shepherds and this seems to be the norm.

I did find some mixed Labrador/German Shepherd mix pups for sale in an ad.  I have never been much of a Labrador fan.  They are beautiful dogs, and they will fetch, but they just never appealed to me.  It is one of those things I cannot really put my finger on.  Still, I thought perhaps a Lab mixed with German Shepherd might have the qualities I would like.  When I called about those pups, however, they had already been sold.  

I still think about Erin the little Shepherd I had to let go.  She will grow into a beautiful dog.  Whether she ever would have fetched or not I do not know.  I probably would not have cared if she did not.  But she is gone, and I am ready to find a replacement.  A Golden Retriever seems to be what my heart is set on, so that is what I will look for.  I have found some purebred AKC Goldens for sale but I cannot afford them.  I will keep looking.  Something may turn up before long.