Are you looking for a highly challenging yet equally rewarding German Shepherd dog? If you have a lot of patience then Duke could be that dog. As you can see from his pictures, Duke is a very handsome dog. With those extreme good looks come some equally extreme issues.

The challenges:
Duke is not a "project" dog. A "project" implies that issues can be resolved and in Duke’s case, some issues are here to stay. Duke has serious trust issues. To earn Duke’s trust takes time. It took over 4 months for Duke to trust me with certain things. He also has stranger aggression issues. This can be managed but you need to be constantly aware of who is around and how Duke is reacting to them. There are going to be some people that Duke will just not like as well.

With the trust issue comes the need to dominate. He constantly engage you in staring contests and Duke is good at it. It is important that you always win these staring contests and do other things to keep you and every member of the family maintain their dominant status.

While Duke does not have a strong prey drive with small animals but he will chase cats and animals in the yard so no cats or small dogs.

Duke has issues with cars passing while you walk him. Due to how much he LOVES to go for rides an other things I do not think he would want to attack a car but I am not sure. Once you have his trust, you can curb his reaction but you have to be alert for cars.

Now the rewards:

Once you have earned Duke’s trust, he is an extremely loving and loyal dog. He is a velcro dog and will always look for your approval (food does not really motivate him).

He loves to play but will stop when told to. He is very smart and learns quickly. He will listen well while in the house or on a leash (when no cars are passing). He takes treats more gently than any dog I have ever owned or fostered. He will definitely let you know when someone is at the door but will usually quiet down when told to.

Are the rewards worth the challenges? Yes they are.

Due to the challenges that Duke will put you through and the length of time that it takes to earn Duke’s trust and his domination issues, I will absolutely NOT adopt Duke to a family with children or cats – Duke is ok with some dogs but not others so he will have to meet any other dogs in the house as well. Duke can be reached by email at  duke@ennoil.com . You can also read more about him at:  http://duke-vgsr.blogspot.com/ .