One of the big things about deciding to get a dog is figuring out what breed you want. My boyfriend and I quickly found that the German Shepherd had won our hearts - and would be the best fit for our activities and needs.
But… when we told family, friends and acquaintances, we were quickly met with prejudices. Prejudices such as: “you can’t have a German Shepherd as a first-time dog owner” and “German Shepherds quickly become aggressive”.
The many reactions were something that made us doubt, and we therefore went back to the thinking box and considered whether what we were embarking on was the right thing - for both us and the dog. We had already talked about the dog breed itself for 3-4 months before we initially decided, but we chose to think about it for another 2-3 months.
This made me once again investigate EVERYTHING you could investigate before getting a dog. I wrote down all the disadvantages and advantages, I investigated, among other things: the typical diseases that can occur with the German Shepherd breed, how to best feed a German Shepherd dog and the German Shepherd dog's needs and traits.
My girlfriend and I then decided; it was a German Shepherd that we were going to have. With our pulse racing, we then started searching for the most important thing: where should our future dog be from? We quickly found a place, right down on Lolland, and then started writing to the dog owner.
Her bitch was due to have a litter, and it was just around the corner when we wrote to her. I clearly remember sitting in the car by the beach when we decided to write to her, and shortly after a reply came:
Who are you and what can you offer a puppy?
It was a question we had actually seen coming. But writing down all our thoughts was still a bigger dilemma. Because what do you write? What is irrelevant for her to know, and what is actually relevant?
Some of the things we found relevant were:
- Do we have a garden or not?
- How are the tour options?
- Do we have stairs in our home?
- How much time are we away on average per day?
- What activities can we offer the dog?
When we had written these things to her, she wrote that we were the perfect buyers for one of the upcoming puppies, and that we were welcome to come and see the puppies when they were born.
There was a few weeks of waiting before we were allowed to see the puppies for the first time. I will never forget the trip, though. We drove the long 2.5 hour trip with both our hearts in our throats. The trip felt like an eternity before we could finally ring the bell. A happy smiling woman opened the door, and we were welcomed with open arms. We immediately went into the small room, where 8 cute little puppies were lying and drinking milk from their mother.
We came in to greet the two sweet bitches who had arrived. We sat and talked about everything while petting the cute little puppies, and before I knew it, one of the bitches had gone to sleep on my legs. It was like love at first sight - and in the end it was her. The little orange bitcheek.
That visit was the start for us, and little orange became our beloved Bella, who is now 7 months old and a really happy dog.
About the blogger:
Victoria and Bella live in West Zealand with Victoria's boyfriend and Bella's father.
Victoria is currently studying to become a teacher, and has gone through a major weight loss of a total of 45kg. In this case, it is a huge gift for Victoria to go on long walks with Bella, and hopefully in the fall to start canicross with Bella.
You can follow Bella and Victoria's daily life on Instagram: brendy_bella_adventures
First-time dog owner
One of the big things about deciding to get a dog is figuring out what breed you want. My boyfriend and I quickly found that the German Shepherd had won our hearts - and would be the best fit for our activities and needs.
But… when we told family, friends and acquaintances, we were quickly met with prejudices. Prejudices such as: “you can’t have a German Shepherd as a first-time dog owner” and “German Shepherds quickly become aggressive”.
The many reactions were something that made us doubt, and we therefore went back to the thinking box and considered whether what we were embarking on was the right thing - for both us and the dog. We had already talked about the dog breed itself for 3-4 months before we initially decided, but we chose to think about it for another 2-3 months.
This made me once again investigate EVERYTHING you could investigate before getting a dog. I wrote down all the disadvantages and advantages, I investigated, among other things: the typical diseases that can occur with the German Shepherd breed, how to best feed a German Shepherd dog and the German Shepherd dog's needs and traits.
My girlfriend and I then decided; it was a German Shepherd that we were going to have. With our pulse racing, we then started searching for the most important thing: where should our future dog be from? We quickly found a place, right down on Lolland, and then started writing to the dog owner.
Her bitch was due to have a litter, and it was just around the corner when we wrote to her. I clearly remember sitting in the car by the beach when we decided to write to her, and shortly after a reply came:
Who are you and what can you offer a puppy?
It was a question we had actually seen coming. But writing down all our thoughts was still a bigger dilemma. Because what do you write? What is irrelevant for her to know, and what is actually relevant?
Some of the things we found relevant were:
- Do we have a garden or not?
- How are the tour options?
- Do we have stairs in our home?
- How much time are we away on average per day?
- What activities can we offer the dog?
When we had written these things to her, she wrote that we were the perfect buyers for one of the upcoming puppies, and that we were welcome to come and see the puppies when they were born.
There was a few weeks of waiting before we were allowed to see the puppies for the first time. I will never forget the trip, though. We drove the long 2.5 hour trip with both our hearts in our throats. The trip felt like an eternity before we could finally ring the bell. A happy smiling woman opened the door, and we were welcomed with open arms. We immediately went into the small room, where 8 cute little puppies were lying and drinking milk from their mother.
We came in to greet the two sweet bitches who had arrived. We sat and talked about everything while petting the cute little puppies, and before I knew it, one of the bitches had gone to sleep on my legs. It was like love at first sight - and in the end it was her. The little orange bitcheek.
That visit was the start for us, and little orange became our beloved Bella, who is now 7 months old and a really happy dog.
About the blogger:
Victoria and Bella live in West Zealand with Victoria's boyfriend and Bella's father.
Victoria is currently studying to become a teacher, and has gone through a major weight loss of a total of 45kg. In this case, it is a huge gift for Victoria to go on long walks with Bella, and hopefully in the fall to start canicross with Bella.
You can follow Bella and Victoria's daily life on Instagram: brendy_bella_adventures