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Breed guide · Dogs
He sheds enough to build a second dog. I've stopped buying black trousers.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
Tap a card to see what is going on.
At home
The doorbell, the lift, footsteps in the corridor. They bark, then stand between you and the door.
What's going onGerman Shepherds were bred to watch over a flock and tell the shepherd when anything came near. The delivery driver is the thing coming near. Give them a mat away from the door, and a reason to go to it.
At home
Warm with the family, polite or cool with visitors, and slow to relax around someone new.
What's going onThey were bred to judge strangers, not to love them on sight. Let them choose when to say hello, and ask visitors not to lean over them or reach for their head.
At home
They follow you room to room all day, then lean their full weight on your legs while you cook.
What's going onThey were bred to work beside one person all day, and a long day alone is the hardest part of flat life for them. If they are distressed when you leave, contact your vet.
At home
Pacing at dusk, and teeth marks on the skirting board.
What's going onA long run makes them fitter, so they need more of it tomorrow. Training, a new trick or dinner hidden around the flat tires the part of them that was bred to work.
At home
You tense up as a dog comes the other way, and they stiffen and bark before you do.
What's going onThey were bred to work with a handler, and a tight lead and a raised voice tell them something is wrong. Keep the lead loose, your voice low, and cross the road early. Never punish a growl: it is their early warning.
At home
Scuffed nails on the back feet, a slip on the marble, a little slower on the stairs.
What's going onHip problems and a slow weakening of the back legs are both on their health record. It starts without pain and is easy to put down to age. Tell your vet, at any age.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their day
Built for: Walking the edge of a field all day, beside one shepherd.
In Dubai: Often a flat, with their person at work.
Their door
Built for: Watching for anything that came near the flock.
In Dubai: A corridor where strangers pass every few minutes.
Their ground
Built for: Open German farmland.
In Dubai: A hallway to patrol, in 45°C heat.
The barking, the pacing and the chewed skirting board mostly come from that gap.
You cannot give them a flock. You can give them a job and a rule for the door, and the ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around their breed: the health risks for a German Shepherd at every age, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
They will tell you someone is there either way. A rule keeps them out of the doorway.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They will tell you someone is there either way. A rule keeps them out of the doorway.
What to do
Put a mat a few metres from the front door and teach them that going there pays. When the bell goes, thank them once, send them to the mat and reward them there. While they are learning, have deliveries left outside. If they have lunged or snapped at anyone, contact your vet before you go further.
They judge strangers by the people they have already met.
Every age, most of all puppies
Why
They judge strangers by the people they have already met.
What to do
In their first months, let them watch all kinds of people from a distance they are happy at, with a treat for each: men in caps, children, people in uniform. Until their vaccinations are finished, carry them or use clean ground. Carry on through their teens, because German Shepherds often grow warier as they mature.
The lift is a small box where strangers walk straight at them.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
The lift is a small box where strangers walk straight at them.
What to do
Wait for an empty lift, or stand them in the back corner with you in front. Step aside in corridors, keep the lead short and loose near entrances, and ask building staff not to reach for them.
They were bred to work, and a bored German Shepherd finds their own work.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They were bred to work, and a bored German Shepherd finds their own work.
What to do
Two or three short training sessions a day, and part of their dinner hidden around the flat or served in a puzzle feeder. Stop while they still want more. In older dogs, scent games stay easy on the joints and keep the mind busy.
Bloat (Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus, GDV, a twisted stomach) is on their health record from about six months.
Every age, the meal routine from 6 months
Why
Bloat (Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus, GDV, a twisted stomach) is on their health record from about six months.
What to do
From May to September, walk before sunrise and after dark. Put the back of your hand on the pavement for five seconds: if you cannot keep it there, they cannot walk on it. Feed two or three smaller meals, with an hour of rest before and after each. A swollen belly and retching with nothing coming up is an emergency: contact your vet now. Ask your vet about gastropexy (an operation that tacks the stomach in place) at the same time as neutering or spaying.
A basket muzzle they are used to lets them pant and drink, and keeps a stressful moment calm.
Every age, easiest under 2 years
Why
A basket muzzle they are used to lets them pant and drink, and keeps a stressful moment calm.
What to do
Teach it while they are young and nothing is wrong: show it, treat, nose in, treat, a second longer each day. Keep it familiar with a minute or two a week. Never put it on for the first time in a hurry.
A vet is a stranger who touches their paws, ears and mouth.
Every age
Why
A vet is a stranger who touches their paws, ears and mouth.
What to do
A few minutes a few times a week: lift a paw, look in an ear, lift a lip, run a hand down each leg, and reward each one. Practise standing still on a mat. Stop before they get uneasy, and go gently around sore joints as they age.
Pulling, testing and new worries are normal, and new guarding often shows between one and three years.
6 months to 3 years
Why
Pulling, testing and new worries are normal, and new guarding often shows between one and three years.
What to do
Reward the calm behaviour you want, every time. Use a flat collar or a harness, never tools that hurt or frighten them, and never punish a growl. Keep sessions short. If new guarding appears, contact your vet early.
Hip Dysplasia (a poorly fitting hip joint) and Elbow Dysplasia (a poorly fitting elbow joint) are their first two health risks from puppy to young adult.
Every age, evaluation before 2 years
Why
Hip Dysplasia (a poorly fitting hip joint) and Elbow Dysplasia (a poorly fitting elbow joint) are their first two health risks from puppy to young adult.
What to do
Rugs where they turn on marble, a ramp for the car, few stairs while they grow, and a lean body. Book their hip and elbow evaluation before they turn two, and ask about the genetic test for Degenerative Myelopathy (DM, progressive weakness in the back legs) at the same time.
They can hide pain well, and heart disease appears on their health record as a senior.
Every age, most of all from 7 years
Why
They can hide pain well, and heart disease appears on their health record as a senior.
What to do
Once a week, run your hands over their ribs, spine, hips, legs and paws, and look at their back feet for scuffed nails. Weigh them monthly. A new lump, a limp or faster breathing is worth telling your vet the same week.
Two of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
6 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 4 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
4 to 7 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
10 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Working or show line
Working lines are bred to work hard and stay steady under pressure: they usually need more to do each day, and more careful handling around strangers. Show lines are bred for the show ring, with a sloping back and a long, flowing trot, and are often calmer.
Colours
German Shepherds come in black and tan, black and gold, sable, bi-colour and solid black, and some have a long coat. White German Shepherds are much loved too.
The first six months
Their full vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration come first. Then let them meet the world: people of every kind, from a distance they are happy at, with a treat for each.
Puppy health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the flat ready
Set up a mat a few metres from the front door before the first delivery arrives. Put rugs or runners where they turn on marble, and lift them in and out of the car, or use a ramp, while their joints grow.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
Ask the breeder which line the puppy comes from, and for both parents' hip and elbow scores, the x-ray grades of how well the joints fit. Hip and elbow problems are the first two health risks for a young German Shepherd.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
For a new puppy: First 30 days with a new puppy · Puppy vaccinations in the UAE · Heatstroke in dogs
When it is not behaviour.
They'll keep dressing you in fur. If it starts coming out in patches, tell your vet.
Before they were yours.
Before 1899
On unfenced farms across Germany, sheepdogs walked the edge of the grazing all day, kept the flock off the crops and watched for anything that came near.
What they still carryThe patrol. Pacing the hallway is the same job.
1899
In April 1899 the cavalry officer Max von Stephanitz bought Hektor Linksrhein at a show, renamed the dog Horand von Grafrath, and founded the German Shepherd Dog club that month. Horand was registered as number one.
What they still carryA breed made on purpose to be useful, and a dog who still wants a task.
1908
The American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1908. Over the century it split into show lines and working lines.
What they still carryTwo kinds of German Shepherd, which look and behave differently.
1914 to 1918
As herding work shrank, the breed moved into police work. In the First World War, German Shepherds carried messages, stood sentry and found the wounded.
What they still carryThe protective streak, and a dog who watches their person for the next instruction.
Today
In the UAE a German Shepherd is a family dog, a guard and a working dog, often in a flat with a front door onto a busy corridor.
What they still carryA dog built to patrol farmland beside one shepherd, now in 45°C heat.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the German Shepherd suits you, so might these.
Belgian MalinoisThe same kind of dog: a working shepherd and guardian, lighter and leaner, with a shorter coat.
AkitaAnother big, loyal guardian, more aloof with strangers, in a thick spitz coat.
Australian ShepherdThe same high energy and need for a job, in a smaller herding dog that is just as devoted.
Labrador RetrieverA similar large size and the same heavy shedding, in a friendlier dog that handles the heat a little better.
