When you go for a walk in the moors on a Saturday afternoon, you look around and see people play with their dogs. You were thinking about getting a dog for a good while now, but now you're sure, you've made your decision. You want a dog. Back home, you start surfing on the internet immediately to see what kind of dog suits you best.

You've made your choice, it's going to be a Longcoated German Shepherd. But the question is, do you want a young dog or an adult (older) dog? There are several advantages in getting an adult dog, but also in getting a young dog, a pup.

One of the most obvious advantages of an adult dog is of course, that you can see what the dog is like immediately. An adult dog won't change a lot in looks and the character is for the biggest part known as well; social, calm, aggressive etcetera. Another big advantage is that most adult dogs are house trained. This saves you from cleaning up in the house and it keeps your carpet dry.
Another option is to get a dog from a doghome. Not only will the dog be happy, but you also give it a second chance. There are not only adult dogs in doghomes, you also find young dogs there. The other advantage for a lot of people is that you can go for a long walk with your dog right away. Of course there are more, smaller advantages in buying an adult dog, but this is the core.

There are also disadvantages obviously. A big disadvantage for example is that you don't exactly know what has happened to the dog. You may find out much later that the dog has had a bad experience with something, when it finds itself in a similar situation. (I was going to say here, that when a dog "thinks" to be in a similar situation, but it seems that a dog can't think, something I doubt sometimes. I've experienced things with a dog that left the impression with me that a dog might not be able to think, but that there is something more than just intuition). For me, the adult dog can be raised badly, although it is very sweet and listens to it's owner. A dog can find it a normal thing to sit on the couch, while I might not want him to do that at all. When you are near the dog, it will probably listen to you and lie in front of the couch. But will he do that as well, when you are in the kitchen? This could cause irritation after a while. The last disadvantage I want to mention is that, in my opinion, an adult dog will try to decide where he stands in the pack (read : family) pretty quickly. Of course this depends on the dog, but also on the preponderance that the owner has over the dog. The new owners expericience with dogs plays a big part.

A big advantage of getting a pup is that you know what happened to the dog and what it has experienced so far. You can raise the dog yourself and decide what is allowed and what not.
Just one thing, stay very consistent! You can't disallow tomorrow what you allow today and vice versa. The pup is allowed on the couch, that's nice isn't it. But do know that in a years time, the dog is big. Is it still allowed on the couch then? Because the bond between dog and owner starts growing shortly after the dog arrived in it's new and unknown environment and the dog knew right from the start how far it could go and what was expected of it, it will accept it's owner as leader of the pack a lot easier. This avoids a fight over the leadership.

I would like to say something about the disadvantages one can experience when buying a pup. Every pup is sweet and nice, but nobody can tell how the pup will develope in the way it's build and in health. Even it's coat can change completely! Usually a pup with a dark coat will stay dark, but this is not a written law. A small help is to stroke with your hand in the opposite direction of the hairgrowth. This way you can see the skin. The skin will be lighter on places where the coat will be darker than on places where the coat will be lighter. You can't always see this and don't think that the differences in colours are huge, they are only minimal.
The house training of a young dog is what a lot of people find a disadvantage, a period that they have to go through, but that should end preferably as soon as possible (I believe that those people should think again if they really want a dog). The beginning of the relationship between owner and dog lies in the house training of the dog. The owner has time, or at least has to make time, to observe his dog, to know what the dog does before it needs to pee or poop. By observing and after that, rewarding the dog, the bond starts growing. People that want a dog to go for walks, need to have patience for a while, because you can't walk far with a pup. But then on the other hand, you have the advantage that, with going for short walks for a few months, you can walk lang walks with your dog for many years.

In the end it is you that has to make a choice, for one it is an easy choice, for the other a very difficult one. Good luck!

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