Dog trainers are often called upon to assist owners across a variety of breeds.
Yet, one canine expert has confessed there’s a particular breed he ‘hates’ working with.
Will Atherton, a clinical canine behaviourist, regularly imparts his dog training wisdom to an impressive 915,000 TikTok followers. In a recent video, he divulged his aversion to a well-liked breed.
In a clip boldly titled, ‘Why I Hate The German Shepherd Breed!’, Will declared: “This is why I hate German Shepherd breed.”
But he quickly rectified: “Now, that was just a little bit of clickbait, I don’t hate the breed, I absolutely love them. There’s not a breed on the planet that I do hate. But it doesn’t mean that all breeds don’t have some things that are frustrating.”
Discussing the breed in question, Will highlighted: “When it comes to the German Shepherd, the traits about them that I’m not too keen on are two things.”
Firstly, Will pointed out that German Shepherds are “hyper vocal” canines. He explained: “They were bred to be guard dogs, which means they bark a lot. And for me, I quite like a quiet life, so that doesn’t usually vibe with me too well, and is why I usually choose more Mastiff type breeds for guarding purposes.”
He also touched on the issue of German Shepherds’ shedding. “If you like to have a clean and tidy house, you’re going to have to let go of that if you want to bring a German Shepherd into your home, or you better get used to the hoover,” he advised.
Fans were loving the video, as it quickly amassed more than 121,000 likes and attracted in excess of 900 comments.
Plenty were in agreement with Will’s observations, with one user confirming: “As an owner of a black German Shepherd I can confirm the frequent use of a vacuum and that we have frequent vocal conversations.”
Another chimed in saying: “Me and my German Shepherd constantly have arguments. I would hate to know what the neighbours think.”
One even shared their daily routine, writing: “I have a German Shepard it’s about a year old. It screams at us when he hears his food from his crate. Also gets walked for about 4 miles a day and runs in our backyard for about 2 hours a day.”
Yet, there was another side to the coin, as several claimed their German Shepherds were rather reserved. “My German Shepherd doesn’t even bark only when he wants food,” commented an owner.
Another remarked: “My German is 5.5 months old. He hasn’t touched a shoe, doesn’t bark much, he has been super super easy. Is it normal or did we hit the jackpot?”
And a third said: “My female GSD only barks at the door, otherwise she’s pretty silent. And she is super cuddly.”
