How do you tell a genuine German Shepherd pup from a mixed one?

Papers here mean almost nothing, so everyone falls back on the pup itself — ear set, the black saddle coming through, the angulation of the back end. Half of that is unreadable at eight weeks anyway. Ears often do not stand until four or five months, so a floppy ear at ten weeks tells you nothing at all.

The one thing that seems to actually predict the adult dog is seeing both parents, in person, together, at the seller's own home. If that is not possible, ask why.

What do you look at? And if you were sold a cross as a pure, say what you were told and what you got.

Short answer: at 8 weeks, you mostly cannot. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.

This is the answer. The seller I eventually bought from had both parents in the house and let me sit with the mother for twenty minutes. Two other sellers made excuses about the father and I walked away from both.

Got burned on this in 2023. Was told pure long-coat GSD, paid 45k. At about 8 months it was very clearly half something else — much lighter build, different head entirely.

Honestly? He is a lovely dog and I would not swap him. But I paid GSD money for a cross and the seller knew exactly what he was doing.

This is the thing people should take from this thread. The dog is fine. The transaction was a fraud. Those are separate and you are allowed to be annoyed about the second one while loving the first.

Ek aur baat — pup ko us ke litter ke saath dekho. Agar seller sirf aik pup dikhata hai aur baaki "bik gaye", to 90% chance hai ke woh pup us ka apna nahi hai.