Why Would You Do a Showline X Working line Breeding... - Page 2

All due respect several show line dogs are titled in schutzund, so they do "work" too.  They are more versatile calm and multi purpose versus over the top driven work work work.  A good friend of mine is a City Officer handling a west showline male on the force.  The dog is cool calm and collective but when it comes to work he knows how to git-r-done.

I have a female that is 50 ddr/ 50 west working and I bred her to a west showline male for the balance of the 2 drives and calm her line down.  She is extremely driven.  Some people like that drive and some choose a less driven pup, especially beginner handlers.  I bred this litter by request for this purpose.  I will have a good variety of high drive, middle of the line and calm pups out of her litter.  I have a couple sold to "pet homes" and one to a working home.  This is the perfect solution for me.  Although I personally perfer the showline myself and that is typically all I have.  It all becomes a matter of drive preference and structure 

I never said SL can't do the sport,
they can, some quite admirably too.

But let's not mistake "drive" for weak nerves.

We have 2 very high drive dogs, 1 is a young pup,
the other a middle aged SchH3-IPO3 dog, all working lines,
and they settle nicely in the home, on the road etc.
The old retired dog still has the idea he has high drive

There are lots of weak nerved workinglines, just as there are
weak nerved showlines.
Some of these very dogs have tons of "drive",
but they cannot "chill out" because they are basically wound too tight.
They can hardly live in their own skin.

Neither SL or WL of these types are suitable for much.

We don't think all SL dogs suck, there are some really
nice ones out there, but, it is much easier to find WL's with
the drive, resilience and temperment/health we seek than it is in the SL.


Sheesh, all the best to you in your venture!
As long as you are critical and honest with yourself,
you should get something worth working

Top working lines should never ever ever be downgraded with showline blood,but it is very important we retain proper working structure for our working dogs,the two goals split many years ago.

I own, train, work, show, trial, bla bla bla show and working lines (and they are not mixed...I have show lines, and I have working lines!).  I train in Schutzhund, SDA (tracking, obedience, protection), flyball, dock diving, lure coursing, agility, and all my dogs do CGCs, Temperament Tests, and both UKC and SV conformation.  I just want to show that I'm not really biased one way or the other, all my dogs cross-train.  My show dogs work and working dogs show.  Anyway.... I don't know why people cross what they do nor do I really care to guess or assume but I agree with the criticisms of these crosses because they aren't really followed through with multi-generational breeding and proving of progeny.  Even as someone who loves, owns, and works BOTH types it's not enough for me to see a nice working/show cross litter if none of THOSE dogs are being worked, trialed, and shown to their full potential as BREEDING prospects.  I wouldn't envy a knowledgable breeder trying to actuall achieve some success breeding crosses.  I think if one has a clear goal it's so much easier to stay within a certain type and certain lines and just outcross within that type here and there to tweak the result.

there are probably as many different reasons as there are people doing it. regardless of the reason, who has done this and either improved what wins in the showring or improved what places highest in the sport ring.

 To answer this question you must also (in my opinion) have a grasp on what is the definition of "working" that you use. Is it the accumulation of points on a field? then yes most show line dogs will work if this is the justification of the breed to be a working dog.

 The originator of the breed set out a test with stressors,agility, and breeding qualification in mind as the point of the test. Todays field test is a much weaker version and so is the breed in question because of it. Political agenda,s personnel financial gain and the lack of proper leadership from Germany has allowed this to happen.   

 The need to have a dog with good working conformation is the key to the breeds survival and flourishing.

 No I would not do the cross based on todays standards.

Great link Blitzen! It will take me a few visits to take it all in.