P.E.T. G.S.D - Page 5

Bucko says <<And you can't breed for show or work and say the pups are pets.  Unless, of course, what you really mean by "pet" is "not up to my standard for what I am really breeding for."  You can't just claim that makes them great pets because it is convenient -- the breeding wasn't selecting for that.  They are either "working seconds" or "show seconds."  It is very convenient to say "pet quality" when you mean "failed to meet my working or show standards" but it is a euphemism, not the truth.>>

I strongly disagree with this.  My dogs ARE my pets.  They live in the house, are good with children, safe in public, sound in all situations, a joy to live with, not destructive, well trained and behaved house companions.  My dogs happen to also work in SchH (and other things as well!) as I believe SchH is the best breed suitability test we have available so I continue to use it for that.  Plus I enjoy it, the dogs enjoy it and it is a lot of fun! 

I try to place my puppies in a home similar to mine.  Where they will live in the house, live as part of the family... if the owner wants to work them, great.  I love to get them into working homes (where they are also part of the family and not kennel dogs)....

These "pets" do not need to have low drives to do well in a pet household.  What they do need is GOOD NERVES!  A dog with extremely high drive is still very easy to live with, easy to train and nice to be around if the nerves are very good!  I consider my girls to have very high drives... yet as I said they are wonderful house dogs.

Most of the puppies I have placed live in homes, many with children of all ages and do very well with them.  Yet they have littermates who are working police dogs, SAR dogs and SchH dogs. 

IMO You can most definately have both! 

The fact is that not every puppy in a litter is the same.  I have seen pups at an early age who were very pushy and dominant.  But some of the other pups are much more mellow and easy going.  Part of being a good breeder is matching the pups to suitable homes.  You can have a strong dominant high drive police dog in a litter along with his softer not so dominant sound pet littermate. 

Every breeder SHOULD be breeding for correct sound temperament.  Not every home is suitable to own a GSD and should consider another breed (or no dog at all).  The GSD is not for everyone and we should never bred them to be for everyone.

GSD2727, that's what I like to hear.  You put it very eloquently without ranting.  Thank you for stating rationally the biggest point I was trying to make!  I think I'm worthy and next time I'm looking you may just be the breeder for me!

Do right.  I was trying to be nice in assuming you were stressed.  you are the one who recently came on this site, called someone out, then cried and threatened to leave when you didn't get the response you wanted.  Sorry to give you the benefit of thinking instead of being a jerk you were stressed - won't happen again!

Yes, a dog that can win in schutzhund even be a world level competitor can be trustworthy with childeren. Your point" is based on an uneducated assumption.   Maybe you would find it helpful to actually get to know some dogs that compete in schutzhund.  Your statements reflect someone who is not familiar with the sport, so maybe instead of talking trash about it you should actually see for yourself what it's all about. 

Hodie is so right.  I can't believe the number of people who make assumptions about things they have no personal experience in.  Echo, as usual you are wrong, but then again, what's new?

"Take pride in all of the "hard" dogs you have and then such surprise and horror when one of those hard dogs takes a kids face off or worse yet KILLS a child and then you all scream that this is not what the breed is about.  CUT ME A BREAK!"

Where are all these "killer" dogs you guys go on & on about?  Our working dogs have very stable temperments, they have to by virtue of what we ask them to do.  Hysterics like this might grab emotion, but it's not anywhere near the truth about our working line dogs.  I find it amusing that people who have no experience with working line dogs seem to think they know so much.  Show us all these "killer" dogs, otherwise, GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

I say GLORY to them all..lol....if a dog...ANY DOG.... is serving the purpose for which the owner got it for, then it is a good dog..no matter what the job is....

all I disagree with is PET does not = CRAP....

no, not all of you think this...but i get the impression that some think this way....just because someone got their dog for a pet, does not mean the dog was a bad pup out of the litter....i just don't like to hear, Oh, it's only "pet quality".<< like that means something bad?...isn't  PET one of the best qualitys?

Just to be clear, I don't think pet = crap, I do think breeding just to create pets out of GSD's is crap.  Here is what I don't get.  All of you defenders of the pet breeders like the German SV type not the American Show Line, but you think nothing of screwing up all the hard work done to create that type.  Talk abaout hypocrites!  Don't any of you realize how the American Show Shepherd came about - breeding with no eye on work ethic.

Don't lump me in with "you guys", I've never been one to talk about killer dogs.  Other people have posted plenty about them though.  I've watched almost everyone on this board get ripped a new one at one time or another and I watched for a long time before I ever posted.  You can go through my history if you'd like, I'm the ever optimistic champion of this breed.  I don't know much about pedigrees, I'll be the first one to admit that but I tear nobody down and I pointed no finger at anyone in particular.  It's not emotion I'm after, it's a dog that I'm after.  That dog happens to be a GSD who will be whatever it is HE or SHE can be.  If it involves sport I'll attempt it.  If I'm no good at it I'll let my husband try.  If the dog is no good at it I'll find what he is good at and attempt to learn together!  People on here HAVE bragged about "hard dogs" and how THEY wouldn't trust them in certain situations.  I've heard people here talk about having dogs they CAN'T have around children.  I'm not being hysterical about anything.  All I'm trying to get across is the word "PET" on this site becomes a dirty word like nobody should ever breed for dogs that can be pets among many other things, and if that's ALL they end up being they should never be bred.  I happen to think pets are a good thing for both the human and the pet.  In the meantime there are many more "pet" GSDs than you'd like to admit, and SOMEBODY is breeding them or selling them to other people who do.  Not everybody's motives are as pure as they make them out to be.

I would not presume to tell someone that I know what their motives and/or experiences are.  I am not sure, unless you know every single breeder and know why and how they breed a litter, that you can say that they think nothing of screwing up the hard work doe to create that type.  I am not sure that you can logically say that because people do not hold the same opinion that you do, that they are hypocrits.  If you have specific examples to bear that up, then certainly that much is fact, but broad sweeping statements like "all you people" is probably not accurate.

sueincc....since im not talking about breeding, then i guess we agree....im no breeder so i can't give any fair opinion on breeding....

Ok , i want to ask everyone a question....and please answer honestly, it won't hurt me feelings...lol (at least i hope not!)....but when i first got boss, and i came on here and said, " i got my dog for free, im not doing sport with him, i got him for a pet..."   what was your first thought?...was it-'crap dog..they gave him away..." ?

answer honestly, and I'll tell you a secret...lol.....not reallly a secret, just 'why' i got him...

I second GSD2727's words wholeheartedly.  And I don't believe ScH is on the way out.  It's never been overly huge here, Some "organization" numbers might be up or down, I don't really pay attention, but as I look around I see more and more people getting involved.  They may not compete or become an "official" club member, but they are training and representing the breeds and themselves in a positive light.  I don't think it will die, its not going to overtake Monday Night football in america, but it isn't going to die either. 

It will continue to be a dedicated group of people working to continue the vision of a man from 100 years ago.  and another group that just likes to have some fun, and others that just pay it lip service and money so they can make a few more bucks, the same as its always been in this country.