Size Matters - Page 1

Do you think that it is about time that the breed standard raised a bit as far as size is concerned? A bigger animal catches the eye far better than a short  one. In other breeds (g.s.p.'s for example ) the judges tend to go for the big dogs, and in my mind the shepperds need to get a little bit higher than the 65 inches (males). I think 67" would give much more beauty and power reflecting animals without the sacrifice on movement and agility. Waiting for comments.

Offcourse i meant to write 67 CM and NOT inches!!!!!  Sorry........... 

May be you are right. 67 cms animals can be good for working. But we have to put restriction some point of time then why not at the start. Otherwise every 15 -20 years size will go on increasing. Even now the breed is facing a problem of oversize dog. With this new height criterion the problem might worsen.

It looks prettier but I think not as practical. More stress on the joints, harder to take places for search and rescue purposes, slower, etc. I have one that's very big, and while he is very active and fit he is not as agile as I'd like him to be. This trend towards beauty is what's making breeds like the Malinois (who are ugly and small) beat the German Shepherd in the jobs it's SUPPOSED to do.

The GSD is a medium to large dog not a giant! The standard is fine the way it is.. the dog is supposed to be able to work all day long.. bigger dogs just can't do it!!

Von Stephanitz spent YEARS developing the breed while WORKING with the dogs......there is a 700 page book describing how the breed was developed and what it should be.

and there are still people out there making suggestions that you should change the height requirments because of height because it looks better.

The larger the dog, the shorter the life span!

A good judge will judge to the breed standard, whatever the breed, if the animal is above or below the standard size this "fault" must be taken into consideration along with any others and/or any outstanding features the animal may have.

I doubt that experienced CC awarding judges of any clout pick dogs solely on size!

As the GSD has a myriad of roles all of which can be fulfilled in its presence size I see no reason whatsoever to change the criteria which will most probably adversely affectg its ability in one or more of its current abilities.

NO WAY, big dogs can't work, period!  They are supposed AGILE athletic dog, not a giant couch potato. 

How many of last years VA  dogs have withers at 65cm? Specialized tasks are best left to working lines Not show dogs and as far as protection work is concerned i think  big dogs do have an advantage. The average man height has risen through the years why should dogs stay short?