Wanted ! 30 inch at withers male or Female - Page 9

Windwalker, that is very funny.

I saw a show on Animal Planet where they were using miniature horses as guide "dogs".  It went into restaurants and office buildings etc,  Can you imagine getting into an elevator and there is a miniature horse?

That is an interesting point Wuzzup.  Are there any rules that say only dogs?

I am just picturing the bark and hold, or would that be a neigh and hold.

We are still working out the neigh thing,A good whinny or snort will also do.The Bite work is going to be the best part.I can hardly wait !!

I worked with Don for almost a year.  He stood near, not immediately next to (obviously), my own Bodo son who was 67cm and 100 pounds. Don seemed bigger, period.  If they starved him in the old DDR and weighed him dehydrated, too -- and pushed his withers down with the heel of their hand -- who knows how they got 65cm and 38 kg (which is frankly surreal).  When I saw him, from 6-7 yo, I think, he was seemed to be a 100 pound dog and 67cm.  Perhaps I was so overly impressed with his presence, I exaggerated his stature for almost a year? Could be.  Was he only 95 lbs and 66cm -- maybe, but doubtful.  I an very good with numbers (Ph.D. in them.)

What some of you guys don't seem to get is that you can starve a dog to any weight.  That's not his size.  I personally ran a 10.68 100 meters at 179 pounds at 18 years old.  I played college football at 209 lbs at 21.  I threw the discus as an All American at 245 pounds.  All the same guy -- am I a 179 pounder?  A 245 pounder?  Or both?

I'm not going to fight about it, but if Don was ever 68 pounds, he was starving or he was a puppy - or both!  If he was starved, then he would indeed have grown at least 1 cm from 1-2 years (delays in development are partially made up later).

Based on his official stats reported here, my best guess is that he was a large 65cm, measured by a kindly judge who lost a fraction of a cm.  Then, fed well, he grew another cm and ended up between 66 and 67cm at full maturity (4).  He ate crap and not much of it in his youth, then ate well and packed on a lot of solid weight.  Topped out at 100.

Some of you guys just like to argue, I think.  One does not forget a dog like Don -- he was a big, solid dog.

MVF,

Thank you for that eye witness testimony about Don Rolandsteich.  Did you ever meet his son David Nebelholz.

I so envy that you spent time with them.  A picture just goes so far........of course, better than nothing.

They are really and truly my favorite DDR dogs, except for my boy Pharaoh.

I liked Elkoor's explanation of how it went in East Germany before the wall came down and the SV came in.  In this quote, she is discussing the shrinking of the big, bold beautiful DDR dog......so sad.... IMHO

"Yes, they have changed somewhat. They are smaller in size today to comply with the SV standards. Back then it didnt really matter if the dog was registered or not. The registration was done at the breed survey at age 2. If you had an outstanding exemplar of noneregistered parents, it happened that either the dog was registered without parents or the dog became offspring of  another registerd dog. A little money or a goody hard to get at this time got you a long way. (excuse my english regards to the grammar) My last pups dad was 73cm at the shoulder, he was denied registration because of the size, and this was back in the early 90s after the wall came down. The bigger size dogs had to "die" out, as the SV already had its fingers over everything. And to understand the times better, everything that came from east germany had to be simply bad-bad-bad..."

Elkoor is one of my very favorite posters.

I never met David, sadly.

Your boy is a beauty.  You know, apart from size, there is also the issue of proportion.  Every scientific argument favors a square dog, yet we have these 10:9 and even 10:8 bitches in the breed.  Pretty when stacked, and more body weight behind the locomotive on impact, but less healthy on the back and hips.  A shorter back -- or longer legs -- would be a good thing for biomechanics.  It looks like Pharoah is biomechanically sounder than most.

As for a 73 cm dog -- that's 28 3/4 inches.  Egad!  That is a little wild for my tastes.  Although I did recently see a 70-71cm bitch -- she looked odd but impressive. 

By the way, Don was a very steady dog.  Gorgeous in person, statuesque.  Black black and red red. Somewhat aloof.  Absolutely powerful, incredibly so.  Took my breath away.  As I recall (but not swearing to it!) I think Mark told me he paid $2400 ($2800?) for him. The consumer price index has just about doubled since then -- so we are talking about getting Don v Rolandsteich for about $5000!!!  DDR dogs were a novelty then, and not as pricey as they are today.  Sch 2, FH, V and all that (don't know why he didn't get a 3) for $5000.  Not likely to get that sort of deal today.

That summer, Mark showed me an East German litter he had imported.  They were tearing up a big room filled with bags of dog food -- that he had planned to sell.  Although my mother had imported and shown gsd's going back to the 1950s, I had never seen a sable puppy before that day, oddly.  Those pups seemed like tazmanian devils to me then, but my own Bodo son was much more biddable (as long as I threw for an hour a day).  I have since had two more DDR dogs and a handful of west german dogs, too, but have never had a puppy as wired as those original imports.  I wish I knew what became of them.

I hear Mark is out of dogs and out west.  Perhaps he will join us someday to talk about some of the greats he knew.

Mark Reed please stop by for a visit here, we are all such big fans of Don Rolandsteich. 

And, if you would be so kind as to stop by, please, please, please,  more pictures of Don Rolandsteich.

I think your dog was so beautiful, I chose a puppy with a father that is line bred on Don and his mother also has lines to him.

I am in Northern California, about 20 minutes north of San Francisco.  If you have photos that need to be scanned, I have a really good scanner and will mail them back to you ASAP and email the scanned photos or mail them to you on a flash disk.

Michele

Pharaoh & MFV  The height and weight given and confirmed by Hukka is "Yes, Don's survey is in the Körbuch band 86 page 28. His measurements there were a) 65cm, b) "This is fact not fiction as you try to preach. Stop crying and begging is a very low point in one's life.
 
Elkoorr  It is amazing how many east german people who lived in east germany do not know so much about it and its dogs. Ps your picture looks more like a Husky then any east german dog i have every seen. I will post your photo to east german breeders to see what they will say.

The information on Don is correct

MVF you have a problem reading and truth? I said Pharaoh is the one begging and pleading for help. I love Don vom Rolandsteich but i would not bend the truth of mislead some one. Those are the facts and the truth. As far as the posts from Elknoor as the ddr dogs being top sport hounds is a bunch of B.S they never were never will be. You should go and read Shelly Strols post on the ddr dogs of her time maybe she is wrong to. I agree with her on the statement she made about not being top sport dogs. The only people here getting mad are you and Pharaoh. I am here saying both of you are misrepresenting thew dog. And the photo posted by Elknoor is no typically ddr dog and i think any one would agree to that.
Come on get real  the Körbuch books are a not a lie.  Your account is a fading memory

MVF said: you are reading the paperwork of a defunct communist regime

No, I was quoting the SV Körbuch band86, page 28. Don also is in the 1985/86 DDR Körbuch page 247 and 248.