Middle of the road dog? See what u think? - Page 2

I think he is a very nice looking,West German showdog a little oversized ? that can work. No where do I see the golden middle mentioned in the above post from what I see in his pedigree. I'm thinking everybody has their own opinion as to what the golden middle is. My take on the golden middle would be half german showlines and half East German working lines. Can people really not see the difference between the two dogs side by side. Take a look at most of the pre 70's pictures and compare them to pictures of dogs from today. Throw in a couple of pictures of some good ole American (AKC ) showlines in for good measure. See what you come up with

Yellow, AM CH, V Aßlan vom Klämmle Not a bad looking dog, Did you happen to notice his DOB? You bring up my point exactly Thank you

I think that in general terms the term "golden middle" simply refers to a dog that is conformationally correct and has the temperament and working ability that the Standard calls for. I do NOT think that most people that use or see that term take it to mean any certain combination of bloodlines or any certain mix of so much blood from this country and so much from that country. It is recognized by reasonable people that there are many dogs that out there that look like they are conformationally correct (meaning they have the structure that allows for stamina, reasonable speed, agility, etc) but don't seem to have the ideal temperament to do the type of work (police k9, herding, sar etc-not sport) that a GSD is noted for. On the other hand there are people who recognize that a lot of so called working lines have drifted away from the conformational structure that the standard calls for and therefore fall short of the ideal GSD also. When someone says "golden middle" I think they refer (I know I do) to the ideal Shepherd that has it all.

Aßlan vom Klämmle~beautiful classic GSD. Where are they now? ONGMC exactly. Looks like it could show and still works = golden middle for me.

Nice looking male. All show line. What is all the talk about work. I sure don`t see it from the little video clip. Not to sound negative, but if looking for opinions, I don`t see any strength or aggression leading up to the bite. Just a playful high pitch wine because he wants the play bite.

Fred, I did not want to come across to harsh. It appears to me anyway to be a somewhat decent show dog, that can work. By work I do not mean SchH Certianly a bit better then most show dogs are able to do, Prehaps I am giving it to much credit for the Police training?

Personally I find this dog's head a little too fine for my taste. I think he's also slightly stretched. Typical for that day, he reminds me a little of Lance of Fran-jo who everybody tried to copy. Here's what the Malcom Willis book lists as a description for Canto V.D. Weinerau, his sire: Medium sized, medium strong, well constructed dog with excellent proportions and good angulations especially front assembly and croup. His head lacked masculinity and he was not strongly pigmented. Tendency to cow hocks, was very loose in youth. Sister Celly was VA. Anotger sister, Cira was very nervous,.... His cow hocked state probably cost him a VA...Canto was undoubtedly a hemophiliac and all his daughters were carriers. break... Description goes on to say what and how he produced. It resumes with the following: Not ideal for character which lacked firmness and his sire was once criticized for character as was his dam. Progeny did not stand up well under stress. He gave heads that were sometimes too long and weak in males with weak underjaws. Pigment could be fading. Quite a good hip sire, but produced long coats, blues, cryptorchidism and missing teeth. Canto is one of the 3 important sires in modern GSD's. End of description from me. Parts editorially omitted if I thought not relevant to this particular thread. My point to all this? That you can't always look back to those days and say: Now THOSE show dogs could work! AND they had great conformation too!

Yeah vid is not so great, but looking at what the dog has accomplished looks liek he can work. May not be the strongest at bite work phase but if he can herd, more than my dogs can do.

Sorry, I lost the header to the last post. It was intended to be regarding Aßlan vom Klämmle.

Middle of the road has the sound of mediocrity. He's about average drive and grip for a show dog, good head, strong and substantial solid V structure