this is a great looking GSD! or what?? - Page 12

i have owned a gsd once in my life and did some basic obedience classes with 2 different instructors....one was quite lousy he was still using some koehler techniques.....

the other was alright................but my gsd was a low drive dog......he was a good looking boy though.  we are talking here about 20 years ago............the breeder i bought him for was not good either but such is life.

its all changed now with the internet we have an almost unlimited choice of great kennels.

and yes i have been to dog shows............i am a dog lover and a gsd enthusiast.

ed

OOPS   wrote an answer, 'saved' it to check something and 
now can't find it !  Admins, any chance of getting it back ?

I don't think there is anything wrong with the standard, it doesn't call for a roach or extremes. It's the people who apply/ignore it to whatever suits them. That's never going to change.

What are most calling "work".  To me, about the only legitimate work to base breeding on would be LE/military. I don't consider scoring points to be "work" and the jobs that can be performed by multiple breeds, from beagles to labs also seems a weak excuse for a breeding program. Or at least a program that wants to tell everyone else how it should be.

The GSD covers so much territory that there will never be "one" breed. It is what it is and bitchin on the internet will never change anything.

jmo,
Rik

The question is....are you breeding for utility and keeping pretty....or all you breeding for pretty and hoping for working? A working dog should be a verb instead of a noun......many fanciers today only know the GS as a working dog as a noun. The dog should be pretty as a verb....of course if the dog isn't verbed, then pretty becomes a noun. Lol

I guess "beauty being in the eye of the beholder" is a major understatement in the German Shepherd world.
For years, I have read on this forum the differences in the lines, and how working lines are not as "pretty" as the showlines.
I got to say, the more I research and preview German Shepherds, I got to say,
There are some "beautiful" working line dogs out there.

or maybe the terms are used by many as adjectives.

I also think a male dog that lacks pigment and resembling a small female malinois is not so pretty. But the big BUT for me is that the actual structure of the dog have changed, a dog with strong pigment and a nice masculine head is still not pretty for me if it comes with too much angulation and a long curved back, for one I don´t think it´s a sound structure for hard work, and second if the dog comes with that structure I actually think a dog that is built like a malinois and lacking pigment is better looking. I also haven´t seen so much working GSDs lines that have been breed for work foremost, where conformation ratings isn´t even needed, that is very ugly. I guess the question is if even we only breed GSDs of in my view sound structure, can we still afford to leave out dogs that may lack pigment or have other details that don´t affect the work as long as the dog is very healthy and very good workingdog? This is for me a more intressting question, creating a structure that is wanted in the showring I really don´t see what good it makes, as always such subjective beauty details often leads to selecting mediocre dogs over better ones. A good workingdog for me is not only a dog that can do decent in a SCH-trial, remember the standard aims for a dog that can be used in service, that would be first priority, then we can see how much we can breed for nice pigment and such without sacrificing more important things.

Somebody asked for the definition of work for the breed....my definition of work is any venue in which the dog is providing a service to man in an open society. In other words when the breed performs functions that require the dog to work in unscheduled places, require the dog to make decisions based on training and different situations, requires a dog to use instinct, and reasoning to make decisions based on the element presented, and is judged by the success of the mission and not points, opinion, or likes. Therefore, real herding, SAR, LE or military work, seeing eye dogs, etc, are dogs that work in my view. Anything in which a dog can be conditioned to know what to expect does not qualify as work to me. Unfortunately, dogs that excellent in shows/trials are the most sought after for breeding. In today's society, these dogs are often never tested past the arena in which they were bred for.....expert trainers and handlers can take unsound dogs and present the prettiest of pictures.....so called reputable breeders flock to these dogs for pups.  and crucial elements needed for utility work,( and I don't mean obedience ring) such as nerves strong enough to cap drives, or to work strongly in the unknown and unexpected, are often lacking when the breed is removed from the shelter of repetition and patterns. Of course the people who indulge in these fancies don't see it this way, but ask police trainers, ask seeing eye trainers, ask military trainers about how difficult it is to get a good GS these days and you might be surprised. Sure, there are still GS that can do the job, but how do you reconcile the popularity and numbers of the breed worldwide, and the decreasing numbers of GS in real vocations that are not trils or shows???Something doesn't add up because it it is not lack of availability, or the price being paid( police routinely pay 7000 dollars for good dogs today,)  and yet we keep losing ground in these fields. Wake up people.....it is slipping away from function to recreation.

Sorry, I was referring to her CLASS; she's just a tot. ;-) She was in the 6-9mos. class. There was supposed to be an "at" after "won." 
 

by Xeph on 01 April 2013 - 23:03	Xeph Posts: 666 Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:08 pm
I was absolutely shocked (pleasantly) when my little Dolce won her show Did she win her show, or her class?