Character of the German Shepherd Dog - Page 1

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susie

by susie on 25 May 2016 - 18:05

This is the official English written version of the FCI standard no 166 - the German Shepherd dog :
http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/166g01-en.pdf

"Character":
The German Shepherd Dog must be well-balanced (with strong nerves) in terms of character, self-assured, absolutely natural and (except for a stimulated situation) good-natured as well as attentive and willing to please. He must possess instinctive behaviour, resilience and self-assurance in order to be suitable as a companion, guard, protection, service and herding dog.

What does this mean?
In my understanding ( and I know everybody is going to interprete these traits different ) the "perfect" German Shepherd Dog should be

- "well - balanced", and does have strong nerves ( no low threshold ! ),

- is "self-assured" ( for me this means that he is no wimp, he knows that he
  is strong, and it´s difficult to frighten him ),

- "natural" = he is like the breed should be without much training

- "except for a stimulated situation good natured" ( this implements a social
   dog that is able to determine between a threat and normal life )

- "attentive, and willing to please" ( not handler aggressive, but no wimp
    either )

- He must possess instinctive behaviour, resilience and self-assurance in order to be suitable as a companion, guard, protection, service and herding dog.

That said the "breed standard" STILL describes the well-balanced, social, good natured, willing to please dog, but this dog should have strong nerves, and it should be able to protect only "when stimulated".

This standard ( our breed standard ) does not talk about "gangsta dogs", it does not talk about "handler hard" dogs", it does not even talk about police dogs, willing to chase or bite a "non threat", it does talk about

- companion ( social )
- guard ( self-assurant, attentive, instinctive )
- protection ( see above, and self-assured )
- service ( good natured, willing to please )
- herding ( "natural" for a herding dog breed, but willing to please, too, and
  for sure instinctive )

Now everybody who knows some German Shepherd Dogs personally will wonder, because most often you will be able to find some traits within a dog, but most often not all of them.
It´s not that easy to find the "perfect" German Shepherd Dog, the breed standard asks for a lot of traits, and sometimes these traits don´t fit ( or are not important ) for the "jobs" our German Shepherd Dogs are asked to do...

Our dogs are able to do these jobs because not every dog ( not even out of the same litter ) does have the same traits, as a breeder you should not breed for a special goal (like points, PP, dual/single police dogs, whatever), but for a "well-balanced" working dog, and within the litters you should be able to find "good dogs" for different goals.

The German Shepherd dog was not "created" to be a police dog, it was not created to be a PP dog, and it was not created to be a "blind eye dog" or "bomb/drug detection dog", it was created to be a versatile dog, a well-balanced working dog, maybe not the best breed for everything, but as a breed able to do almost anything.

Don´t believe in tell tales about "gangsta dogs", "handler aggressive" dogs, "cicil" dogs, willing to kill everybody - that has never been the goal for this outstanding breed. Some dogs are like this, but they are not ( and never have been ) the breed standard.

Personally I love a little bit of "gangsta", I love a little bit of "hard", but that´s no problem, because as long as breeders try to breed according to the existing standard ( and don´t lie to themselves about the real traits of their breeding stock ) there always will be some dogs "above" or "beyond".
 


Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 25 May 2016 - 20:05

Omg Smile Susie, Thumbs Up!!!Star


by beetree on 25 May 2016 - 21:05

I will second that, "natural" bit! That is probably my favorite trait of the GSD breed. It sure does the trick of keeping the riff raff away, and the friends coming back!

tangsd

by tangsd on 25 May 2016 - 21:05

Good post.
100% reliable solid character able to be trained and companion beyond reproach. Thats to me a German shepherd. He is also drop dead gorgeous...................!!!

by Gustav on 26 May 2016 - 02:05

I always bred for social dogs that had very strong nerves. But I do not think "aloof" and a degree of suspicion should ever be eliminated...or else what is the difference from a Labrador that has pointed ears.

Mithuna

by Mithuna on 26 May 2016 - 03:05

What about the IPO dog that often cannot settle in the house?

by Mackenzie on 26 May 2016 - 08:05

Excellent post Susie.

Mackenzie

Xeph

by Xeph on 26 May 2016 - 08:05

"But I do not think "aloof" and a degree of suspicion should ever be eliminated..."

Absolutely agreed, Gustav.

Two of the dogs I kept from my first litter, Soul Eater and Mikasa, are quite different from each other. Both have proper character, but they are on different ends of the social spectrum.

Mikasa is very socially open overall. She runs the gamut from jumping on people she doesn't know (always to investigate, almost never to be "friendly") to completely ignoring someone's presence (if they are not suspicious). Soul Eater on the other hand isn't socially open to strangers. He will allow himself to be shown by other people, but REALLY doesn't like it. He evaluates situations more easily and has always been a "sit back and watch" kind of guy. Not shy or fearful, just likes to assess.

When we do the "Temperament test" (ha) in the show ring, the judge gets, at best, a cursory sniff. He does not pace around panting, does not go out of his way to avoid the judge, but will stand there, sometimes facing, sometimes not...and ignore.

And judges (including breeder judges!) seem to fault him for this!

WHY!?

by Ibrahim on 26 May 2016 - 16:05

I agree with Susie, There is one point though I want to raise and elaborate a bit on. A German shepherd should be bred for all above traits (each and all of them contribute to the equation), in order for the individual dog be good at all and any of several jobs including but not limited to " companion, guard, herding, sniff, LE", he might not be the best for each and all of them but should/can do any of them satisfactorily, if he has one or two of above traits missing or weak and can do only one or two of them  jobs then he is not a good representative of the breed, though he may still be a good dog and do a service job. This means a good representative of the breed when raised and trained for any of above jobs, he should do good at it (not necessarily excellent but a minimum good).

I hear people say that in a litter of a good breeding you should find a puppy suitable for a certain job. Well that is not what makes a good breeding nor what the standard calls for. Agood breeding as per my understanding of the standard is (means) each puppy in the litter should/can be trained and put to any job the breed is meant for satisfactorily and should have all above traits, each one of at least a pass degree. If any of above traits is totally missing in some of the litter or too weak then that is not a good breeding.

 


by Ibrahim on 26 May 2016 - 16:05

As per above understanding and based on the traits in the standard, a gansta GSD is not a good representative of the breed, meaning one should not breed for such dogs, but this does not mean a gansta dog is not useful for a breeder aiming to breed a good litter, I mean to bring back hardness and maybe strong nerves etc.
Balanced dog, is one that has all above traits in his equation. Which in turn means most of the show GSDs are not good representatives of the breed and not balanced, though many of them are good, but that is not what the standard says or limited to.
It also means a work line that can not make a good companion is not a good representative of the breed.
It also means hardly any breeders are truly doing it to improve the breed, and joke is when a newbie asks a question about breeding some of the breeders open war on him/her using (breeding should be done to improve the breed). Who is improving the breed? Do you improve the breed or promote your own idea what the breed is or should become like?
Gustav raised a point, aloofness and suspicion were removed from the standard, maybe that explains why our dog does not guard and protect naturally anymore !!!






 


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