Kat09tails - do you mean no working line breeder would bring in a German show line dog, period, or no working line breeder would bring in a roached back dog?
The foundation of the white GSD is showline - period... end of story. You will find them in the showring - you will find them in ribbon contests. You will not find them working or if they do it's as a novelty because no serious person or organization uses them in any kind of consistency. Don't feel too bad about it - American showline normal GSDs are there too.
Show me a breeder using their white GSDs as border patrol, a military who actually uses them, a line of working PP/police dogs, a sheep farmer who actually uses them to do anything besides worrying sheep in a round pen. Then we'll talk.
Huh? No, the white German Shepherds have always been a part of the breed... the foundation for white German Shepherds are the same dogs you find in the pedigrees of black/tan dogs and sable dogs.
A white German Shepherd is just that, a German Shepherd with a white coat. Maybe you are mixing up White Shepherds and white coated German Shepherds. A white coated German Shepherd does not necessarily imply specified breeding FOR that color. You can breed German Shepherds and if two dogs carry the recessive gene for the coat color, you get white German Shepherds. Just as the foundation for long coated German Shepherds are not show line either...?
I don't know, it boggles my mind. Yes, breeders who breed specifically for color are going to sacrifice the more important (IMO) elements of the total GSD. But that does not mean every white German Shepherd you come across is from a strictly pet/show line breeding.
That being said, no, I have not seen wGSDs or WSS that impress me as working dogs, and I have to admit, being new as I am to working dogs, I AM impressed easily. I am just confused with the strong attitude towards this topic. If someone came along asking for long coated German Shepherd breeders, I would expect the talk about how breeders should not focus on coat length only, but I would NOT expect anyone to declare that long coated GSDs are from show lines only and therefore completely unsuited for work and even performance, and no one interested in such venues should even consider them.
As far as performance and showing goes, I have seen some white coated German Shepherds and White Shepherds very, very successful in agility, flyball, rally, obedience, herding, dock diving, etc. None in Canada, unfortunately, but I can ask around for you. I have a friend with two White Shepherds from a breeder who has handled her own dogs and titled them in multiple events, and I am sure she'd be happy to find out about any in your area.