Are there still GSD breeders...

[blackmaskrott]

You will never see a working shepherd running down on it's hocks the way you see them in the show ring. It completely baffles me why anyone would deliberately breed for a week rear end. (Over angulated, long in hock, and most are either cow hocked or cycle hocked.) In my breed it is all about proper structure and angulation and the dogs ability to do the job it was bred for. It should be no different in any other breed. The "style" (I am not saying type here because I think the current show GSD lack in rear assembly type/structure). The "style" of show GSD that you see in the ring these days could never stay sound in serious Schutzhund trialing nor could they work all day herding, the job for which they were bred for. I think it is absolutely pitiful. The GSD's are not the only breed being ruined by us humans. Bull Dogs are another example. Why anyone would manipulate a breed so much that they can't even reproduce naturally without human intervention, is beyond me.

One would need to go to a breeder that concentrates their efforts in producing proper working GSD's, but along with superior structure comes a heightened prey drive. Not necessarily suited for the average pet home.

[PWCorgi]

One would need to go to a breeder that concentrates their efforts in producing proper working GSD's, but along with superior structure comes a heightened prey drive. Not necessarily suited for the average pet home.

Yeah, that's why I'm probably going to go with a GSD from a shelter
I would love to get into something like Shutzhund or PP someday, but I think I'll need a lot more dog experience before I venture into something like that.

Thanks for the input everybody

[showdawgz]

Originally Posted by DanL

One of the guys who comes to our club has a Czech line dog. They mature VERY slowly and are highly defensive. Most of the time when you have a dog that was bred for border patrol type duties, they are lower in prey drive and higher in defense, which develops slowly. This guy's dog is a year old and shows no prey drive at all, and no defense yet. Yet his parents are police dogs- so the ability is there, just slow to develop.

You can also find this kind of structure in the DDR type GSD's. We have one of those at our club as well. He's a lot smaller than Gunnar both in weight and height but he's a badass dog! 100% working line breeding, most of his breeders dogs go for police/military/prison work.

My czech males have INTENSE prey drive (well I should say play drive, they never chase animals, they just stalk them, but if anything in my hands that move has no chance). And from what I've seen and experienced their defense drives are present at a very young age. Like my nieces dog (who is a czech male) went for a toy my friend was holding, my friend got spooked because of his intensity and started kicking in a panic (not trying to actually kick him) and he went right into defense and went for her with no hesitation. It was not a fear bite, we were in an huge backyard with lots of room for him to flight if he wanted to.

DDR shepherds tend to have more substance, bone and HUGE heads, I LOVE LOVE LOVE their monster heads.

[Sapphire-Light]

Originally Posted by blackmaskrott

You will never see a working shepherd running down on it's hocks the way you see them in the show ring. It completely baffles me why anyone would deliberately breed for a week rear end. (Over angulated, long in hock, and most are either cow hocked or cycle hocked.) In my breed it is all about proper structure and angulation and the dogs ability to do the job it was bred for. It should be no different in any other breed. The "style" (I am not saying type here because I think the current show GSD lack in rear assembly type/structure). The "style" of show GSD that you see in the ring these days could never stay sound in serious Schutzhund trialing nor could they work all day herding, the job for which they were bred for. I think it is absolutely pitiful. The GSD's are not the only breed being ruined by us humans. Bull Dogs are another example. Why anyone would manipulate a breed so much that they can't even reproduce naturally without human intervention, is beyond me.

One would need to go to a breeder that concentrates their efforts in producing proper working GSD's, but along with superior structure comes a heightened prey drive. Not necessarily suited for the average pet home.

That's why most of the FCI GSD breeders whants the AKC GSD to be a separete breed, and they are not allowed to be in FCI pedigree anymore.

Many serius west show lines have dogs with SCH titles.

[Romy]

Even the west German show lines are getting gross. So many of those dogs have horrible roach backs. It's just as bad, in a different way, as the angulated back ends of American show dogs.

Personally, I really like the build and temperament of the DDR working lines. Really sturdy and lean, VERY athletic, and german shepherd style drivey. Not as intense as some of the Czech dogs. Anko was from DDR working lines, and what I would consider ideal for a working shepherd.

[DanL]

The roach back doesn't affect their ability to be active for hours at a time though. Those dogs still have some working ability. Even if some of them are pushed thru a title and politics play into it, getting a Sch3 isn't an easy task.

Sturdy, lean, and athletic have as much to do with environment as breeding. Let any dog sit around, it's going to be out of shape. Feed him too much, he's not going to be lean. Gunnar is West German show lines, and he's as athletic as the DDR dog at our club yet he's got 20lbs and a couple inches in height on him.

Here is Yago- he's from a breeder who specializes in police dogs. He's a badass, that's for sure, highly defensive, high drive. He weighs about 70lbs and is 24" at most.


Compare with Gunnar:


No roach back here....

[anna84]

I don't comment that often but honestly DanL I look at everything you post. These shots are awesome.

[Jynx]

There is alot of difference in temperament/drives etc within the differing lines of gsd's.

I've had American lines, (he was a big couch potatoe) , ddr lines & czech. Personally I like the DDR dogs and if they have some czech thrown in, I'm happy to.

My czech female was a great learning experience even tho I'd had GSD's my whole life.
She was a definite challenge that I really enjoyed.
Even today, at 12, and with rotten knees, she still rules the roost and is pretty active.

My DDR male, is now 11 and you'd never know it by looking/watching him. they are definately slow maturer's in my opinion but I've found him pretty easy to live with and a joy to train. Very biddable and eager. Some will disagree re: biddability in the ddr dogs, but he is my 2nd one, and both were easy trainers.

When anyone asks me 'where to get a good shepherd',,you just have to do your homework. There are certainly MANY out there, in ALL lines. Temperament and Health are the most important factors for me, the rest falls into place.

DANL _ gorgeous dogs, and Gunnar is stunning ))
diane

[RD]

Holy cow Dan that DDR boy isn't much bigger than my male BC.

Great shots, definitely an interesting comparison.

[DanL]

RD he does look small but he's not too far off the scale. He's got a nice head, he's very lean and athletic, and full of energy. He certainly makes up for size with speed and tenacity. I wouldn't set foot onto his property that's for sure.

anna and jynx, thanks!