Why?! - Page 4

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think Shelby my Malinois is one of the most beautiful dogs ever. Every breed is beautiful in its own way, I guess some people just can't see that.

I apologise too Medonte,  You have to admit though some of the typos were pretty funny.

A friend of ours has a Mal GSD.  He is one fantastic animal.  And yes, he's been neutered.  This dog has the energy of a Mal and the intelligence of a GSD.  He's very impressive and will do anything he's asked. 

Medonte,
I wanted to get out of this thread as it seemed to lose it's direction, but I wanted to respond to your last coment, " beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and I guess some people just cant get that" 

First I want to say that I am in total agreement with your statement " beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"

Secondly, I want to say that " I do get that".
 Thirdly I want to say that my coments about Mals being uggly were partially in jest and partially aimed at John Doe public.  Any breed that reaches popularity in this country will in time be ruined. It's the nature of the beast. I know a family that shows Mals. Not my thing but to each their own. Part of my bluntness was directed at GARD who happens to own, love and work with Mals.  My coment " no one buys one because of their beauty "  was a generalization. In my limited knowlege ,these dogs are bred more for working then for beauty and that is precisely why they are still in good shape, unlike the gsd.
Hope this clarifies things, there was no intension of slamming Mals. Thanks

Why are all these dogs "going to be bred"?  does anyone not breed their dogs anymore?  As soon as you buy a dog you know it's going to be worthy of being bred?

Free websites full of spelling mistakes scream "BYB" to me.  A dog offerfed for stud with no pedigree, no titles (HIC is nothing), and no hip cert.... ?

Why are all these dogs "going to be bred"?  does anyone not breed their dogs anymore?  As soon as you buy a dog you know it's going to be worthy of being bred?

Free websites full of spelling mistakes scream "BYB" to me.  A dog offerfed for stud with no pedigree, no titles (HIC is nothing), and no hip cert.... ?

No worries from me olskool

You hit the nail on the head. Beauty and popularity is the downfall of all breeds. Esp the working ones. Take a dog that is pretty, then becomes popular, then people make money, what happens? The breed gets fucked up.

You used Boxers as an example. My first love was Boxers, I have owned two of them. From what I understand, they were actually the first breed used for police work in Germany. Both of my dogs proably would have been decent workers if I had known what the hell I was doing back then. They were from unknown breeding but definatley not the typical show stuff you see. When I was going to get a new dog, I thought seriously about Boxers. Try and find one that works. I found one kennel that seems successful. They sell their pups for 2500-3500 and had a year long waiting list.

I thought about Dobermans. There seems to be more that can work but nowhere near the level I was looking for. Then I looked at all the health problems and said, "No way."

I don't own a Mal right now. While I doubt they will ever gain the popularity of the other breeds (I sure hope not) they have become more popular with the rise in people participating in dog sports. I feel they are in decline because of this. I looked for one for quite awhile and washed out one that came from a National Champion. Part of this was my fault because I was focused on a particular line of dogs that is very hard to find. I should have just looked at the dogs that were producing well. My bad.

So now I have a GSD. A very nice one I might add. But now I am dealing with a structural issue that may prevent her from doing the work. That will be a down right shame because she could do big things. Now that I have learned more about the problems GSD's have, I may have passed and continued my search for a Mal. I have never heard of a Mal that had structural problems that prevented them from doing the work. I have seen some with HD but it was always mild and they still worked.

Not to make this a GSD Vs Mal thread but the question remains. What are breeders going to do about improving the overall health and workability of the breed? I myself do not know if I love the breed enough to try. The verdict is still out. If I wereto try the firs thing I would do is go over and talk with Koos at Teikerhook. People are talking alot of shit abotu his in-breeding but I sure like the dogs he seems to be producing. I would inbreed the hell out of dogs, cull ruthlessly, then outcross. Maybe with a Mal. that would be the approach I would take.

To fix something, you first have to admit something is wrong. I don't think alot of GSD people think anything is wrong. I am still learning about the breed. I believe the working dogs in the US are improving in the work but what about the health and structure?

Medonte,

Don't take any of these people seriously, especially idiots like Funkman who only wishes he was the pope. If you do research on Funkman's (His user name is Funkman) posts.. you see mostly but flame wars on him. He's a law enforcement impersonator or maybe an actual cowardly cop who's afraid to revile himself in public, since I've asked him plenty times to post his first and last name here, he failed at doing it. He also thinks hes a professor in advanced English/grammar, so his ego is to put anyone who he spots making errors down so he feels special and smart.

By the way your friend made you a very nice looking website. Kudos for her :)

I guess everyone resolved any concerns they might have wished to voice about why would someone want to cross breed mal's to Shepherds.

Britney,

Thank you, I think she did a great job, she is being graded on it today!