Breed to Win or Breed to Standard? What to do? - Page 3

In each type of German Shepherd, there is the standard and the interpretation of the standard. The interpretation changes from generation to generation as the need for the breed to develop in different directions is dictated by where judges place dogs and breeders select  specimins to follow the direction of the breed being set.

For instance, right now there is a focus on size in the West German Conformation lines. Judges are taking a closer look at size these days. In the past, hip and elbow production was a trend setter, you may recall all the ZW and HD discussions a few years ago. With the implementation of the ED requirement, the focus has turned elsewhere. Undoubtably it will turn again as the direction of the breed changes.

Breeders are wise to know the trends and breed accordingly adding in their own beliefs and goals. Does this mean you have to sacrifice work for conformation or take less because others breed for a different objective? Absolutely not. The challenge facing every breeder is to produce a dog that meets their standard and posesses the best possible character. We can look at some of the better breeders in Germany to see examples of those that do not necessarily follow trends, keep an eye on their own goals and stil produce reliable work and excellent conformation.

As a conformation line breeder, the writing is on the wall. If you don't breed for working ability, your dogs are sidelined at two years old. If they are can't do the work, your breeding efforts, investment of time and money, all disappear. I believe the trend is now for the dogs abilities to take precedence as we see the test for working ability increase. Conformation line breeders that want to remain competative simply have to place working ability and training at the top of their list to remain competative.

Thanks all for your inputs much appreciated. Was hoping to get more replies from breeders about their individual requirements for selecting breeding stock but I can understand people not wanting to discus.

IMO staying close to the standard as possible is important and stay away from breeding for extremes as you likely will end up creating issues that hurt the GSD breed. The dogs end up paying the price in the long run.

South said:

I was hoping to get more breeders to input on their own breeding habits.

Question: Would you select a VA Sire or a SG rated Sire if the SG was actually close to the overall Standard due to having better drives and nerves?

I will answer for myself, in this example I would prefer the SG if it was better rounded dog overall.

My reply:

That is simple for me as I have made that choice more then once already.  I would pick a nice SG (or even G) dog who was what I wanted.  Infact of my four litters to date, one was sired by a G dog, three were sired by SG dogs.  Of course I would love to find a V dog who was exactly what I was looking for, but it doesnt always work like that.  I have yet to see a VA dog that I would want to breed to (not talking about old VA dogs from past decades).

GSD2727

Thank you.  I think your statement on being a better rounded dog overall is a very wise choice and hope other breeders make those type decisions. It is easy to get caught up in breeding for certain traits and then loose the overall well rounded dog.

The standard encludes temprement, working ability, intelligence and structure. Breed for all of those if possible. If you are successful you win and the breed wins.