If you could choose one dog? - Page 3

 here is a kennel which produced "showlines" like Blue which went on to become the pillars of the modern day "working lines"

http://www.vom-gelben-ruehl.de/html/information_on_the_kennels.html

regards

Lovethevadogs, 

Sorry that I did not answer your question correctly.  Fiemereck and Aminius lines are the lines of my best picks who honestly are mine.  I would think that to judge a dog you must meet it.  I know that I can guage the quality and temperament of an animal much better in person than I could ever do on video or pictures.  I purchased a dog (from here in fact) that had great reviews.  When I got the dog, it was not what I asked for or thought I purchased.  When I first was looking for a replacement for Zahn I purchase as close a bloodline as I could get.  He was a completely different dog than Zahn even with very similar lineage.  My point is if you want the perfect dog, go meet wonderful dogs and when you find the one that gives you the warm and fuzzies, get that one.  But, that is just my own little humble opinion.  Good luck on finding the right animal for your situation.   
W

wlpool, again, read my message. I am not looking for a dog. I am doing research on bloodlines. Sadly, one cannot go back and meet dogs who have since passed, but that does not mean that they cease to contribute to our present-day dogs'. What I am looking for here is what "types," traits and characteristics of both show and working dogs people gravitate towards and why. In private emails to friends all over the globe in the dog sport, I have found a consistency in the type of dogs each chooses to breed. Many times, the dogs in the background are of similar type, without bias to whether they are working or show.

I am seeing more and more breeders (globally) choose to breed a "strictly show line" dog to a "strictly working line" dog. This may be something that is necessary to improve the working ability of the show dogs, and the conformation of the working dogs. I am not saying that there are no show dogs who can work, nor that there are no working dogs who are not beautiful. I think in order to get our breed back to a healthy dog who can work, while at the same time be a beautiful dog, there is a need for those who breed to make more selective breeding choices when they put two dogs together, rather than breeding just for points or color, or any other one trait.

What type of dogs do you gravitate to? When you see a dog, what makes you say, "Oh wow, now that is an awesome dog!"? For each person, it is likely different, but I can tell you this; from what I have seen, most people (even those die-hard show or working people!) will be in awe of a really beautiful, conformationally correct dog who can bite like the hardest of working dogs and track like a 100-point FH2 dog. How often do we see this? Rarely.  In my opinion, in recent years, we have seen less and less of these high drive piranhas with stupendous anatomy and conformation.

Why don't you instead focus your attention on conformationally correct workingline?  Problem solved.

Even after you've produced a cross with outstanding working potential, many trials with some successes and doubtless many failures (that will be bred anyway), in the end the dog must be able to produce itself to be of any significant value.  Multiply that times however many "golden middle" believers can pull this off, and there will still be many people who wish to avoid these lines, because they want a pedigree of solid performers, and the conformation they get with that is nothing to complain about anyway.  Meanwhile, you've just begun a new "watered down middle", a third branch of the ever so terrible breed split.

Who cares about the showlines, just let 'em go!  IMO, what is needed is a total breed registry split.

Copy from original:

"I pick the first one bc he spend every moment of his life finding ways to love and please his family. He protected us, he served us, he loved us right down to the girls. Pictured at right. He was a German Shepherd that lived what German Shepherds stand for. "


For me the right dog is the one that loves me and my family so much that it spends it's days following our commands, sleeping next to us without barking all night, gives soft kisses and warm hugs to his loved ones, can spend an entire day vegging on the couch, and will protect us through pain and to the death because of his devotion to our safety and his need to fulfill his job. 
In the past when I have looked, I have looked in every arena american, DDR, Showlines (German).  The dogs that have fit my bill seem to have been showlines (German).  Americans didn't have the nerve.  DDR didn't have the mellow.  Some showlines didn't have the bite others didn't have the mellow.

My question is what bloodline throws my needs?  I too wish that there were a line of dogs that could guarantee those qualities.  For the most part I have found three males in my life who have had the "right stuff" and one female who came close, out of 15 GSDs and 30 "other" breeds (in a lifetime).  None of the qualifing traits were of similar lineage though.  Much like people we should not judge a book by its cover or background.  

But, I will say, German breeders tend to be up front about what they are breeding for.  I think that for the most part a kennel that breeds for a certain thing (large dogs that protect or hardcore workers) and then works with the puppies when born to further accentuate those qualities tends to get what they advertise and more of those types of kennels tend to be in Germany.  

 

 

Would have to second Lord vom Gleisdreieck - unbelievable record

-his son Alk v Osterburg Quell might be my second choice