German Show lines - Page 3

Donnerstorm, some of the difference in Nala may also be gender-related; in my experience, the females pick one 'primary' person, but they'll embrace everyone in the household as part of their family.

It's not just that, I am her primary person I'm all the dogs primary person, my wl females though still have the "screw everybody else" attitude.  It's not just that it's the perky happy go lucky personality.  It's very hard to explain, my wl gsds are and have always been very happy dogs but not to the extent of Nala. They certainly do Not calm down as fast. The difference may not be because she is sl, it may just be a dog personality, but since I have never owned a sl before I thought I would ask and see if that personality was more common on that side of the fence.

Donnerstorm
There are many showline around with this type of temperment/character, there are quite a few breeders in the UK that I know produce this type.

Well phrased Hexe. My females pick one individual to stand guard over, but will instantly warm up to almost anyone. They do seem to be very keen judges of a person's character, and there are persons that they do not like and never trust.

The ones that I have that are 3-3 and 4-4 breedings on Amigo v Belgier have spectacular drives and great work ethic packaged in showline beauty.

Beardog

First, I'd be looking for bloodlines that are DNA tested for DM.

Beardog mine is 3 - 4 Amigo vom Belgier

Donner, Capri is much like that. She can be very calm, but she springs into action very quickly and can have a short fuse, but she's very balanced and extremely happy 99% of the time. When she's not happy, the object of her anger knows it immediately, she takes care of it, and then she's back to being the happiest gal around. She's extremely warm and affectionate w/family, my son (literally invites my 2yr old into the whelping box...), just quick to rise to the challenge of a possible threat. I think that's just proper temperament and balance, and really shouldn't be only found in showlines. I think you find it more in SL because most aren't intentionally breeding it out, whearas w/many popular WL breedings, the emphasis is on crazy prey, and those dogs are unlikely to be super balanced in a way that makes them yearn to hang out on the couch for movie time. 

Once again since I have no experience with the sls, and the point has been made maybe it's because she's a female, do the sl males not typically have this personality? Thanks for mentioning the pedigree on the dogs that do have the personality, that is very helpful.  For those that have had both wl and sl what would you say the biggest differences is in the dogs? Since they all used to be one dog how did we end up with the split? Was it just the wl ppl breeding for drives above all else? Was there something in particular the sl breeders were breeding for?

Donnerstorm, to answer the the first question, I think most showline lovers on this board at least are weary of the same arguments and snarky comments about our dogs so choose to not discuss it publicly anymore. How would you feel if you had to see people saying nasty things about your dog, who they've never seen a day in their life? It gets old. I used to have a very big mouth about it, but priorities shift and I figure until I have a dog I'm ready to walk the walk with, I'll just ignore the arguments. I know what my dogs are- and are not. There was a wonderful lengthy thread a while back about show lines and which specifically produce working ability.

I know there are different lines that produce color, head, angulation, etc, but I cannot tell you which lines are stronger for that. That stuff is just fluffy icing for me. I like a dog that is not extreme in angulation, firm, good drive but not over the top energy, clear headed with a built-in off switch. I like a dog with a natural civil side as well.

The "markers" in a pedigree I look for are Mark v Haus Beck, Eros Luisenstrasse, Cello Romerau, Quartz Templari, Vando Moorbeck, (Beardog, spot on with Amigo, lucky you!) somewhat more recently I like Hill Farbenspiel, Timo Berrekasten, I find Ursus lines have very high physical/mental tolerance threshholds (they actually make great family dogs for this, since nearly NOTHING bothers them). I like the Ursus/Hill combo for a good clear head and drive, but you have to watch size. Nero Nohbactal was really poised to make an impact, too bad about that whole mess. There's a Nero son in TX I always liked.

I'll also say I've seen a fair number of Kirschental females that knock my socks off. Judy Kavanaugh here in Northern IL has some SUPER females.

I've got a Camillo Pallas Athene litter coming shortly from my Mark linebred bitch. We'll see what I get.

I've been a bit out of the loop for a few years (life will do that to you) so I suppose it's about time for me to get my butt to events and start taking taking pages of notes again. 

I'm in now way saying anything bad about wl that's what I own w the exception of Nala, I'm just trying to learn more about the sl guys.  I admit I was one of those wl ppl that had no use for a sl gsd, I never slammed anyones dog just didn't think they were at all what I wanted, I bought every stereotype about them.  I think there is a place for both, the difference could also be that my wl guys tend to be extreme in drive, for the work I used them for it worked out well.  My male Lucas is a wonderful dog I love him to death, he is a tank and when he's working he's all business, but he also does not like being in the house for very long, he would rather be outside where he can have run of the yard and not constantly be told to leave it or bug off.  And those kind of dogs are awesome for ppl that can handle them, and want to put the time and effort into dealing with them, which I enjoy.  Having no experience with the sl dogs, I find the personality very interesting makes me wonder like I said what the breed was like before we had the split in the wl and sl dogs. I'm betting those were pretty awesome gsds!