What Is The Difference Between Working Line and Show Line? - Page 4

Orginal poster, remember, a lot depends on how and who you train with as well as how much!!  I showline that had the required dirves can do it, they do not compete because it is not the focus of the owners.   A working dog owner trains for the trial competition and the work the dog is doing, most likely daily.    They are true altheletes like marathon runners or tri-athalon competitors.

My dogs sibling has her Sch 2 is hot trained and works with a working club even though she is showline.  She was at the end of the line at the 2008 NASS.  She and her owner are dedicated to the sport, get passable and honest scoring.   So it is possible with the right dog. 

Tony, you outed me!!!!  I know how you feel, I have been there.  I needed to make a choice for what I wanted for my future and the future of the GSD.  I beleive there is talent in those lines that is untaped.   Yes, there are problems, but I don't see them as black and white as you do.  A trophy at the shows has been far a few between for me, and they really don't mean much.   Not much more that the quiky Sch titles really.   The adoring look of those brown eyes of my dogs and  the letters I get from happy owners of my pups is my reward.  Quiting was not the answer for me.  It would help no one, least of all the dogs.  One of the things I am trying to get through to the original poster, I am not sure you understand.  "G" s problems in your house  (as I understood them) are qualities that make a good sch dog, you yourself could not live with her intense drives

I have looked at several other way to train my dog (not plural as I have control over only one), however, it seems that every training center has there hands out more so.  One, charges $40 per session, three sessions for full sch lesson per week, that's $120 I do not have.  This working dog trainer has only taken one of his dogs to sch 3, he has the same problems I have, he has to work full time to feed his family and his dogs.   Another was just too far away with gas over $4 a gallon and the threat of losing my job over my head. 

I love the look of the showlines, so I take the good with the bad and hope I can make a difference in the long run. 

"In competitions where primarily working lines are used, what proof is required to confirm that the dog entered is a GSD and not a GSD mixed with something else to improve it's working ability???.

Pictures I have seen of some working line dogs apart from their ears resembling a GSD, they look completely different in size, build, body shape, colour and look facially different. Wouldn't there have to be a "line" where a particular dog is too far outside of the breed standards to be regarded and entered in competition as a GSD???."

Rexy, this is very telling. That you feel this way tells me you have seem a majority of SL dogs and your eyes are accustomes to seeing that Blk/Red and huge body mass. At a major trial you are not going to get anyone wanting to train up a mutt and try to pass it off as a GSD. Too much time and money go into training a dog to that level. Registration papers and DNA testing pretty much can make sure they are all on the up and up. I have seen some "ugly" dogs here in pictures but non that I know attend the huge trials and competitions.

Thank you Gustav for answering the question I posted couple days ago on another thread...Which can be corrected faster, Conformation or Temperament? You above post was what I also feel to be true. When my common sense realized this, that is when  gave up on the SL, it cannot be fixed in my lifetime, improving my WL structure can. For me, the SL is a lost cause and I do't really want or need their blood back into the WL.

4pack, I was thinking more on the lines of for example a Golden Retriever derived as a working dog from a breeding program mixing Flatcoated Retrievers with various other breeds for the purpose of increasing it's speed in the water. The Golden was a better working dog than the Flatcoat although apart from mainly colour, they look much the same. Flatcoats are black or liver in colour and slightly larger than the Golden. They were originally all called Flatcoats but the golden ones were the choice for serious gun dog work similar to the working line GSD. They re-named the gold Flatcoats Golden Retrievers in the end as a separate breed.