Has anyone else noticed? - Page 1

Has anyone else noticed the flood of pictures of the American Hock Walking shepherds in the latest pictures section. These extremely over-angulated animals  sure are a twisted interpretation of the standard. Pehaps the breeders have recognized the value of the GSD pedigree search and are showing us what not to breed for.

And your point is??

I could show you videos of German showiines where the dogs are walking on their hocks. I'm not saying a dog should be built that way, but judge not, and all that. Each line has its own set of issues, and not all American breds are hock-walkers.

Tondawg,

I just snapped this pic of Theo Von Ryan, we are going to an AKC dogshow
tomorrow!

I just gave him a bath,he will be visiting an assisted living home later on today,
the people just love him there & I taught him to roll over.
We are mostly going to the show for Rally, but I always like to bring a Shepherd
with me in conformation, for the heck of it.

Here's us when he was a pup at a show & here's him today at 2 years old, I really
don't expect to ever win anything with him in conformation, but I love showing him off,
I think he's very handsome, so it's mostly for my own benefit, also, maybe I should
worry if he does win anything......................
Theo's sire is from East Germany.
Theo has gotten so much darker....

mira, love your dog!  But what did he win in conformation there?  It's a blue ribbon, so must be a real show, not a match or anything.

And to the original topic - they're GERMAN SHEPHERDS.  I'm appalled how people here seem to think this should only be for "German" dogs (or Czech, or Hungarian - anything but "American").  People make nasty comments on American dogs in the DB that they'd never make on the others.  I'm no fan of the American show GS but I also don't find the standard German "show" line 1 to get excited about, either, with conformation whose backs are roached like greyhounds and bone and heads are like Rottweilers/Mastiffs.  I'm not sure about the working, but I do like the conformation of them, anyway.

(Tondawg - not really directed at you.  Just venting frustration because this apparent attitude of "they're not GS and shouldn't be here" shows up frequently, and I don't want it to spread without giving another viewpoint.)

Tondawg, we do often discuss and compare the differences in the "lines" and there should be some photographs that offer an excellent visual example of the things we discuss. ALL of these dogs are German Shepherd Dogs, and ALL are descended from the same two (2) pairs of ancestors. For I ask; how else can one describe the differences to a new person without some excellent examples for comparison?

Personally, while I am not a fan of the "American-type" show-line dog, the inclusion of these dogs is important to maintain the integrity of the Pedigree Database. ALL of the GSD's belong here.

Regards,

Bob-O

Ol'Line rebel.

let this be a lesson to all, this is what happens when you enter Bred-By-Exhibitor!!!
Everyone seems to have a professional handler taking their dog in the ring,at least GSD's,

 
you have to have to be the breeder/owner of the dog in BBE, so, yes, I'll never probably ever get points,
but I can still rub elbows with the professionals!!!

And yes that is a blue ribbon, I actually like to take all my dogs I can to some kind of
show, where if your dog has a disqualifing trait he will be asked to leave, like missing
teeth, lameness, things like that.
This is a picture of Theo's mom, Mira, no GSD's showed up, so I looked at the judge & said
OK gimme all the ribbons!
You don't get any points, but hey, I actually have fun spending time with my mutts, and
getting a nice picture to boot!
 

The thing I remember most about this day is, I was in Maine, on a sunny day in May, it was 80 degrees,
but there was a strong wind, and I was hanging out with my sister & 2 of my kids!

 What a picture perfect day!!!

Birdy, I think I am following in your footsteps....I spend hours in the pedigree section looking at dogs, titles, hip scores, conformation and what lines they all come from....what an awesome tool....and what a travesty it would be if much of the info was missing or blank.....knowledge is empowerment to breed better dogs and this site is awesome in its depth of information to be found.

Has anyone else noticed the flood of pictures of the American Hock Walking shepherds in the latest pictures section. These extremely over-angulated animals  sure are a twisted interpretation of the standard

Yes, Tondawg, I've noticed damned well--and it's been a nightmare walk down memory lane--almost started my own thread on the topic.

The trouble, to me at least, is that the journey is painful reminder. To heck with whether you perceive that the dogs walked on their hocks or were overangulated.

The thing that grieves me the most is that I know/knew so many of these dogs and their pedigrees and that I know up-close-and-personal that about 80% of these dogs were tightly linebred/inbreed on dogs predisposed to early death.

Yeah, I know that XXXX ROM dog's entire litter were brought to the vet to have their tails (looked like jelly rolls) fixed. I was there to withness the surgeries. I know that XXXX breeder/judge had braces put on XXXX dog's teeth. I know (as a witness) of the multiple dogs which had surgery to make their ears stand. I know of the ROM dogs with elbow dysplasia who conveniently only have OFA hip certification. Often, I read their medical records.

Just for a moment, forget the interpretation of the standard. Instead, think of the needless deaths and illnesses of dogs andof their grieving pet owners. Think of their unthinking and occasionally callous, unscrupulous breeders who always had a new generation to immediately fill the void left by their fallen canine family members.

These dogs are history and serve as a reminder to me that breeders should never again take the direction of some of their predescessors.

Louise, I agree 100% with what you have said. So much was sacrificed over a fouty-year period to obtain that stretched limosine look and "rolling" side gait to produce an animal solely to satisfy the whims of a few breeders and the judges they impressed. We have many issues with the S.V. as well, but at least there are some hard rules there.

Regards,

Bob-O