Why? - Page 1

I ahave been to the websites on GSD breeders in australia.. i noticed that the shepherds there ahd a large difference with the shepherds in germany and US.. they look more like the GSDs that germany had in the early part of the last century.. Why is this... can someone shed some light on this

FIDA Give us the site you have visited so we can look and learn. I'm going to say Gene Pool - difficulty in getting dogs there, size of the Country -- huge - so accessibility to studs might be somewhat limited. Look at the differences between just East and West German lines 20 years ago -- two very different types that were not being mixed -- same thing in G.B. I'm thinking -- because they had quarrantine. A lot of the older English lines seemed long as trains with sway backs (to me!!) And although the Americans have lots of dogs available -- they're all related to Hammer and Hawkeye so there you go !! There are differences everywhere -- and depending on the soil you're standing on at the time -- everybody thinks theirs is correct -- Show/working - American Show is different from German show -- so a winning dog in Australia might get laughed at in Canada - etc. etc. Quote from one of those famous breeders of American Champions -- "It's the 90's and the dogs have changed -- so the STANDARD needs to be changed !! Max, did you hear that ??

i dont have the link with me now pineridhe.. just input aus breeders in google then ull get some links.. u r right some of the dogs are like trains...but looked soooprimitive compared to the current dogs.. even the german shepherds we have here in bangladesh are more compliant wityh the german type than the aussies cheers Fida

you might be looking at dogs with a strong czeh/DDR ancestry; those dogs are stockier, heavier, bigger heads, not showy at all...

I have often thought that they (Australia) might be a good source of NEW GENES - if they produce well and are not riddled with health problems -- a good source because they are sort of self-contained like the old E.German dogs that were not crossed with the West and developed differently. But, of course there has to be the quality. It's good that you have "more correct" type then -- something to build on. Old adage says make every generation 10% better than the last. That makes for a slow process, but if you stop getting improvementes over the parents - then it's time to move on to another line.

FIDA -- I found this site with Siegers/Siegrens - They are "German Looking" to me - and have some recognizeable European ancestors -- so like MAX says, you may have locked onto some working dogs elsewhere. http://www.leabashiba.com/australian_siegers_siegerins.htm I bred to an E.German dog many many years ago-- He was reportedly one of the first in the U.S. -- He was, to me, a beautiful dog, with loads of BONE, and a head to die for -- temperament and working abilities too !! My "show" friends said how awful he was, and why would you want puppies out of THAT THING ! I said, gee, maybe YOURS are all wrong,and this is the only CORRECT ONE LEFT - you just don't recognize it anymore because he's literally one out of thousands. Long story endless--we had beautiful puppies out of our 60%/40% German/American bitch - 2 went to the Police Academy and both passed -- a few years later, everyone was jumping on the East German bandwagon - and what do you know -- the ugly GOAT that we had bred to -- was suddenly very very pouplar - and I guess people got glasses, because he apparently got better looking too !!

I am not sure if GSD in Australia is ancient. I have seen australian imports in India who look very "German". Also, I have spoken to couple of GSD judges - don't remember now if they were SV judges - and I got the impression that GSD quality is comparitively high there.

Hi Fida, Out of mild interest,I also have of late visited the odd website from that country. I regret to say your powers of observation and the conclusions drawn appear to disagree to mine to such an inexplicable, extraordinary degree, and seem that chronically inadequate and elementarily contradictory to detail I happened to glance, that I sincerely believe a bit more research may be in order. Kind regards

PATRISHAP (MY MAN ?) -- whew, you said a mouthful !! FIDA -- I think the shapster is saying -- GET GLASSES !!!

Thanks Pineridge - you said in two words what it took me, how many?