producing long hairs - Page 2

eicheluft-- Agree completely with your "observations". I truly would not be surprised if, in fact, there was not a "true coat" in existance today. As I recall from my youth-- 1 long outer coat, no undercoat, 2 hair so thick IN their ears it would impair their hearing, 3 hair growth between the toes so thick as to splay their feet and actually cause lameness or crippling if it wasn't kept trimmed. I suspect perhaps, your comment about the numbers in "working", versus "show" could very well be true. I think that todays "show lines" trace more directly back (line breeding) to the days of one German Shepherd Dog. Some of the working lines were, perhaps, sort of developed as a "splinter breed", so to speak, and coincidentally some of those so chosen were, and I stress, coincidentally, free of the coat factor. There are, I am sure, still "blues" and "livers"---- It has been many years since I have heard any breeder admit to them. Obviously, I must add while I have many "coats" in my lines, I have NEVER produced either. Morgan

Actually there is a breeder here in the USA who breeds only blues and livers and has discovered that by breeding blues to blues you get a 'double dilute' which is a bright almost silver dog with the blue nose. As to whether or not to breed a dog that produces long coats, why no if they are a good example of the breed and produce good puppies? They aren't hurting anything and can make someone a great pet.

Star eyed angel, I am not too sure what to think about your post, but I thought I would chime in on the previous posts. I have always had a long hair German Shepherd in my home. These dogs have been fully trained for protection work. Matter of fact, when I am out of town & my family is home alone, they are protected by a long hair german shepherd. You wont see a long hair travel as much as the dogs I show. But I also wanted to add that Long hairs can be more then just pets, guard dogs, herding dogs, and pets as well. Sometimes I have a waiting list on them, for diffrent reasons. Some people like the look, which I can not blame them. Other people like the fact that they do not shed as much. There are much bigger problems with the breed then length of coat.

Star eyed angel, I am not too sure what to think about your post, but I thought I would chime in on the previous posts. I have always had a long hair German Shepherd in my home. These dogs have been fully trained for protection work. Matter of fact, when I am out of town & my family is home alone, they are protected by a long hair german shepherd. You wont see a long hair travel as much as the dogs I show. But I also wanted to add that Long hairs can be more then just pets, guard dogs, herding dogs, and pets as well. Sometimes I have a waiting list on them, for diffrent reasons. Some people like the look, which I can not blame them. Other people like the fact that they do not shed as much. There are much bigger problems with the breed then length of coat.

Sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean that they couldn't be great at anything. Pet quality is a broad term for me. To me a pet quality dog is only one that can't be used as a breeding/show dog because of conformation. I know that they can and often do do anything else from protection, to service, to farm work.

Long coats are gorgeous as adults - very eye-catching and beautiful. There is absolutely no other reason to call them "pet quality" than their coat that is not allowed for breed survey/breeding according to SV standard. Other than the coat, they can have the same drive, temperament, nerve, athletic ability etc etc to do the same work their littermates can do. There have been long-coats on World Teams. If I may make another observation - call me crazy but when I get a long-coated "plush" puppy in one of my working-line litters - they seem to have the best bone structure, conformation, biggest heads, best temperaments and nerve - overall they are often the best puppy of the litter, and the most beautiful because of the coat. But because of the coat, they must be called "pet" and not sold for breeding. I wonder if the long coat recessive coming from two normal-coated parents, comes from "old stock" and brings to the puppy, along with the coat, all of the other "good things" coming from the old lines. Just a theory I have. molly

It is so good to hear these nice comments by our bastard long haired GSD's. It is true, Brian Wootton wrote that to find a dog with great bones, head, hips and mind and not have a long coat is rare. The trait is not a true recessive trait, I have talked to a lot of people but have not found the rates of expression that would indicate that it is a simple recessive combination. Instead, it seem to be linked to a set of older traits, such as good heads, bones, minds and hips. It seems back-assward that these dogs are not bred, they may have a lot to offer as to gene diversity. And if bred to a normal coated mate then you simply end up with more heterozygotes (assuming the theory of the recessive trait is true.) But of course I am way biased. Maxislooking

I have owned two long hair GSDs imports. It was during my early GSD days and I knew nothing of breeding/show requirements/restrictions. I got the first one because I loved the beauty of the long haired dogs. I got the second one based on the impressive intelligence and experience of owning the first. I would not go out NOW and buy a long hair because of the knowledge I have aquired over the years, but I do know them to be resplendent animals and I am proud to have had them as personal companions. Stephen