Caveat Emptor - Page 1

So, the AKC is registering white shepherds now, is it? Well, if you believe what this ad says... http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/marketplace.viewad?id=33507 :P

White German shepherds are AKC registerable .. but they can't be shown in breed events, they have been shown in performance events for as long as I can remember.. The AKC is merely a registration central type of agency, an AKC registration does NOT indicate that an animal has any sort of quality control or any sort of standard .. they are merely a registration database, and they are on it for the money!! White GSD's can be shown in UKC events for conformation.... and they do have their own club and breed registry as theyshoudl because it is a different breed, totally different dog....

Dkiah, I disagree with your statement that white GSD's are a "different breed". It's true that the fanciers of the white GSD have manufactured a "breed" called the Swiss White Shepherd to give them legitimacy, but this is an artificial construction. If two pedigreed, bona fide GSD's are mated and produce a white pup, it is not a "different breed". It is merely an unacceptable coat color caused by recessive genes. It cannot be anything but a GSD, genetically speaking. There's been some chatter on this board that white shepherds are not "real" German Shepherd Dogs. I do not debate at all that white is not an acceptable color per AKC and SV, but that coat color does not magically transform these dogs into a "different breed". I know there is much emotional debate about white GSD's, with both sides firmly entrenched on whether it is proper or not to propagate the whites, and that is not a matter that I want to wade into with this post. Yvette

Yvette, thanks for setting the record straight for Dkiah. I remember two really nice dogs my father owned when I was young. Very good dogs from German imports. They produced 2 solid white pups and some pups with blazes on their face and they were from very nice lines. That didn't make the pups "Non" German Shepherd just a genetic mix-up. The pups still possesed all their drives and looks of a nice GSD and had jobs and not just house pets. They were actually very nice looking and commanded a lot of comments from many people through their years. Birdy...

When I lived in LA, my SchH club was a GSD-only club and we were always struggling to have enough members to have a club. This nice guy shows up with a white male GSD full of drive and sound of nerves, and a B&T female GSD who was ugliest, mediocre bitch I've seen in a long time. My club would not let the guy train his white GSD because it was not a "real" GSD in their opinion. He was forced to struggle with the B&T female who didn't have the drive or the nerve to do the sport. Each time he asked if he could train his male instead, my club members told him, "No, it's a white dog." The nice guy eventually gave up and left the club for good. He joined a SAR group and his white male GSD is doing well. My old club in LA eventually folded for lack of membership after I moved out of state. I hope the working dog people don't make the same mistake and turn away a nice guy with a good dog just because he's white. Even if he's not breedworthy, if he can do the sport, let him join the club and have fun with his dog! Yvette