If the Capt. was alive today - Page 6

Duke, right on the money! I especially reaized something had gone wrong with the GSD when I saw them being replaced by other breeds for seeing eye/service dog work, and for police and military.

As for the breed disappearing, a lot of you are probably thinking "that's ridiculous!"

Well, not too long ago, someone posted online pictures from a dog book which was published in the early 1900's. Two things stood out: one, how much most of the breeds had changed in appearance since then, and two: HOW MANY OF THE BREEDS WERE NOW EXTINCT!

I really wish I'd kept that link so I could show it to you, but I'm afraid I've lost it, or never bookmarked it. I did download some of the pictures to my computer, though. Here's a few of our breed. These dogs obviously predated Max chosing Klodo v. Boxberg as Sieger, and I am not trying to say we need to go back to breeding dogs that look like this.

You have to ask yourself: could our dogs do this today? Or have they lost their athletic ability?




The dogs above look to be quite a bit taller than today's standard, don't you think?



TWO THOUSAND BUCKS!! What's that worth in today's dollars??



Even Wolf's namesake has more angulation that this! Still, a magnificent-looking animal....



How many law enforcement dogs of today would tolerate being hugged by a child, I wonder?


The thing that concerns me the most is the breed's loss of versatility. This limits its usefullness, and thereby its popularity.  If families don't want GSDs because they have a bad reputation for bitng children, or being hard to handle, and law enforcement doesn't want them because they no longer have the guts to do the job, what's left? The schutzhund/sport field, and the show ring,  two higly specialized venues that don't necessarily require a dog with the character needed to be a good companion.

I like to think Max, if he came back, would focus on bringing back the GSD that could 'do it all', and still relax by the fire with the family at the end of the day.  These dogs are NOT a myth, but they are getting harder and harder to find.

We all need to pay attention to what the late Alfred Hahn (Busecker Schloss Kennels) said to Koos Hassing (Tiekerhook):

One can improve the anatomy of the German Shepherd in only a few generations. But to improve temperament, character, and the necessary working abilities takes much longer."

link: http://www.vomdomburgerland.nl/koos1.pdf


And it's the character of the GSD that gets neglected when you start breeding for too narrow a goal, whether sport or show.








 

Alfred Hahn was a nice man and one of the top breeders - a great dog man.   He favoured the grey dogs.

Mackenzie

The early dogs looked very athletic, didn't they? I don't think I ever heard how tall they were. Seems that one of the earliest phenotypical changes was shortening the legs.

I'm not so sure the dogs then were "taller", more so athletic and not fat like a lot of dogs today.  I love to see their structures and their backs like that as well.  It doesn't look like someone stompped their rear down, and they don't look in pain.

I agree, I doubt the dogs were taller, that may appear taller as they're much lighter boned and thinner, and I'm sure the people in the pictures were much smaller compared to todays average person, making the dog appears bigger, they were still fed on table scraps probably.

How many K9's could be hugged today by a child; seriously I doubt that dog was anything by todays standards of K9 if it was at all which I doubt.
As someone who does give talks in school I find it massively unfair ask a simple animal to fight a crack head in the middle of the night and then go into school the next day to meet the kids. Many K9's will do it but it really belongs in the Disney Films.

Very easy to have romantic "good old days" views when there was so little written material available, no videos to view, and we don't get the "warts and all" that todays mass media world brings.

Ronin

From what I have been able to deduce, the overall height of the dogs was similar to the DESIRED height of today's animals.

So many now are oversized, to the point where a correct, middlesize male looks too small. I have a perfectly proportioned mid-size female of whom people always ask, 'Is she fully grown?'. 

Also, a lot of the dogs today have a coat that changes their profiles so much, due to excessive furnishing etc. 

I dont see so much problems with size , but more with drives andcaracteristics , just another  problem all workingdog breeds are facing is modern positive training , great for the dogs , but bad for selective criteria for breeding , so I would also say NO , SChH is no longer a measure of breedworthiness , the same goes for korung

The breeders cannot go by selecting studdogs from competitionwinners only , but have to do their homework .

Very easy to have romantic "good old days" views when there was so little written material available, no videos to view, and we don't get the "warts and all" that todays mass media world brings.

Ronin, a longing for the 'good old days' was not my intent in posting those pictures. Since this thread is discussing what von Stephanitz might do if he came back, I wanted to give a snapshot of what the dogs were like in his era. Who would want a dog as lacking in angulation as Wolf II? Those dogs are gone forever, and Stephanitz himself triggered the change with Klodo.

Who knows what the dogs were like? There are many anecdotal records, and a clear-headed dog should have the ability to distinguish between a crack-head and a child wanting to hug it.
 

     How many law enforcement dogs of today would tolerate being hugged by a child, I wonder?

     This one does. He is a dog I bred out of showlines and DDR. The LEO that has him tells me he is the greatest dog he ever had. Not only is a "Super Trooper", he than comes home and takes his place in the family setting where he is deeply loved by his young son.
     He loves him so much, he came and got another pup from me this past summer, also showline/DDR, who is now in police training, and a loved member of the family.
     'We' are planning a breeding this year of this boy, and my female DDR girl. THIS is a reason I believe that showline and working line can cross very successfully without saying which one brought what to the table.
     If I am not mistaken Busecker Schloss, did alot of mixing the two different lines (although there was not that big split at the time)and that kennel has produced subperb dogs.
     I am just a very small hobby breeder. I take great pride in my dogs and I DO, do extensive research into the German Shepherd. I have no plans or illusions of producing world competition dogs, but in my little area of the world, I am improving the German Shepherd that is out here.
     I know my dogs look more like the dogs of yester-year than many of the dogs I see advertised today