If the Capt. was alive today - Page 7

Kitkat 

Will you post his pedigree please

I think if the capt. came back he would again have a vision of what he desired in a well balanced, versitile, healthy, intelligent, athletic, dog with enough courage to allow him to perform any task ask of him. Then I think he would start looking at individual dogs that have a strong consistency in reproducing these great qualities. Since dogs have been bred so extensively for single pronounced characteristics, he would not care what anyone else thought, or what group or catagory we have put them in, whether it be sport, working, or show. He would be more concerned in blending the characteristics that when brought together could consistently produce dogs that have all the desired characteristics he visioned.

I heard someone say one time, "most people uses their sources of information like a drunk uses a light pole, more for support, than illumination.

All the genes that the capt. brought together are still here, just scattered. And I'm no different, I never look to far out of the box I live in.

A great thread, and a lot of good posts.
Hank

Hank, what you said is exactly what I have deep in my heart, you said it in the best way one could, I totally agree with you. Very well said.

Ibrahim

Great words, Hank.

Here's a quote from the Secretary of the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, 1916.  This is approximately the time of the pics Sunsilver shared.

Wow, Great quote from a very smart person.

Jump forward about 8 years, and those finer featured dogs are perhaps less prevalent than they were in 1916 to 1921, but still suitably athletic in comparison to the heavy boned dogs that are frequently common today.  Eric von Grafenworth, below, could be easily mistaken for a contemporary german shepherd.

Copied from the Journal of Heredity, 1924

That looks awesome

Just to bring this post back to it's theme.  If the Captain was alive today the breed would not be in the mess it is in and nor would the SV.

Mackenzie

I disagree.  If he couldn't stop the mess when it was beginning to happen (and he knew that it was), how would he stand a chance today?  The majority of it's registrations would need to go, and hurt their revenue base, so it's simply more efficient to begin from scratch with a new organization (and perhaps even divorce the breedname).  This is the result when certain kinds of people with different agendas realize there's an organizational platform that can be used to their marketing and political advantage.  You can't purge the sickness from this, there'd be nothing left.  I'd say let it burn to the ground, after we get the good guys out.

And if you think six foot is impressive...

I think he would turn in his grave

when just looking at the angulations the breed has gotten working lines to

he  might get a malinois , faster, healthier, can do it all more easy to get a good working mal than a gsd