showline bred with workingline - Page 5

Never had a stamina problem with my workinglines.

I'm 100% a S/L person. It's what I do and what I like to do. No apoligies to anyone.

So far, on this thread, dayrle seems to be the only one who has any idea what he is talking about.

Rik

http://www.whirlingthunder.com/Gucci.html


I don't know what level your talking about being good at both.  I sure hate seeing the envy of many who think you can't have it all.  I did enjoy my Gucci son.   He  had looks and big drive work as well as others.    One female i had was 98 protection V rated.  The AD was the most fun with her.  They wanted the show bitch in the back of these big males so we wont slow them down.  The closest dog was a half mile back when finished after breaks too.

Look,  love your type and enjoy what you do.  Don't knock what others do. you just show your ignorance.  It is a big world with different tastes.  I have some workng friends and love watching their top level working dogs work.  They appreciate what I do too.  Amazing stuff. 

 Quote:  I’m a jogger and jog daily. The working lines in my kennel are just not built for this type of work and can’t handle jogging for a very long time.

What lines are these ?

 The breeder that I talked about that believe in mixing showlines with WL mentioned correct angulation as one reason, a dog with correct angulation moves more easy in snow for example. On the other hand, how can wolves and huskies and so on move large distances in snow with their more "normal body" compared to a showline GSD? 

I'm sure the longer legs and wider paws help the wolves through the really rough stuff, but nonetheless are "efficient" for their environment with what nature has selected them for.  Wolves can cover many miles in a day, no doubt.

Common sense tells me you cannot breed a "super dog" with "perfect" "working" and "show" genetics alike.  Common sense also dictates that if you're breeding dogs for traits that will win shows, you will, by default, lose some of the other traits inherent to that breed.  Generations later, other than to selfishly compensate for mistakes made along the way, what would be the purpose of crossing that  "show dog" with a dog who's lineage is that of the "working class" ?  I do not endorse those who would argue for one side or the other.  I like to think that there is room for both the show gsd and the working gsd.  To deny that we have manipulated the breed to this end would be, imho, ignorant.  If you want a wonderful companion and beautiful specimen of a dog, breed the show dog.  If you require a service dog, breed the working dog.  We don't need a third branch on the family tree for those who may consider themselves "stuck in the middle" ; go buy a Lab. 

But if were buying dogs for the local Police Dept. of course no way I would get a showline dog.

Yet there are quite a few showline dogs working in police departments. Go figure. Are they the best? Are they the driviest? Are they the hardest? Probably not. Do they do the work, good work, the work a good GSD should do? Yes.

I want my dogs to contribute meaningfully to the people in their lives. But I know that just about everyone is going to define "meaningful" differently--it's the difference between a service dog owner and a police k-9 officer or someone who wants to get to the WUSV championships again--and I don't try to pretend that one dog or one litter is going to be BEST for every task.

Not every breeding is going to produce the ideal dog for every person. It'd be foolish to even have that as a goal. Breed healthy dogs, breed dogs who don't violate the breed standard, breed mentally sound dogs, breed dogs who are useful and who can contribute to the lives of their people in a meaningful way. Choose those goals first--and it shouldn't matter what bloodlines the breeder is working with.

What's amazing is that we have a breed that has multiple purposes and uses--they don't just look pretty, they're not just companions, they're not just scenting dogs, they're not just bred to run faster.

We chose this breed, why do so many of us want to lock them into just one or two roles? 

Christine

Blackthorn you make some great points. By far one of the most versatile breeds. And I agree it seams some put horse blinders on that same great  versatility. When me and my daughter were deciding on a breed of dog that was her main selling point. And after months of research we did together this is the breed that can really do what ever you do. I am glad my daughter sold me on the breed. And she actually pick her pup and we couldnt be happier with her. Great energy. For me that is important. Not everyone can handle these dogs but I think there is a german shepherd for anyone that is willing to put in the work.