Mixed German Shepherd - Page 2

Kalifornia - like Swingfield I too see a happy, healthy looking pup.
However I agree with Dragonfry's assessment of her most likely
background.  With BYBs there is always a possibility that a bit of
some other breed crept in somewhere along the line !   She may not
have the greatest GSD head in the world, but I am sure you enjoy her
company.  And as she is only a year old she might lose a bit of that
"Whippet -ty" look about her face as she matures.

In any case, welcome to PDB, and here's wishing you good luck with
her, and Merry Xmas.

Looks like a purebred shepherd to me as well. A happy smiling one at that!!

A purebred German Shepherd for sure. That is what the original German Shepherds looked like. There are a few who still breed for the tall straight back Shepherds and they are much better than the sloped backed ones you see so much off in show rings. The straighter backed Shepherds are usually the best for working as well. (Less hip problems.) Just compare her to the Shepherd who started the the breed: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/dog.html?id=1208
So she is a throw back to the start of the breed. Many are tryng to get back to that type as they are much more healthier as well.

     No one can know for sure this is a pure bred GSD without a DNA test. It is quite possible that she does come from lines that have been allowed through careless breeding to diverge away from the breed standard as other posters have stated. I wish Kalifornia all the best with her, I love the third picture she appears to be a happy, healthy dog. Welcome to the forum
    Danica, with all due respect you have a lot to learn. The founders of the breed steered the GSD away from what they started with and no responsible breeder for working or conformation would ever consider returning the structure of the GSD to what it was in 1901.  Your statements regarding health or hip problems can not be backed up with facts. I would encourage you to learn the reasons behind GSD structure that are necessary for the working ability of the animal and there are good posts in the past that are relevant to this subject. You need to know this before you start throwing out puppies. No two GSD's are alike and you will find that they vary structurally to different degrees and that there is a range of these different points of structure that is acceptable and extremes on both ends that are not acceptable. This is off topic and probably should have been done in a PM however I did not think it wise to leave a health issue stand for less informed viewers to hold as fact without a rebutal. 

Markobytes - had considered posting something similar,
but yours is much better put !  

Thanks, Marko!
My words would have been less polite...

The GSD in this pedigree is really close to your dog in appearance that it could be an ancestor: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/dog.html?id=402802

Kalifornia, she's beautiful and she has that incredible German Shepherd light in her eyes that I've never seen in any other breed. She does look like a purebred old fashioned German Shepherd, Rin Tin Tin style. She has a wonderful expressive face.

Lots of us like the old fashioned style. If someone else wants a German Shepherd that looks like a frog or a hyena and has a chow face, it's a free country and they can suit themselves. But there's not a damn thing wrong with your German Shepherd, Kalifornia. Don't apologize to anyone for her, and don't ever let someone make you feel bad about what she is. Yeah, she could wind up with hip dysplasia or God knows what else, but so could any German Shepherd. People can spend big bucks on a fancy hyena style Shepherd and have the dog drop dead of a bad heart at six months old, or go into kidney failure and die at two years old, or get crippled by hip dysplasia or degenerative myelopathy. There are responsible breeders who breed old fashioned German Shepherds to be family/companion dogs, and there are irresponsible show dog breeders who breed sick dogs or dogs that act like turds. There are also irresponsible family/companion dog breeders and responsible show dog breeders. You can't tell anything from a pile of fancy trophies or the lack of them. Just get the kind of German Shepherd you like, and never mind what someone else likes.

I hope your dog is as happy and sound as she looks, and I wish you lots of happy years together. She looks like a gem. If I was in the market for a dog, I’d be trying to buy her from you. All the best, and Happy New Year!

Pity the 'old fashioned' American style, "Rinty"-like dogs
didn't look all that much like the vast majority of original
German imports to the States ...
Love it when the history of the breed gets rewritten to
suit individuals preferences.

     This is a little off topic the original poster came here seeking advice on what their dog could be mixed with if not a pure bred GSD. I am respectful of the feelings of the OP and do not wish to belittle a beautiful, happy member of their family. What bothers me is the term "old fashioned German Shepherd" that keeps popping up. Hundmutter's last post was direct and to the point, the history of the breed is getting rewritten to suit individual preference. I did a google search on old fashioned German Shepherds and visited the first four sites that popped up and had to stop before I got sick. all sites were advertising breeding bitches at or above a hundred pounds, males 120 to 150 pounds. Common were white GSD's mixed in the blood lines washing out the colours. Lacking were working tittles except one breeder did claim to have Schutzhund tittles on some of the dogs. The founders of the breed wanted a medium sized dog suited for work, they also bred the white out of them for good reason. "Old fashioned German Shepherds is a euphemism for a breeder that throws whatever over sized monsters they have together and the term has nothing to do with how this breed was or should be it is just a marketing gimmick to excuse poor breeding. If you hear the term "old fashioned German Shepherd" used by a breeder, run it is not a German Shepherd Dog. Again I thought it best not to put this in a PM as I wish that less knowledgeable readers will not be tricked into thinking that these dogs are GSD's or that they are superior in any way. I also am not describing the original poster's dog.