German Shepherd dog

Could it be that they cannot stand the cold in Germany

Steve

When the standard was first drawn up, it was probably based on a mixture of observation of which type of dog seemed most capable, theory of why they should be so and a dash of attractive appearance.  The description of the perfect German Shepherd Dog for breeders to aspire to, since it was still in the making then.  Since the longcoat with undercoat was not excluded from breeding then, I can't see any reason why it should be now.  The longcoat with no undercoat is at a disadvantage, same as a normal coat with no undercoat would be, but since they don't seem to crop up, it was probably not thought necessary to include them by just excluding lack of undercoat.

Margaret N-J

Actually, I think this is a good question and would like to know why too.  I'm hoping one of our many learned breed historians will chime in. 

To create more uniformity in the breed?

The vision of Max von Stephanitz, which even today is cherished by many of us who love the breed, was to standardize, to "fix Type" in, the many variations of the shepherd's dog he found all over Germany and many adjoining lands. Some were shaggy, others were short-coated. Some were scrawny, some high in the rear, some had ears that did always stand up. But all that he incorporated into the new "breed" association in 1899 had jobs they worked in....

....Between the two big wars, the pastime of exhibition and competition grew, designed to select the dogs that looked like they were best qualified to produce the next generation. Coat length and colors, body size and proportions, ear and tail carriage: all these were added to the evaluation of character and some evidence of utility.

~Fred Lanting http://siriusdog.com/article3.php?id=370

Kaffirdog, you are correct in what you say, but I think the main reason the long-coated dog often appears in police service is that they are an otherwise perfect dog save for their coat type/length. This type of coat will not pass a breed survey and these dogs are usually cheaper than one with a "correct" coat who may have a show/breeding career ahead of him/her.

Personally, I like the long stock-coated dogs and the long-coats as well. I never bred for them on purpose (and never will) but I owned  a very nice one until she died of old age and I did once produce one (1) long stock-coated puppy in a litter. That is when I discovered that one of my bitches was definitely a carrier of the long stock-coat gene.

Regards,

Bob-O

Hey STEVE 1 ....Milan just happens to be standing in knee deep snow....HA HA  lol 

Here's one for ya,

Why do you think the SV DQ's White GSD's?

The shorter haired stock coat may have made for a better weather resistant and low maintence coat.  We have something called a Kenai River Husky in Alaska, a big husky strong husky dog which was bred by the native peoples here as a sort of "draft dog" for pulling heavy loads.  Most Alaskans are familiar with the long coated Kenai River Huskies, but in fact, the dogs preferred by the natives had a shorter stock coat with a dense undercoat.  The long coated dogs were ones they gave away or sold to non-natives as not being preferred for the work of pulling heavy sleds. 

Well, Steve, I would have except he is still in Germany and that pic was taken in Germany,...He will be living in  Oskosh, Michigan in a few weeks...so he will see snow every winter..so he better be able to stand the cold.

YellowRose

'Well ill go to sea'   Looks like he can stand the German Winter okay, Snow or no Snow, just as i said, does not look like he is shrivelling upwith the cold there

In England Border Collies live outside 24/7, what coats do most have over there Short coats without  undercoats

My Collie 'Charlie' never suffered from the weather or Cold during his 14 years outside, and most Farmers Dogs over ther only have a Box stuck outside, No pens at all to go into, at least every farmer i knew, and at that was dozens from North, South, East and West of England

looked out of the kitchen window last night at  about midnight, both Pups were laying down outside there Kennel

Temp was about 2%  below freezing centigrade, So i really do not know if they feel the cold as some other species do

If they were mal nourished then of course they would just the same as any living thing

Steve

Still asking the same question - why did the SV DQ longcoats in the first place?

Yellowrose, he is beautiful.