Shepherd Variations?? - Page 1

In trying to follow that thread about mixing King Shepherds and Shilohs with German Shepherds and them having AKC papers, I was wondering how many different variations are there?  I saw a thread about Pandas, and there are requests for the  oversized, or working lines, or  show dogs.  White shepherds too.  How can you tell what is reputable and paperwork is legitamate?

Reputable? What do you mean? There is a standard and most of the dogs you mention do not follow the standard.

Here is a link to the breed standard on this website:  http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/info/15.html

Here is a link to the AKC breed standard:  http://www.akc.org/breeds/german_shepherd_dog/

If people love the breed as they say they do, THEY WILL BREED TO STANDARD.  Without the dedicated work of breeders over the past 100 years breeding TO STANDARD, the German Shepherd Dog would not be the beautiful, intelligent dog it is today.  Yes, ALL dogs have faults, even the big show and working trial winners.  That's nature. 

So to answer your question - there is ONE standard set by each country.  Whether  you are breeding to the German standard or the American standard, that's it.  There are no other "variations."  Yes, of course, oversize dogs, undersize dogs, pandas (rarely), kinked tails, other faults of course show up.  Again, that's breeding, but if you are not striving to the standard of your breed, it won't be long until you lose a lot of other things because you were not careful.

How to tell if a breeder or a registry is legitimate

They keep careful records on their dogs. Look for pedigrees that have the kennel name going back several generations. This means the breeder has been breeding his/her own line of dogs for awhile, and really cares about the breed. When you ask about the ancestors, they should be able to tell you all about their temperment, weak points and strong points as well as showing you health certification and titles the dog has won.

Look for titles on the dogs, and learn what the titles mean. Most any dog can get a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and a Companion Dog certificate (CD) is fairly easy to get, too. Other titles such as agility, herding and schutzhund are harder to get, and take a lot of work. Conformation titles, such as Ch. are nice, but they don't tell you if the dog can work.

Good breeders offer health guarantees on hips and usually certain genetic diseases as well. Ask then to show you the sire and dam's OFA certification for hips and elbows.

Good breeders invite you to the kennel to see the pups and the parents, if they are on site. If they want to meet you somewhere to hand a pup over to you, ask yourself "Why don't they want me to see their kennel?"

Breeders who breed outside the standard will not be able to get conformation titles on their dogs, unless they have formed their own registry, and have their own shows, or show their dogs as a rare breed. This is why it is difficult to know if this type of breeder really cares about the breed, or if they are just in it for the money. (And some of them are, especially the ones that advertise non-standard dogs as "RARE" and sell them for more than normally coloured pups.

A good breeder will ask you questions about what sort of home you are going to give the dog and what you want to do with it, to make sure the dog is a good fit for you.

There are lots more ways of telling (there's a very long thread about this somewhere) but those are some of the basics!

Tess makes some good points about the breed standard. The breeders of non-standard dogs who are REALLY serious have formed their own registries for their dogs, and written up their OWN breed standard. Some of these registries are very focused on trying to do things right. The white shepherd folks keep VERY meticulous records about their dogs, They have a registry that covers every imaginable genetic and health problem, and owners are expected to enter their dog's health data. A breed standard is like a road map. You can't know what you are trying to achieve with a breeding program unless you have a 'map' or a standard that shows you where you are going.