Longhairs are coming back? - Page 2

This rumor has been going around quite some time. As of now I have not heard anything indicating the opening of a breedbook for LC's within the SV. But then again, what do I know ?

My 31/2 year old female is a longer coat but not the really thick coat which I have seen on other long hairs. I purchased a male, now 8 months, from the same breeder but from a different bloodline. There were three males in the litter and two of them were long hairs.

I am not getting into the discussion if longcoats should be used for breeding or not. As a SV member in good standing, I follow whatever regulation the SV will come up with.

Yes, there have been rumours about the SV thinking of bringing the longcoats back as a "variety". So far, it has always been voted down. Currently, there is a study group in the SV with SV judge H-P Rieker heading it. They are working on details, including FCI permission (remember the standards would need to be changed). Once that is done, it is supposed to go to the delegates meeting for a vote. If it is voted down there, regulations prohibit it from putting it back on the agenda for 4 years. So, it will all depend on the delegates meeting on May 31 and June 01.

And yes, it might be a financial matter. There are two clubs in Germany (not FCI recognized) who promote the longcoat GSD with trials, shows and breed surveys. Some of these dogs are bred by their registered breeders and receive papers from these clubs, but a lot of these dogs come from the SV breed registry. These clubs take a lot of revenue away from the SV.

1) www.lsvd-net.de Langhaar-Schäferhunde-Verband-Deutschland e.V.

2)) www.asvd.de Altdeutscher Schäferhundeverband Deutschland e. V. You will find a lot of the workingline longcoats here as well. Interestingly, neither club is hesitant in mixing show and workinglines.

Chris

My first GSD was a coat; he soaked up water like a sponge.  I think it depends more on the texture of the guardhairs than the length.

My first GSD as a child was a long coat.  I love the breed as a whole, I have a short hair, but does anybody on here know of where to look to get a long coat GSD w/ a great temperment w/ children and a superior intellect for obedience or agility/flyball etc.  I don't know where to start looking so any help would be appreciated.  It could be a specialty long coat breeder or even a conformance breeder who has a puppy w/ a genetic anamoly.  Thx.

It's almost always a financial matter. All the rules keep changing and weakening because of these "financial matters" political matters. Poo on it all.

Thanks for the reply on the water shedding ability of long coats, I was very curious about that.  The standard goes with the double coat because of it's water repellent/weather resistant abilities, and it seemed to me some or even most LC s could do the same.

Veronica

Hi Veronica,

Living in Alaska you probably know that sleddog drivers shun long, soft coats. The don't shed water like "normal coats", they form iceballs on their feet and between their toes and, if the weather is bad enough, the coat itself freezes  and can add a considerable amount of weight to the dog slowing it down so it can't keep up with the team.  I recently read an account of one driver who tried to use a long soft coat on his team, the dog came home in the basket wrapped in a cover. He swears he weighed it before and after the freeze and the ice added 40 lbs to the total weight of the dog. I've also heard of dogs with long, soft coats actually freezing fast to the ground during the night and losing some big hunks of fur when they stood  up in the morning thus exposing the skin to frostbite. I've seen sleddogs with longer coats, but they do not look soft to me - they stand out from the body. I think what is and what not is a long, soft coat is relative on what we happen to have in the backyard at any given time LOL. The only way to know for sure would be to put a  GSD with a long, soft coat to the test tending during a German winter. I'd be shocked if many survived, but that's just my opinion based on what I know about the survival characteristics of sleddogs. A long, soft coat is not a survival characteristic for those dogs and I doubt it would be for a tending dog either.

Overall,  I myself am not convinced a long, soft coat is good for any type of outdoor work in areas that are subject to freezing temps, rain, and snow.  Human intervention would help - boots to prevent ice balls or trimming the feet, clipping the guardhairs to make them shorter, stripping out mats and burrs, but I don't think most shepherds or Inuits ever carried tack boxes with them. Most dogs with long, soft coats would die in the tundra and I have to think they would not fare well in Germany during the winter tending 24/7.