OLD STYLE GERMAN SHEPHERD - Page 2

Old style is such a vague term.



Straight back, long legs,
Maximum.

From the past,


This was a Kirschental dog.

GSDPack, I am impressed by the number of Olderhill dogs that are suitable for police service. Normally, a breeder will be lucky to have one or two good prospects in a litter, while with the Olderhill dogs, the majority of the litter will have suitable temperment and drives. (I'm referring to the ones being bred in Sussex, England, specifically for police work. This is NOT the same as the kennel I linked to, which is in South Africa, though their dogs are line-bred on the dogs from England.) Yet these same dogs also make good household pets: the officers take them home to their families at the end of the day. That's the way the GSD was meant to be. It bothers me greatly to see our breed being replaced by other breeds in jobs where it once was the breed of choice (police service, seeing eye dog.)  Some say this is due to changes in our society, and how people view the GSD. I think it's more due to breeders not paying enough attention to temperment, and producing a clear-headed, well-balanced dog in their efforts to win that next ribbon, trophy or title.

OTOH, after examining the Olderhill (South Africa) site more carefully, I am NOT so impressed anymore by their kennel,  and how it is run. Pedigree information is totally lacking. On another thread someone started about the kennel, it seems they have a number of unplanned matings. They do rescue work, and have more dogs than they can adequately look after.  They charge 10X the going rate for their GSD puppies. Also, I'm not happy with any breeder that deliberately breeds wolfdogs.

Someone once suggested to Tina Barber that she consider using these dogs as outcrosses for her Shiloh Sheperds. She declined, because there was so little information being kept by the breeder. on litters born, and what strengths and faults the pups showed. This sort of info is VITAL for any serious breeder. Therefore, I no longer think the Olderhill kennel is 'doing it right'!

The police dog kennel in England, OTOH, may be doing things in a more professional manner. I don't have enough information about them to be sure of that, though.

As for the size of the dogs, well, a large dog is going to be more intimidating to a criminal, and a dog being used for police work isn't going to be thrown out of the show ring for being larger than the breed standard. What matters is that he can do the work he's trained for. One of the Olderhill dogs was given special permission to keep working past his 10th birthday (manadatory retirement age for police dogs) so they are obviously strong enough to do the work, and not break down, despite their large size.  Compare that to contemporary German dogs, some of which are dying of old age at 10 years! 

I believe I have an old style dog myself.



She is on the small side, about 60lbs, but she is go anywhere do anything and is a natural herding dog.

Melissa