Breeding for standard faults. - Page 2

Speaking of breeding without care for faults, my vet does BAER hearing testing, and he had Dalmatians for years.  Some of the show breeders refused to do the testing, thinking the didn't need it.  Finally he convinced them to do it, and they found some of their dogs who had already had many litters, were deaf in one ear or almost completely deaf in both.  Of 100 points in judging, color and markings are a QUARTER of the points.  Possibly breeders were so focused on getting great spots that didn't intermingle, they neglected to ensure their progeny could hear.

I personally dont believe in standards (as standards are always changing) but i think people should always remember the original looking gsd's and aim for that if they want to a gsd to truely look like a true gsd

Isn't that an oxymoron? Is it not a standard to aim for something, whether it be the 'original looking GSD' or something else?

Standards are NOT always changing!  Any breed club worth its name jealously guards its standard, because the goal of a breed club and breed stewards are to pass on the SAME dog (only improved through breeding toward the standard)  to the next generation. Otherwise you just have one fad after the other.  The standards stay the same, (in most breeds) with only changes for clarification, however, show judges can and do influence fad breeding by selecting dogs in direct contridiction to the standard.  Such,evidently is the case with the SL GSD in Germany. (Yes, the AKC GSD has faults, but a roached back has not been one of them). 



In this picture, if you look at the spot directly above the 2nd to last rib, where the vertabrae change direction, THIS, not the loin, is where the "break" is occuring in the really deformed "winners" I have seen.  A long, sloping croup is fine, but it HAS to start PAST the last rib! 

Is it allowed to post a pic of a dog showing this fault? If not, there is a video which is posted here now and then, showing a famous stud and his progeny at a show in Germany, and if I remember rightly, the first several dogs showed this deformaty to a severe degree.   

Just FYI, Giord, if you look at the standards they will say the last time they were officially changed.  The AKC GSD standard, probably not changed in at leat 15 yrs I'm just guessing.  But the way certain judges favor certain things, that is what can change.  Maybe that is the 'political' part of it, too.

It seems that it always ends up being working dog people discussing this issue, doesn't it?

Only concentrating on what is wrong is a waste of time. Good examples can also be found.

A KKL1 V rated bitch owned by a friend of mine:





Another KKL 1 bitch, that is IMO only as close as one is likely to come to the standard in both movement and structure. The sable coloring is a gift from the W/L in her background.

There will always be people who only point out what is wrong with others. It is good that there are also people with not only the ability to read and understand the standard but to present their understanding on the fuzzy end of the leash.

Rik

Sorry for the oversize pic. I will try to edit it.
Rik

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/structure_information/1.html



Here is a slightly different set of angles - this is shown on under the subheading about the breed and the tab  "standard" on the left hand side of this database.

One reason to be concerned is that at least in the UK the truly poor breeding of the GSD is getting the humaniacs involved.  THAT concerns us ALL.  Its easy to sit back and say "don't complain if its just not your taste" and quite another to help police OURSELVES so we don't have the current KC mess they have in the UK.  It could happen here in theUS anytime now.