shilo shepherds are not german shepherds - Page 3

I suggest you educate yourself about how new breeds of dogs get started, caninecountry. The GSD started out as a 'mutt', too. Von Stephanitz chose a number of different dogs with the characteristics he wanted, and began blending them together, selecting for the desired traits.

Queen Victoria supposedly crossed her collies with borzois. Does that make the current collie, which still carries the genes of her dogs a 'mutt'?  NO, it doesn't. It's a mutt only if the breeding continues with indiscriminate outcrossing to unrelated dogs, following no definite plan.

Prior to this crossing, the collie had a shorter muzzle. After the crossing with the borzoi, the muzzle became longer, but due to careful selective breeding of the offspring, the dog still looked like a collie, not a mutt!

To each his own, as I say   I have and breed big GSD, that's what they are.  100% German Shepherd Dogs.  Some even have dogs that trace to the old Shiloh kennels.  Hopefully nobody will have a heart attack, but if so...oh well.  I do not call my dogs typical and always make sure people are aware of this, but not everyone wants a show line or working line dog.  That's just how it is, and I don't think that people fighting about it on a message board is going to change the general public's opinion.  They need to be educated that MOST German Shepherd Dogs are medium to higher drive, and in the 60-90 pound range and are not for everyone.  Our dogs are an alternative.  Awaiting my hate mail...

My female GSD also traces to the old Shiloh (GSD) lines, but she's not oversized. To each his own, but IMO, if you're going to breed, you should breed to the breed standard. For GSD's that's a maximum of 26 inches.

If you want something bigger, get a Shiloh or a King Shepherd.

Not throwing out hate mail here, just expressing my opinion.

What REALLY disgusts me is the people who breed oversized GSD's, feed the until they're overweight, then BRAG about how heavy they are!    Now, that's not only ignorant, it's cruel to the dog.

Tina didnt make a better 'mousetrap' with her Shilohs, imo.

She watered down a the breed and made herself a tidy profit in so doing.
Had she dedicated herself to breeding better working GSDs, instead of marketing a designer breed, selling out for the Sheckels, the breed would be that much better off.  It needs good stewards.

Ive read her page.  
She did put alot of work into breeding her dogs. No question.

People pushing their dogs to be a certain "size" have other issues to deal with, in my opinion. They shouldn't MAKE their dog be a certain weight, some dogs are naturally larger...some AREN'T.  Just like people, that's how life goes.  And by naturally larger, I mean in proportion, lol.  I can tell you my dogs aren't overweight but I am sure people that have 120 pound dogs that are only 26" at the shoulder are a bit portly.  And Sunsliver, I don't consider your opinion hate mail, lol.  Everyone is entitled to their thoughts.  Hate mail I have received consisted of my dogs needing to be shot, drowned, put to sleep, etc. because they do not fit the ideal of the person writing the email.  Sick. 

If you saw my thread about my friend's puppies, you'll know I am hoping to get a pup from her litter.

Here's one of the reasons why.

The mother of the pups has a litter sister who is a service dog. Recently, the owner of this dog was forced out of her home due to mold problems.  She has mobility difficulties due to an accident which caused multiple fractures and damaged her spine. She can walk or stand for short periods, but is mostly dependent on a wheelchair.

She was trying to set up housekeeping in a non-handicapped hotel room, without her wheelchair, which hadn't arrived yet, when Mali, her SD started fussing. Thinking the dog was stressed out due to the strange environment, she just ignored her, and told her to hush.  The dog kept fussing, and finally came and grabbed her by the hand. The owner assumed she wanted to play, and again, ignored her.

Finally, Mali grabbed her by the shorts, pulled her over to the couch, and forced her to sit down.

The message sunk home. Your service dog thinks you're overdoing it...CHILL!!

Now, that's BRAINS!

And if I had the time, I could tell you a dozen more stories about other Shilohs showing similar intelligence. These stories are not from Tina, trying to advertise her breed, but from people I've met, or who posted them on the Shiloh forum.

As for the protective instinct, it's still very much there. However, the drive needed for top level sport is not. Not everyone wants or can handle a GSD's drives.

I checked out that other thread Sunsliver, they're all SO CUTE!  I'm partial to the coat myself, but they're all adorable!  Are you going to get the little girl?