Opinions please! - Page 3

Brittany, do long coated, collie-mixes do well in Schutzhund?

This is a puppy that I listed for sale. She is not one I bred. I purchased the female (dam) as an obedience prospect for a friend. She had too much drive for the friend so I decided to keep her after working her myself and seeing what she had. The dog was purchased without the buyer (or myself) knowing that she was pregnant. That was told to us later. The sire and dam have no titles, but they are both under 2 years of age and are both in training for schutzhund. The litter was bred by 'von treue freundschaft' the grand-sire's breeder. Just thought I would clear that up.

Thanks Vom Brunhaus, I certainly thought so! Talk to you soon, Krista

Wow 4 breeds of German Shepherds, That's a new one. Showline Workingline German American I disagree, There is One German Shepherd but SOME FOLKS HAVE GONE TO EXTREMES !!!!! And that's the REALITY and the DIFFERENCE !!! The breed is ONE German Shepherd. The EXTREMES ARE MANY "VARIANCES" Of Drive, Confirmation, and Location.

Ask for opinions on this board and you are sure to get them. If you want to do Schutzhund then please do yourself a favor and keep looking. Do not be misled into thinking that show lines can work! Get working lines and you will be happier. Yes some show lines can work, but that is the exception and not the rule. I made this mistake and bought an Arlett/Mittelwest male, everything in the pedigree was Sch 3 and the mother produced the 2000 siegerin (sp?), but my male has no real working drives. When you want to do schutzhund you want to spend your time training, not trying to create drives or build drives and all that mess. It is far easier to work with a higher drive pup when doing work. This dog looks like something that would be in a local paper for $350. Go with lines like Fero, Mink, Karthago, Tiekerhook, Troll and you will get what you want for Schutzhund sport. Good luck!!

Thanks all of you for great advise! I am going with a import female pup from the Czech Republic from great lines. She is only $500.00 more but from the looks of it she is well worth it. Nothing but SchH 2 to 3 in her pedigree.Thank you again for all the helpfull advise! M.

Personally I will not buy a pup sight unseen. Pictures mean nothing. Don't be fooled into thinking just a great pedigree guarantees a high quality pup. The pedigree is important but not the end to all.

You could probably mix a high drive showline with a high drive workingline and get crappers because it's not that either dogs are bad, it's just the outcrossing...it produces results more variable than if the breeder had a better goal in mind. So if you want a dog for a certain purpose, go with that kind of breeder who knows what they're doing, and has produced the kinds of dogs you want before.

Pedigree is one piece of the equation for making a dog. What the dog's pedigree says it *should* be often is very different from what it actually is. Use all tools before you to make a good deicision. Look at pedigree including working titles, hips scores, and trends. Look at parents for direct evidence of whether phenotype is matching genotype. Look at aunts and uncles as well as previous offspring of parents. Don't choose a pup now unless it's really the right pup. One is at the disadvantage when importing. Good luck.