Which is the better way to breed. - Page 3

I remember on earlier threads everyone stating that pups are a crap shoot. You never can take to the bank what you are going to get.  It has taken me a bit to fully understand those statements.  But I look at breedings like Jenni and I understand the statement with much more understanding.  You just have to do your best to cover the odds.  In other words you have to spend the time to do your research.  Jenni throw one my way on a co ownership and we will see what turns out.

If you're serious, email me. 

In the SL world, I have started with average dogs with exceptional temperament, grips, drives and working ability and am slowly working toward conformation that will land my kennel name in the top quarter in conformation shows. I'd rather breed an all around good dog then sacrifice temperament and working ability for "the look of the day". Recently a pup of mine placed 2nd out of 8 in a regional conformation show. In the judges critique, comments were made about the conformation and gait but also about the temperament and drive the pup showed. Several of the other puppies were from and or out of VA parents.

The biggest hurdle I'm facing is that most SL puppy buyers want couch potatoes and most WL puppy buyers won't consider a redhead.

sitas Mom were you at the south east regional or the south west? 

I remember now you were south west

rtdmmcintyre - near houston, tx

Please don't take this as bash, but in reference to comment that WL buyers won't consider a redhead....I think a major reason is many W L buyers today have done limited research at least through Internet, and they have learned that genetics is very important in helping to make decisions in the GS world. They have also learned that "most" red head breeders breed for conformation first and working second, and they also read that the SL VA dogs that they see videos of not looking good or confident in protection routines; are the same bloodlines as the SL breeders that are careful about breeding for work ethic....and so in trying to load deck in their favor (since pups are crapshoot) they often won't consider a red head(SL). I have heard this thinking or variations of this thinking many times when puppy buyers are seeking advice on lines and state why they WANT a WL. For those of you that are objective, please don't take what I said as criticizing SL, but often through Internet and videos, people have come to these conclusions. Though this is very limited information to make a puppy buying decision on, it is very compelling to a puppy buyer with limited involvement in the breed. BTW, their are some people who contact me and want advice on buying a good redhead puppy.....contrary to what some may think, I don't discourage them, but rather send them to breeders that I know that breed SL with good working aptitude and structure first, though I must admit that the number of these breeders that I have knowledge and confidence in has dwindled greatly. Just my thoughts on what Sitasmom said.

i am going to offer this pedigree as an example of what can be done when breeding wl to sl. 
http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=1889865-ole-von-arlett
as with any breeding, it should be done with real purpose in mind, not just for the sake of
putting wl to sl just to do it :(  there should be purpose & careful planning involved.  as with
any other breeding, you cannot look at it as a finished product, rather that you have something
to work with.  you must look down the road at least 3 generations for where you are planning
on going with this else you will fall flat on your face.  knowing something of the dogs in the
pedigree above, i would say they have a very good chance of success.  at least they know
what these dogs produce & have a very good idea of what the outcome will be.  breeding dogs
who have yet to be proven producers will not give the same results.  IMHO this sort of
breeding is best left to folks who have known, trained & bred these dogs for generations. 
i do wish you luck, but please proceed with caution. 
pjp
 

Excellent posts, especially Ziegenfarm 

ziegenfarm, very interesting breeding indeed!  For a better idea of what that breeding produced, here's a link to the female in the litter [aptly named Only] taken more recently.  Beautiful bitch with a much better shoulder than is usually seen in working line dogs... They're just 16 months of age now, so it will be intriguing to see where the breeding goes from this point forward, and how these dogs acquit themselves on the trial field.