Character of the German Shepherd Dog - Page 3

And you say "it MIGHT be able to do one or two of them excellent" but I say, "it MUST..."

I apologize Swarnednu, I wasn't able to understand your post correctly

The German Shepherd Dog must be, in its essential image, well-balanced, firm in nerves, self-confident, absolutely calm and impartial, and (except in tempting situations) amiable. He must possess courage, willingness to fight, and hardness, in order to be suitable as companion, watchdog, protector, service dog, and guardian.
 

~Translated by Fred Lanting

http://www.germanshepherddogs.org/sv-standard/

Swarnednu,

With all due respect, I think "aloofness" is as good a translation as, "absolutely calm and impartial" and "inquisitiveness" does not seem to appear at all, even here:

Character

The German Shepherd Dog must be well-balanced (with strong nerves) in terms of character, self-assured, absolutely natural and (except for a stimulated situation) good-natured as well as attentive and willing to please. He must possess instinctive behaviour, resilience and self-assurance in order to be suitable as a companion, guard, protection, service and herding dog. 

http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/166g01-en.pdf

 

 

"Aloofness is a noun meaning a state of being distant, remote, or withdrawn. Someone showing aloofness might be shy, or just really doesn't want to be around people."

And, that's how AKC people can describe their SHY dogs as Aloof. 😉

When we discuss the topic of this thread and comment on the falling standards in the traits of the breed we should also discuss where the breed is today, the reasons for the falling standards and what can be done to restore what has been lost.

Too many Breeders have been continually selecting dogs in their breeding programme which take us further and further away from the breed standard. By following the inbreed as has happened in the last twenty five years or so has been a big mistake. For sure, colour has been improved but for everything else something has been lost with every generation.

No breeder can say for sure what the characters will be like in the puppies. To make a selection at eight weeks is too soon to say with any certainty which animals will have a true GSD character. The development of this trait depends on outside influences such as who will rear the dogs and the methods that will be used in each phase of development and training. When I was breeding I would let the puppies run with their mothers for four or five months to help their development. The problem with this is that it can be expensive. Bearing in mind that many litters are fewer in numbers IMO I think that more people should consider the benefits of this approach if only to demonstrate to the breeder the consistency as to the quality of character and physical development throughout the litter. If there is no consistency throughout the litter then it calls into question the reasons for the selection in the breeding families. As breeding is not an exact science mistakes will be made along the way but on the plus side it will highlight the things that do not work and can be avoided in the future. Who knows perhaps the consistency will bring the breed closer to the breed standard and characters restored to a higher level.

Mackenzie

A suspicious GSD is not self-assured. An inquisitive GSD insists on KNOWING everything & everyone. If their owner is good to them, they should PREFER their owner after investigating the person or object, but first they should CONFIDENTLY CRAVE to investigate each new person or object as soon as the owner allows them to do so.

Godd post Mackenzie, and all friends

Mackenzie,

Almost agreed, but 4-5 months! I felt even 8 weeks are too much....

My opinion: puppies kept with their litter mates for too long learn only either to bully or be bullied, both unwanted.

As for learning from mother, a person who craves to own a GSD should also be able to teach a puppy better than its biological mother. After all, WE claim to be the most intelligent species....

But, it's an OPINION only.

aloof |əˈlo͞of| adjective

not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant: they were courteous but faintly aloof| an aloof and somewhat austere figure.

• conspicuously uninvolved and uninterested, typically through distaste: he stayed aloof from the bickering.

Not sure where you are getting your definition? I certainly don't use the word aloof, to mean shy, ever.

Also, synonyms include:

https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/aloofness