The decline of the German Shepherd character - Page 37

Whatever, vk.

I often see Sportwaffen dogs at OB trials and many earn advanced AKC titles so those dogs can do other things too. I can't tell if any have IPO titles since AKC does not include those titles in their reports. 

Per the database, this dog has earned an  IPO1, AD, CGC. 

May someone to translated me what mean IPO, AD, CGC...?

Milenko, the CGC is the Canine Good Citizen, details can be found on the net.

IPO 1,2,3-Schutzhund includes three different phases which are tracking, obedience, and protection. A dog must pass all three phases and have an overall passing score to earn a SchH title. The dog only has to compete once and pass to earn the title..

AD-Endurance test sometimes represented as a separate title, but required as part of the breed survey process in Germany. The dog needs to complete a 12 mile run.

Canine Good Citizen

https://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm

SMH, what is working dog structure? Working dog structure is the structure that you see when you see hundreds/thousands of certified SAR dog, Military dogs, LE dogs, herding dogs on sheep farms, etc. there are thousands and thousands of GS doing work today in society successfully....they have WORKING dog structure. there are many working dog trainers of vast experience and longtime legacies of preparing our breed for working in these industries....to think that people from afar have a better knowledge or understanding of structural working dog needs than these people is the height of arrogance that we often see in our breed and has helped the breed in the direction it is now. Some of you need to talk to real working dog trainers and see what their view is on what structure is successful in working.....of course theirs will be an informed opinion.....but I have always found that to be my best resource overall in evaluating subject matter.

The dogs of the sixties that won in show ring had good structure according to the judges, the standard didn't change, those dogs also looked and were the dogs that were used in working capacities, today's winning show dogs have evolved away from that structure, they are seldom seen in working capacity anymore, and the standard hasn't changed. (I am not bashing SL structure, I am merely stating facts)  Now, I'm not the brightest light on the tree, but I think that there may be a large reality correlation that can be surmised from those facts if a person is objective and not biased by their preferences. Working dog trainers don't have likes in terms of color, angular ion, head size, height, etc....they go with what is viable. One last thing, to show you how bad breed bias has become, if I took a VA dog from the early sixties, and brought him out today or posted his picture in real time with no caption, some of you would consider the dog butt ugly.......but the standard hasn't changed!!!

One last nugget, in order for this breed to stay healthy in terms of overall being, and character in particular, then breeders must breed litters for function and from that the best structured dogs be shown and awarded show titles. This formula preserves the legacy of the breed....anything else will lead to decline. I know that ship has passed, but it truly is the best way to keep the breed healthy.

 I have tried to skim through all  this and am late to  post. But I will say that the breed is a reflection of the culture in which the breed lives and which is using it.  Today culture  is  softer and gentler then it used to be, thus dogs are also more soft. If you like specific type of a dog, then you need to demand it from breeders. Vote with your dollar so to speak. There are plenty good breeders of correct working GSDs out there. 

 But  when I say  the culture is softer and gentler then what does it means? It means that most people can not handle tough working dogs  which were common in past. The character of the breed is a mirror of the demands and needs of today dog handlers. Believe me , to breed dogs which are tough working dogs is not a problem.What is a problem is to find people who can handle them. And thus it actually got so far that many traits, traits which made dog to be part of human pack are not valued  and are even considered fault   and thus undesirable. 

 Personally what concerns me most is a current trend of breeding dogs with  lack of inherited natural  protectiveness and substitute such lack of  natural protectiveness with prey drive instead. If you want to talk about decline of the breed, then if you did not mentioned it somewhere on these 47 pages, then that would be what I would consider disaster which needs to be talked about.