Saying Hail Mary's before typing this..... - Page 4

Cont.

and of an uncertain character, but with an outstanding movement; he was totally different whenever he entered the show ring. Utz like his father, Klodo, and his grandfather, Erich, was sold to the U.S

Too bad someone can't step in and do this now!

When this long awaited exhibition occurred in 1925, Captain V Stephanitz started rigorous individual judging, testing temperament and quickly eliminating any dogs that had this type of defect. In the collective test he watched the stamina, strength and stance, and finally, a virtually unknown dog was proclaimed Sieger. He was of a greyish pigmentation, short back, medium size, excellent stance and very good temperament.

Rather than asking who wrote the  standard, it might be more relevant to this thread to ask when it was written. As Lanting said in the link above, at one time it was commonly accepted that the ideal shoulder layback for most breeds was 90 degrees. With better equipment to measure angles, and more know-how regarding canine anatomy, we now realize that a 90 degree shoulder layback would not be possible.  That holds true for some other things too, maybe the angle of the croup, the rear angulation and so forth. Some points of the standard like angles, coat quality, feet, pasterns,  temperament, etc are meant to set survival characteristics. Others like eye color,  ear set and carriage, tail set and carriage is to set correct breed type.

Also keep in mind that when most breed standards were written, including the one for this breed, there was no such thing as stop action videography or any of the other technical devices available to us today to evaluate how dogs move and why. A good case in point was McDowell Lyons, at one time considered by many to be the  K-9 movement guru, who wrote in his famous book, "The Dog in Motion", that ONLY the GSD moved with a flying trot where all 4 feet left the ground for a split second. With the use of modern photography we now know that many other breeds also have a suspended trot, but in the GSD it is more exagerated so readily visible to the naked eye. 

I think that the authors of most breed standard did the best they could with what they had.  Horand would probably have been used at that time as the prototype for the ideal GSD and his type, temperament, and physical traits would have been the driving forces for the current breed standard. The wording would have been the result of eyeballing Horand while standing naturally, while working, and while in motion. It was all about common sense and what a GSD needed to get 'er done. Looking pretty was not in the equation; we added that later on.

I guess it would be correct to suggest that many breed standards are outdated and in need of revisions and some breed clubs have changed their standards, However, it's been my experience that it is not always a good thing as the changes are usually only cosmetic and intended to legitimize the current crop of top winning dogs. I've heard that the GSDCA is currently discussing revising the AKC standard and are working on changing their Illustrated Standard which can be viewed on their site on the internet. It's not rocket science to see that the illustrations there of the ideal GSD are nowhere near what is seen in the AKC show ring.

The biggest factor is what most have said here - individual interpretation. While some points are pretty much cut and dried like missing teeth, bad bites, long, soft coats, many more are not so clearly defined and there's where we get ourselves in trouble .

It sounds like Klodo was the prototype, not Horand. Interesting article, Golden Elk, I've never seen that before.  Thanks much for posting it. I love the history of this breed and dogs in general and we really need to never forget why any breed was "created" by man or evolved in its own.

Blitzen - thanks yourself for better explaining the point I was attempting to express earlier about making ammendments and "improvments" to the standard supported by the advantages of medical and technical advances not available to the breed founder during his lifetime. I'm sure Max would have made full use of thes tools if he were alive now.

GoldenElk, I'm sure you are correct. The Captain was a true visionary and he would certainly take advantage of all the modern tools available today. 

I really wish that someone with years of experience in this breed could be convinced to write a series of articles on the evolution of the GSD in the US. I can think of several who are well qualified as they have been there, done that. There is no substitute for actual hands-on experience.

Klodo v. Boxberg

Utz v Haus Schutting