Training GSD for hunting and retreiving waterfowl and game - Page 4

Bubba, your comments and reflections regarding the breed on the above post is the best post I've seen on this forum in a long time.

Its sad when the best one can contribute is still mostly bullshit. The type of herding Gsd's were bred for have all the traits that make it perfect for ALL the jobs we have for them, including biting.

Zdog,
Spot on!

i hate to type so being clear in my post is difficult but, I made the analogy about sport trained dogs to LE dogs then Olympic trained humans of the original games {GREEK ]  to point out the training of warriors. Better to grapple and sprint than to try to maim and kill one another to learn war tactics. Better to jump and sprint to keep in shape for the days of real battle. Who can lead well? Who can follow well? Sport and war had a connection. A dog biting an ''artificial arm'' is like a human throwing a javelin. A little different to throw a spear at a live person but that is not sport. If you can not hit a target, could you hit a person? The first reg GSD had to herd sheep as a prerequisite for breeding. There were test of the dogs ability. As Europe industrialized the brain trust in the SV saw Schutzhund and a connection to LE and Military as a way to keep and create value in the breed. I see the prey drive  in sport dogs as very attractive to the LE group as a detector dog. This thread is about bird dog trained GSD. Not another chance to rant about sport trained dogs. 

The natural retrieving ability of the gsd works for anything. No reason at all they can't retrieve birds. Teach them how to hold the bird, that might not come naturally but they are very capable of learning the difference.

Except for the subject matter, this could very well be the off topic forum.....LOL

 All dogs are descended from the grey wolf (the present state of the science) and the grey wolf hunts all types of game from rodents and birds to moose and grizzly bears.  The mother grey wolf brings killed game in whole or in pieces to her young when possible .. I think this is what we call retrieving.  The German Shepherd has no drives that are not present in other breeds in equal or greater quantity and quality.  What sets the GSD apart is their intelligence and versatility.  Plenty of dogs with courage who can bite .. I think those are called Pit Bulls.  The lop sided emphasis by some on biting sports and law enforcement is a detriment to the GSD as a breed.  Plenty of breeds that can do those jobs better or cheaper.  I think those are called Malinois.  

The GSD I had who retrieved squirrels for me also would go fetch and carry a roll of electric wire for hot wiring livestock fence. Those rolls easily weigh ten pounds or more...takes a dog with some strength to carry it. But he would also carry a dead squirrel without damaging it...he just knew the difference in being allowed to eat the squirrel and bringing it to me. That dog would carry anything I directed him to, I'd give him big bolt cutters and send him to deliver them to a person two hundred yards away, he would go at a run, holding the bolt cutters firmly by the metal handles.
Yes, a good GSD is capable of doing most any job any other dog is bred to do, including working in harness.

The German Shepherd has no drives that are not present in other breeds in equal or greater quantity and quality
You believe that?

Plenty of dogs with courage who can bite .. I think those are called Pit Bulls
You think that's what a pit bull is?

I can agree on intelligence, but that's about the only thing you said that I would agree with.

I will say bite work is not something that should define the breed.