Showlines, Working Lines - The ability to work - Page 5

However, let us consider the part played by trainers.  Have the top working trainers been so wowed by working ability that they have abandoned the breed standard? 

Abandoned? That makes the assumption that they ever embraced it. Trainers are not breeders. They are end product users. Trainers will always find the dog that suits their needs best. If the SL dogs had the better structure and drives for work, we would see more trainers buying them, just like we see more trainers buying Malinois. Why would a trainer buy a dog that he can’t train for the job?  This problem rest squarely on the shoulders of the breeders.

More trainers may be buying more Malinois but, with time, when the numbers are as many as the GSD they will face the same problems as we seen now.  Not every Malinois breeder will produce high drive animals.  Malinois at this time are flavour of the month so to speak.

When does a “flavor of the Month” simply become the new flavor? I have been hearing this “flavor of the month” stuff for the last 20 years and during that time the Malinois has continued to become more popular. The Malinois has already been down the path the GSD is taking. There have also been several splits of working Malinois people.  Remember it’s an older breed. The show versus working line debate has been finished in the breed for decades. Much of the Malinois success of today is rooted in the turmoil of the past. The problem with the GSD is the SV and it’s silly breeding rules. It’s that simple. Too much control over the breed has been placed in the hands of too few. I don’t think that the Malinois will suffer the same fate as the GSD. Yes there will always be horrible breeders that produce bad dogs. But the Malinois lacks one huge controlling influence (SV) like the GSD. If one national club screws things up they can’t take the whole breed with it.

Since many people here like to bring up the Malinois on this GSD board I thought I will start throwing in a few facts that some of you may not know.

·         The standard for both the GSD and the Malinois call for dogs of the same height.

·         The Malinois is an older breed of dog than the GSD.

·         Malinois is not really a breed. It’s a variety of the Belgian Shepherd. Technically calling the Malinois a breed is the same as calling a sable GSD a breed.

·         The first police dogs in the US were Belgian Shepherds.

·         Three US presidents have owned Belgian Shepherds- all Malinois.

Hello Chris

I accept everything that you have said about the Malinois and my comment "flavour on the month" came from the fact that so much reference is made about the breed on this board in this post and other posts.

I do not think that the SV rules are "silly".   The SV set out the basic requirements for breeding but they do not say to each of it's members you must mate your female with such and such a dog, or, a particular family line.  The choice of breeding partners is left to each and every member.   Waiting for dogs to mature to a reasonable level (2 years) is sensible because the breeder will have some idea of direction when selecting a partner for their dog.  The requirement of Sch H1 is very basic in terms of work, however, it does demonstrate that the animal has learning power and can work to a minimum level (provided it is an authentic Sch H1).   Not every dog can reach the utmost heights in it's working career, even a Malinois.  The hips and elbow requirement is obvious.

The SV has many faults but it does have a system.   The best system to fail is to have no system at all.  The SV provides a considerable amount of information which, if used properly, is of great assistance to breeders.   However, the human failing comes into play in either, not understanding the information, not knowing where to get the information, ignoring the information, or just following the leader.   When Hermann Martin was President many people followed him, quite blindly, in my opinion.  I do not understand why senior judges at their meeting gave such little resistance to his methods.   In achieving the type of animals that we see today, in my opinion, the sacrifices were too great.   Work drive being one of them.

The biggest problem for the SV is not it's system but the lack of enforcement when the rules have been broken (false pedigrees, bought Sch h qualifications etc) and the out and out corruption at the highest levels.

regards

Mackenzie