The decline of the German Shepherd character - Page 58

Hans, thank you, I have a quality life and you could benefit from a refresher in basic reading comprehension. As I said , on topic in my above post, the decline of the German shepherd character is largely due to breeders who only produce puppies that are easy to sell to the pet market....I'll add, with no regard to workability.

Well to stay on the topic:

Joan:largely due to breeders who only produce puppies that are easy to sell to the pet market. 

That is one point of view. But I would say that is only a small part of the problem. The problem is wht is being bred and also and most importantly what is not being bred. 

In order to advance breeding of hard dogs ( hard dog is a dog who will not give up on his task in face of strong negative challenge)   you need enough people who can handle them so that you can sell them such dogs. Also - There are at least 5 bloodlines and to  maintain some of the less popular lines like 2nd and 4th you again need people who can handle such dogs. 5th line also may produce some hard dogs. So we are talking large number of dogs and western culture who can not handle them. That is what leads to   the decline of the breed.  To breed  one - three  litters per year or in the lifetime is not going to cut it. There need to be many breedings by excellent breeders in order to   see what the dogs produce and then run with it.  z Pohranicni straze had available thousands of dogs for testing of the parents and then testing of what they produced.  We are trying to  maintain such dogs but the western culture is flooded with sport and show dogs. Unbalanced prey monsters or overangulated mutants. There are some gov  programs like the one  in Sweden and  in Canada. Sweden has pretty decent testing system. I do not know much about Canada.  Most past gov programs in USA have  been   run  by veterinarians and not trainers nor experienced breeders and they were and are  mostly failure.

 That is how I see it and I have  lived it. .... for 47 years by now.    

 Joan you may post  some derogatory remark about my post because I "Hans" posted it but that does not mean that what I am saying is false. I suggest that you take it or leave it. 

 Prager Hans

 

The decline of the German shepherd character is largely due to breeders who only produce puppies that are easy to sell to the pet market, with no regard for workability. ( suggestion declined)

    If you want a dog with strong character, you have to build it up. There is no dog, regardless of the breed, that is going to behave in any manner it is not taught.

    You can take a dog out of the 'hardest' dogs/lines, and if it is not reared correctly from day one...you get nothing.

    How can anyone expect more from a dog than what you put into it. You get what you give. It infuriates me when so many say the breed is not what it used to be. It is true, there are so many breeders that care more about the money, than their dogs.

   How can you truly know what your dog is about when he/she, they, live in seperate buildings even . Why should that dog feel devoted to you. Because you feed them, spend an hour or two a day, if the dog is lucky, with them. Every dog deserves to eat, regardless.

   If you start with a puppy that has been exposed to many things at an early age, is well socialized and treated as they should be, there would be less timid, fearful dogs.

    Why would anyone buy a puppy that is kept in a small kennel area, with very little socialization....

(Caught myself there, i just made that mistake myself because I took someones word for it and am now dealing with a nightmare....ok, forget that question). It is stupid to get a dog from them conditions is a better statement.

    There are many breeders that do take pride in their dogs, and enjoy the fact that people are very happy with their dogs, and come back for another.

    And just because someone buys a German Shepherd for a pet, does not mean they are not expecting to get, a German Shepherd. A dog of great character and intelligence, a loyal family protector, active and involved in everyday living. A dog 'capable' of doing what ever task it is asked to do. WHATEVER THAT MAY BE!

    My dogs live with me, and each other. They live in a pack. They run and play for hours on end. They are not kenneled or housed away from me.  They thrive on pleasing me, and spending time with me.

   They want to be taught things, go places with me, and i have no doubt, if someone threatened me in any manner, they would have a big problem on their hands (and ass).

   They are not fear biters either, they will look you right in the eye, but that is what I teach and encourage from birth. Maybe it's that there is strength in numbers, but I have some nice, bold dogs.

Ps...I have three of my dogs now on police duties....it's not about what every dog does, it's what it CAN do, if only it is taught to do so.

there is no decline, there are plenty of good dogs around, and the concept of everything was better in the old time is a joke

there are much more pups born today than in the past and Joan is right, many are bred to be pets and if you take those as example against old time BSP dogs you are comparing apples to pears

todays training methods are allowing softer dogs to win and breed, but if that is what sport people want so be it, it is like the show people, they want something that fit their needs, so be it

next to that enough good dogs available also from IPO sport lines, and a good strong dog doesnot mean it it cannot be handled by most people, a handleragressive or crazy dog is not my idea of a strong dog

 

the concept of lines as used by Hans is cought up by todays knowledge about genetics and breeding cannot be based on sires lines only, if it where only that easy

strong dogs come from strong females and there are enough breeders who recognize that and keep strong dogs in their kennels to produce dogs that are as strong as the old timers, or even better

Duke, once again you nailed it. Great post!

 

 Duke I.m agree with most of your points.

 

Can you give examples from  kennels who producing the more harder and  stronger and serious dogs ?

In the Netherlands ,Germany, Belgium.,USA

genes are like letters, even when they are mis-stacked, words can still be read, he who has the time and will can re-stack them correctly.

Ibrahim, I can read it as easily as if it was written correctly..I can even 'interpret' the 'written text' ;-)