Unsoundness in the modern day German Shepherd Dog - Page 6

i think misbeeb is taking Ambii critism of SOME GERMAN SHOWLINE ANIMALS to much to heart.she is not critising all S/L breeders .i too do not like some of the animals in the classified ads on here either.some make me gasp at their exagerated backline.a prime example is shown on the unsoundness thread.can anybody really say that this animal is correct????and please dont say its the way it has been stood coz i aint accepting that for this example.i consider this backline as TOTALLY INCORRECT.look at the drawings of the animal in the standard ,look at the dogs,most on the middle of the road and german side DO CONFORM,its just that small minority on both sides that dont.i also look at the photos of dogs which have been placed 1st at various shows,sometimes they do show animals i,ve seen in the flesh and which i like ,and then i see these photos showing them in a n exagerated pose.handlers try not to bunch your charges up,these photos do not do these dogs any justice.maybe before any photos are placed in the B/Cmag,the owners of these dogs be contacted to see if the photo is good enough to be published.i for one did not like the photo.of my bitch chiki,which appeared in the crufts edition in 2007.i would have prefered it not to have been published.i now have one of her that i would be proud to print which was taken by john ward at last years crufts.Carole S.

The problem as I see it is people don't want to look at things rationally and respond emotionally. Case in point, People make a general observation about a specific type or entity. Like, "workingline dogs are usually sable, bi-color or black". Right away somebody will get emotive and say that "I" have a black and tan that can work. Another will use the ageless distorted declaration, " So ALL colors except black and Tan work and NONE of the black and tan will work." And somebody else will say this is just showline bashing and there are plenty of black and tan that work. Now if you analyze the original statement and look at it with practical data, you will find that at least 65% of all German Shepherds in the world are black and tan. If you canvas the people who are using German shepherds today to work, ie SAR, Military, Herding, Police, Service dogs, etc., you will find a factual account of a disproportionate amount of these dogs are sable, black, or bi-color, in proportion to the German Shepherd population as a whole. Does this mean there are no Black and Tan that work....nooooo, does this mean that ALL sables, blacks, and bi-colors are working dogs....nooooooo, does this mean any statement that includes ALL, or Never, or the other words people use to distort the truth challenge that statement....noooo. It just means that when we analyze the state of the use of German shepherds for work, those color patterns are found more to be utilized yet they constitute the minority of the breed type. Now if your emotions won't let you derive certain things from this occurrence, God Bless You. But, my point is when statements are made, responsibile review of how the statement applies in general or in norm should be done. Nothing is absolute, but trends, patterns, and evolvement does exist and if we keep our head in the sand about these things we look up and we've destroyed something, and the people of the future are left to not know the beauty of what we destroy, whether it is unsoundness, temperament, health, or the dog as a whole.

Barbara(misbeeb)and gustav.yes we are at a very emotive time in the gsd breed,and i suppose we,re all being very sensitive at the moment with all that is going on and i surmise we will be for quite some time.lets hope that this kc meeting does not turn us all against each other.i for one hope that Gary comes up with some sensible ideas on the way forward to enable US ALL to participate and enjoy our hobby once again as we see fit.i,d rather have Gary Gray on this commitee than one of the alsatian ones.the club in my area is one of these signee clubs and they do have a champ.show scheduled for next year.i just hope that wot has been discussed is beneficial and not detrimental for our breed.are yu still going to welks barbara?Carole S.

SueB, once again you are confused.   This topic is about "unsoundness in the modern day German Shepherd Dog".   Nothing that you have written has been about this topic, instead you introduce a photo (which I have said is spectacular) and you refer to it's movement.   David Payne says it fill the eye and I agree, however, the photo and your comments contribute nothing to the subject of soundness, or, if you prefer unsoundness.

Both yourself and David are Judges and therefore it is reasonable to expect that both of you should be able to understand the topic and make some constructive comments on this subject.   If you want to discuss the movement then start another thread.

Mackenzie

Missbeeb

I really don't find the breed shows that attractive to me, as I have stated. It is nothing to do with 'making the effort', that makes it sound as though I 'can't be bothered'. That is not it. I don't want to attend, and, as I have said, we participate in agility, and have both a training day scheduled on Saturday and a competition on Sunday, this is our chosen pastime.

Ahmmm me Confused Mackenzie? I dont think so! Please read the extract pasted below which I copied from a post you made earlier on this thread, then try telling me again this thread has ONLY been about unsoundness and NOT movement prior to me posting the photo!!  

Mackenzie Quote:- "The far reaching dogs that we see today are able to achieve this through rapid movement rather than the trotting action of a sheepdog and while it is spectacular it is not correct. Why? Simply because a dog cannot maintain the same pace throughout a working day. One time when I was the ringhelper for Reinhardt Meyer he kept asking in every class for the dogs to slow down so that he could assess them properly. Another time when I was in Germany I was talking to a well known judge and breeder and I asked him why he had no dog at the Sieger show, his reply was "when I want to see dogs racing I will buy a greyhound".

So as it was YOU , not I, who introduced movement to this thread Mackenzie, perhaps you will refrain from telling me what I can discuss in a thread and what I cannot, if anyone was confused here I suggest you look in the mirror to find the culprit, cos it certainly aint me !!

Regards
Sue B 

Just an observation:
I've been a GSD person for about 20 years now. When I got into Schutzhund and wanted to compete I steered myself toward working line german shepherds. I made sure I supported working line breeders who cared about the standard and bred only titled and koer classed dogs. 
Last year I attended and competed in an all breed National competition in USA. I was appalled by the overall inability to jump the hurdle and the A frame by the German Shepherds! Smacking the hurdle, barely pulling themselves over the A-frame, what is wrong with my breed????? Are the handlers not teachiing the dogs to jump or are the dogs not able to? The malinois soared over the hurdle with feet to spare.
So lest anyone think it is just a problem with the showlines, think again.