"They" spelt Shepherd wrong!???? - Page 1

video.westminsterkennelclub.org/player/

Pretty darn sad for the AKC and the Westminster Web team, isn't it?

It might be a good thing......First step in renaming  those paddling, hock walking, harefooted dogs  the American Show Shepard because those sure aren't examples of good German Shepherd Dogs. 

Since I attended the Sieger Show in Germany in 1982, I've always called them "American Shepherds".  I found out that the West German blooded dogs are quite different genetically (ie phenotype or physically too) and really deserve to be called "German Shepherds". 

I feel that what has been bred domestically since Lance of Franjo's peak is really quite divergent from the true German Shepherds found in Germany and Europe during this time.  They don't look the same, aren't built the same, don't move the same, don't typically act the same, etc.  Some folks just love the American Shepherds typical structure, and certainly there are many that make good household pets, and even some who make good obediance and working dogs. 

I just don't like them in general and prefer the German Shepherd's structure, type, and temperament as bred in Germany and Europe or by those who use SV registered GSDs in the USA and other countries where they have been imported from Germany.  It's a matter of personal preference and to each his own.

Oh my!  I went a little faint at when I watched those top working dogs trot aroung the ring....they are amazing!  I can just tell by the low angles in the back that this will give them an atvantage when it comes to jumping over the meter jump or out of the way of an angy ram!

And the handlers...I have heard the akc handlers are wonderful....this is a great example!   Did you see the way they positioned the dog exactly where they wanted it....the dogs didnt even mind being moved around lik that.  Probably  to tired  from trotting to move into positon themselves.  And the way they shoved food down the dogs throat to get it to stand still will always make me envious of their training style!  

I can see this is a perfect breed test!

I'll give the website a misspelled word.  

LOL at the sarcasm.

They might be in america but they are german shepherds.   I dont care for either extreme working or show.

Yes to each his own.  I prefer the mongrel who doesnt have a strong line, thats were the suprises take place.

Diversity brings suprises.   I'll trade a smart loyal dog over confirmation or drive any day.

A great dog doesnt come from breeding one or two lines to death.  Its comes from diversity, and its rare.

This dog may be in somebodies back yard and may never be recognized for what it is.

You'll never know.

JMO

I was just watching that and I didnt think all the dogs where bad in terms of hock walking - all of them were more angulated than I like to see...but there were only a couple that I would call 'true' hock walkers.

Now that being said...I thought my bitch was cowhocked! 

Two Moons - great post.

~Cate

It was painful to watch that video all the way to the end....but morbid curiousity and disbelief got the better of me. How can anyone think that is attractive? I got my dog from a pound; she has no pedigree but when she moves she is graceful...these dogs are not! That looks painful and deformed! One of them even had an obvious limp.

There is another misspelled video on youtube of a "gating German Shepherd" but that dog moves with grace. It's a fascinating  video. Under the video someone offered that the dog is Dingo vom Haus Gero. Is it correct for the dog's hind paw to come down in front of the forepaw in a trot? I thought I read that a correct gait would have them both come down in the same spot so that the tracks overlap.

The poor things look crippled.

The dog on the YouTube video is Dingo. I have a copy of the original video. At the time the tape was made it was an example of the nearest thing to perfect movement in a German Shepherd.