Thoughts on this dog - Page 1

I am not one normally to start a thread and usually keep my head low because I find when you start speaking out to much you become a target and a focal point of bad mouthing but I had to say something about this. When looking at recently posted pictures on the database this morning I noticed the following dog and was dumb founded. Now lets make something totally clear in NO WAY am I putting down the kennel the dog came from, the dog its self or show dogs in general. Although I am partial to working blood lines (because even a show dog can be a “working” dog) I find that show dogs also bring certain things to the table that working blood lines need. With that said I find this dog unnatural even from a show dog aspect. I have studied the purpose behind breeding dog with a 45 degree scapula or a croup that’s not flat or to angled or even to long or to short. I also understand that the show dogs power comes from the rear, so not enough angluation effects the dogs “power stroke” and the follow through, where to much angulation causes weakness and causes the dog to do what’s called “buying time” where he or she has to throw their front feet out when trotting because their extreme angulation causes the back feet to interfere with the front feet, we see this allot with dogs bred for the AKC show ring. In some cases the way the dog is stacked can make it look like the dog has more angulation then they really do, but in this case the dogs hock is perpendicular to the ground which tells us thats not the case. Also I understand that the physical features are important like size of head, heaviness of bone and pigment, with that said this dog seems to have very little sinus cavity and almost reminds me of a pug. I also am aware that this dog is still very young most likely around 5-7 months and all dogs go through growing stanges, but I have seen many many young dogs who look nothing like this. I don’t claim to know everything about the breed but what I do know is this just seems sad and breaks my heart. In no way am I basing my opinion about a bloodline or breeder on one progeny but my fear is that this would be the future of the show dog. I think we as handlers, breeders & owners sometimes forget that we are taking the place of natural selection and that what we produce today effects what is produced 10 to 20 years from now. Now I may be way off here and totally have no idea what I am talking about, so I am curious what everybody thinks of this dog. If I am way off could you please explain to me the function behind breeding such a dog.

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/555109.html

Overweight to start with, he looks more like a mixed breed than a shepherd, honestly.  I hope there is little chance this dog will influence the future of the GSD. 

I wonder if the photo is not somehow distorted. Clearly, this dog in no way meets the breed standard. And yes, it is way too heavy, and proportions are all incorrect and the head more clearly resembles other breeds. If the photo is true to the real structure of the dog, it is an aberration.

I have commented on the other thread that this is the third dog pictured from the same kennel, all are as distorted as this one, WHY? This is awful looking and cannot be a genuine photo, if it is, god help the dog. liz

I was wondering if it's not a piglet ...Definately not .I think the pic, as for Don, was retouched. And indeed he is overweight!

Take a look at http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/26457.html

Bad photoshop

They look like clones.

My first impression was the dog looks like it is overweight and/or is not a purebred GSD (Chow type characteristics). I agree with Prodogz. There are some that respond with critiques that are not only negative but not constructive or in the least bit helpful. There is a difference between saying the dog is "messed up" and it had a "roached back" or is "over-angulated", etc.

Many people, unfortunately, see their dogs as extensions of themselves. They may feel a misplaced superiority because of their belief in the superior quality of their dogs. The flip side is they overrreact to even the most benign criticism due to their over-investment in their dogs from an emotional standpoint.

This limits them in their ability to make informed decisions about issues such as training and breeding because of their disorganized style that uses externalization (seeing blame and responsibility outside of themselves), inability to accept criticism even if they invite a critique, emotional hyper-reactivity, as well as some elements of delusions, paranoia, and a general hostile interpersonal style.  

I find the more time I spend with people who work with dogs, the greatest challenge to improving the breed is the an agenda on the part of the breeder/trainer that seeks to make up for deep interpersonal inadequacy. We all fight with our own issues as humans. To be aware of how we make our decisions and how we see ourselves affects how we pick breeding pairs or our style of training dogs.

And, of course, how we respond to others when we feel they are asking (or fishing) for (positive or negative) responses.

People who are sucure in both failure and success do not need to constantly be on the prowl for emotional victims to attack. Otherwise Prodogz would not need to apologize for his professional opinion with what was a very thoughful and correct "preamble." People such as those above not only need to be constantly reminded of what seems to be self-evident, but it is doubtful that they actually hear it. 

Photo looks distorted to me - something about the muzzle, it seems to be compressed. If you look at his pedigree, and the pic of his maternal g-grandfather you will see a similar "look". The original photo of Don showed a much better looking dog than you see now, whoever posted the "new" pic wasn't doing the dog any favors.