Showlines, Working Lines - The ability to work - Page 1

How often do we hear the argument from the showline people that working dogs do not meet the breed standard and, vice versa, the working people saying the showline dogs are poor workers? Every day!!!

Every year thousand of puppies are born into one side or the other, but what happens to them? Mostly, the majority of pups find their way to pet owners. Why? Because not every pup that is born, from whichever side, will fulfil the dream - Champion. I believe that the showline breeders produce the most pups each year and this is probably because they keep more dogs and it is more about profit. I also believe that most working enthusiast keep few dogs. Why? Because this side of our breed is more time consuming per dog.

When we look at the pups that are retained by either side their progress is governed by time, they have to be allowed to physically develop, before either side can say yea or nay as to whether they should be retained or sold on. For those that make the first cut the next major problem is “will the hips be excellent, just acceptable, or, no good at all for work/breeding“, regardless of which side they are on. We now come to the big divide.

Now, from all the pups born, we come to the very few that will go on and have to achieve at least Sch H 1 working qualification and future working qualifications if they are good enough. This is where the trainers come in and the real argument begins. Some show dogs are trained by their owners, usually people with very few dogs. The bigger and more affluent owner/breeder farms them out to trainers who make a living from this element of the dogs. These trainers take on many dogs each year in order to get the minimum qualification to permit breeding and then the animal is handed back to the owner and rarely worked on a regular basis. The working enthusiast will usually train their own dogs and because of competition keep the same dog in for some time, quite often for years.

I believe that there are some good dogs from the show side that will make just as good working dogs as those from working lines. It is the trainers who make the real difference and not which side of the blanket does the dog come from. Why? Because the show trainers do just enough to satisfy the rules, not many compete regularly after qualifying, whereas, the working trainer builds closer bonds with their dogs due to the dog staying in training for a much longer period of time in order to compete and work. The working trainer has to hone the dogs natural ability to high levels just to compete at even the easiest of tests. This takes time and skill. It is performance related. In the real world where dogs work in SAR, Protection, Police and Customs, Drug detection, dogs for the blind etc the dog is with the owner/trainer every day of it’s working life and even retirement.

Who knows, the day may come where show people and breeders will take on the working side at their own game. The biggest dream is that good working trainers will take on a dog bred for show and take it all the way. I believe it is possible, especially if we unite the two sides for the good of the German Shepherd. As an example let us look at Dux v Jabora, now standing at stud in Spain, a dog bred with show bloodlines. Look at him and his working qualifications on Database (he is not as red as the photo shows). I have personal experience of this dog and he is a confident animal with an excellent character and, clearly, the ability to work. His show career was successful making V8 at the Sieger Show and VA1 at the Danish Sieger show. He is the type of dog that any sensible breeder/working enthusiast would like to breed/own. He cannot be the only one out there that can achieve good working results.

To both sides, open your minds and try more.

Mackenzie