110 Years of the GSD - Page 1

Found this on You Tube.  An interesting pictorial snapshot of the changes in the breed.

That was great  boy how the breed has changed thank you

 The last few decades are pretty much worthless in showing someone who knows little about the breed........the breed.  It's all show lines in the last few decades on that video, they could have done better by showing working lines, and different ones at that in the last few minutes of the video.

I think the point of the video was to show the Seiger winners through the years.  What used to be a Seiger dog and what is a Seiger dog now. 

So from that perspective no you wouldn't see many of the 'working lines' shown in the last couple of decades.  Working line dogs are not what common Joe Schmoe thinks of when they think of a GSD.

 Good point, I didn't realize that.  I just wish someone would do that lol.  Too many don't even know what working lines are.  I remember when my male was a pup, very black sable, brown around the eyes.......still is obviously, but this random guy was like WOAH, that dog must have a police dog somewhere in his pedigree......I just kind of nodded and said yeah....something like that......lol

The majority of the comments I get from people on the streets are "Is she a mix?"  But I hold dear this one time I was doing obedience on the beach with her and this couple stopped to watch for a few minutes.   The woman asked me if she was a mix and before I could give my polite correction/explination her husband chuckled ruefully and said "No, sweetie, she's pure GSD, that's how they're supposed to look."

That one comment helps me smile through all the other "she must be a mix?!?" BS I usually get.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH GUY08.EVEN THE  HUMP BACK,SLOPED HIPS DOES NOT SHOW WHAT A TRUE GSD SHOULD POTRAY.I,PERSONALLY DON'T  EVEN THINK THEY ARE PRETTY TO LOOK AT.MY  THOUGHT ONLY.EVERY  ONE HAS DIFFERENT VIEWS ESP. OF YOU BREED THIS TYPE GSD???

 RLHAR that's awesome that he said that.  I hear the coyote, the mix, one even said a lab shepherd mix because he's too small......  Sometimes I correct people, sometimes I just smile and nod because it's not worth it.  Everyone thinks they should be these HUGE, and fat dogs.  I had a GSD here in the past that I was keeping for someone for a while, she was FAT when she came here, but everyone around here thought she was proper weight (she lost 15 lbs while here and just then started to look lean and muscular like she should)  She was black and tan, American and German show lines mixed in.  Nice dog, but her owner had her excited about anything to the point that her butt would shake 5,000 mph back and forth wagging that tail no matter what she saw.

With my male,  I do occasionally get the "WOW" is that a cop dog, many people ask if I'm a cop.  I'm not.....I do park over at their station when I train or walk in town because I know so many of the police and I'm really good friends with them and have done behavior training for some of their pets.   The police station, if you go left, you go into the downtown area where I walk usually, nice people, lots going on......you can go straight and go left to get there, which is what I did the other day.  I walked Anubis out of there,  and he caught the scent of something and was tracking along the sidewalk,.  We went across the street, and this woman saw me from her house coming from the department going at a pretty quick pace with him, and I could hear her say in a panicky voice "oh no, somethings going on"   I almost laughed.  

 

sable59,  I hate how the showlines have gotten for sure.  I love the pictures of the first dogs with the straight backs, and the structure similar to some of the Malinois.  My boy even has a little bit of the slant, nothing like a showline, but a little bit of one and I'm not fond of that even.   I just wonder what the show lines will look like 20 years from now.  They're starting to remind me of frogs in their shape.  I have seen some I like, structure wise.

So some people know, many think a mix like I said coyote, or lab (never understood where they see lab) but most just think he's too small.  When he finishes filling out he'll be in the mid 70's, my ideal weight for any working dog.  A lot just don't know what he is.  But I LOVE when little kids see him and they know exactly what kind of dog he is.  That makes my day.  I don't let strangers pet him, other than kids on certain occasions, not often, but on occasion.  I just love it that 5 year old kids know, that's the German Shepherd, that's the dog you see fighting the bad guy they'll say.  

I don't know that I liked back in the beginning when they really looked like Mali's but I definitely like the body head types that came along in the 1920s - 1940s.

Hi RLHAR,

Thank you very much for your post .
The post shows very clearly ,for me ,how breeders througth selective and careful breeding
have improved in the various aspect of the dog to meet the requirements, of the standard.

It has taken 110 years to get here.The improvement in the topline,(withers ,back ,croup ) is fantastic.
The front angulations, inclusive of the lay of upper arm and shoulder blade.
The hind angulations,(the length of bone and turn of stifle)
All these improvements to the structure I believe,is to improve the movement of the G S D.
So that it can cover maximum distance with minimum effort.

The most important to me, type is now very clear for all to see.

THANK YOU  RLHAR.