Doing as much research as possible before getting my next GSD - Page 1

First time on a forum so bare with me please,

I lost my (show Line) shepherd nearly three years ago and now feel ready to start looking for my future dog.  Keira had nearly every health problem a shepherd could have a some point in her life.  Lost her to DM and she suffered from AF for the last five years of life, horrific conditions.  I do not want another dog to endure these problems.  I am looking at the working lines for my next dog.  I know from what I've learnt upto now their health is great but does anyone know if they do suffer from these horrific conditions?  Any info would be fantastic.

Thanks Shepherdhope.

What is AF?  A lot of breeders are starting to do blood test to see if the dogs either have DM or carry it in their genes.....So you can find puppies from dogs who are DM clear.

The point of working lines is that only the fittest and healthiest dogs are allowed to breed and only the fittest and healthiest pups are kept for working and or future breeding. Thus  these dogs may not  have identical looks or appearances as they are bred for function not show. Show dogs on the other hand  are really bred for a certain look, shape, height, color and so on. Thus inbred health and personality problems are far more frequent in this type of dog. Buy a dog from a working line don't be impressed by KC papers and shit like that. Take someone who knows dogs with you to look the pups, dam and if you can the sire as well.

 

AF is anal furunculosis.  Basically it looks like the tissue is melting around the anus.  I know both conditions to be hereditary and test are now available.  However the breeders seem few and far between who are testing for these conditions.  DM does seem to have a few more on board.  I am not getting a pup soon it's probably going to be in a year or so.  Doing all the ground work first so when the time comes I make the right choice, hopefully.

Thanks loads

" 

The point of working lines is that only the fittest and healthiest dogs are allowed to breed and only the fittest and healthiest pups are kept for working and or future breeding"

ROGERPODGER, where do your facts come from ??.....So there are no breeders out there breeding bad working lines??? Most of you working line people that are on this web site buy your dogs through here and complain about scams, fake hip and elbow x-rays,and fake papers NOT TO MENTION that the ZW of most working lines is in the 90's and most families can't have them as they are hyper....STOP TALKING ABOUT SHOW LINES NEGATIVELY, there are bad breeders of both out there, AND there are bad working and showlines dogs being bred....IF anything, SHOWLINES are better as everything about them is checked or have to pass to compete ( topline,underline,ear set,eyes color,angualtions,etc )
All you care about working lines is DRIVE, so you can fill your mouth saying showlines can't work or can't bite...THAT IS ALL YOU HAVE AND YOU WILL EVER HAVE, is it just envy that a VA can command 350,000 Euros , while maybe the top working line can't even fetch 20,000 Euros ?????

SHEPHERDHOPE,more than likely, if you buy a quality showline, you will not have any problems. I do LIFETIME guarantee on my pups,tell me which working line breeder does that ?????

MAYBE you are part of the problem ROGERPODGER  www.workingdogsuk.co.uk/ , the dogs you breed are untitled, not proven, from "suspects lines" , YET, you are criticizing ALL the showlines people , INSTEAD of directing it to the showline breeders or working line breeders like you that breed the untitled, unproven ,bad quality dogs......

FOR TOOOO long, WHEN SOMETIMES I COME TO THIS SITE I FIND PEOPLE TAKING SHOT AT ALLLLL SHOWLINES, WITHOUT FACTS, BEING BIASED...I WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE,SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO CRITICIZE MY DOGS, YOU BETTER BE READY TO PROVE ME WRONG !!!!!!!

Top working line dogs have sold for much more than 20,000 Euros.  There is good and bad in everything.  I know some Sl breeders that do an excellent job and breed excellent dogs that work pretty well.  I know some WL breeders that breed dogs with excellent conformation that work really well. 

ShepehrdHope,
Do your research, check out some clubs go to some trials and see what dogs catch your eye.  Be clear in what you want and what you are going to do with your dog.  I had SL dogs and love the looks of SL dogs. I have raised, titled and shown my dogs.  However, I looked at what I enjoyed most and that was working dogs.  I realized I did SchH every week and enjoyed that more than running in a circle with my dog.  I looked at the SL vs WL dogs, objectively from a performance stand point and decided to go with working lines for my future dogs.  Personally, since I did SchH every week I wanted a dog that was impressive on the working field and would sacrifice in the show ring to get that. 

If I just wanted a pet either line will do, just select your breeder and pup carefully.

Good luck,

Jim

That was a nice post Slam.

Well now that you have been through the health gamat of problems the breed endures;  first and foremost I would look for health clearances;  go to breeders that can show you health check references on the sire and dam and the puppies.  HD/ED, cardio, thyroid, EYES are very important, DM and others if you can get them.  There are many people on this forum that do all these health clearances and sire and dam are clear before they are bred.  THAT is very important for your future puppy.  A type of process of elimination if you will.

I would not restrict yourself to WL/SL/ or color;  check out all your possibilities and if at all possible; go see your puppy pick, hold and play with him/her and try to see the parents and grandparents if possible.  Find out about the lineage longevity, hip scores whether thru OFA or SV;  excellent or borderlines?

If you can answer some of these questions it might help to get you where you want to go.  Whatever you do, best of luck and I will also probably be looking for a puppy about the same time.  Good luck  Nan

SLAMDUNC, you wrote the same I did, " there are bad breeders of both out there, AND there are bad WL and SL being bred out there"....whatever you like is your choice, of course....and you do the right thing by telling the SHEPHERDHOPE to do due diligence.

but then, you say " I want more to go around circles"...is this all the showlines do?? do you think this is a FACT ?....why can you guys be unbiased ?

when I said sl sell for 350,000 euros is an average,some showlines  have sold for double that....yes,maybe there had been 1 or 2 wl that sold for 20,000 euros, which one ? ...FACTS.....

this year in the BSZS, THE TOP 14 IN BITEWORK, ABOUT 8 out of the 14 where SHOW LINES.....

THE 2011 UNIVERSAL SIEGER IS A SHOWLINE.....YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU ALL THE YEARS A SHOWLINE HAVE WON ?...YOU DO KNOW UNIVERSAL IS WORKING AND SHOW COMBINED

when a new person comes in the board,tell them the right thing,research, look at shows,trials, talk to families with both wl and sl...be responsible, not just feel your ego....how in good conscience you can say " more than running in a circle " meaning that is all what showlines are about

do you like it if I say all working lines can do is destroy a house, since the best have crazy,impossible drives that can only be handle by experience people..that Working lines will jump on you non stop and bite you out of control...that working lines are dangerous for kids because of this?

BE RESPONSIBLE,SAY IT THE WAY IT IS, NOT THE WAY YOU LIKE OR THE WAY YOU THINK IT IS...THERE IS GOOD AND BAD IN EVERYTHING

is...is this a nice post CHARITY ?? if not, I erase it

So would you ROGERPODGER...

Mind telling us why you breed untitled,unproven dogs, and then attack the showline dog,breeders that do the same you do ?