What line is my dog? - Page 1

I am still trying to figure out how to read pedigrees and would like to know what line my dog is. I was told that he is West German working line. How can you tell from the pedigree what line a dog is?http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=2233260-bright-blaze

West German and Czech working lines. 

How do you tell? Time.   No Cliff's Notes for reading pedigrees, I'm afraid. 

Is the Czech on sires side or dams? I am thinking dams side?

Sire

Look at names- even if you don't know pedigrees, you can often muddle through by looking at names if you have a basic understanding of different languages. Of course, that doesn't always mean you'll have accurate conclusions, but at least in this case, it's the most obvious way I can tell. There is a stark difference between German and Czech names, also titles, joint ratings, etc. Again, time and research- no easy shortcut, I'm afraid. 

You look at the initials for the registry. SZ is Germany (but you don't know if it's showline or working line, unless you know the kennel names, or have a picture of the dog, and know how to tell the difference.)

CKSP is Czech. DDR is East Germany, before the fall of the Berlin wall. The boundaries for some of the eastern European countries have changed a lot recently, so I don't know all the abbreviations.

You will eventually learn to tell by the kennel names, too. Jipo-Me is Czech, and anything that says Pohranični stráze is from the Czech border patrol dog kennel.

Kraftwerk is an American kennel run by Wayne Curry, and has a so-so reputation. I've seen some good dogs from the kennel, but I've also heard it's a bit of a puppy mill and has sold dogs that were ill with parvo virus.

I think your dog has some Czech but all of the GSD in the Czech Republic came from German lines before WWII and the Soviet grab of the Czech Republic isolated the Czech dogs somewhat from the West German and Western European GSD populations.  Now the lines from the Czech, DDR, and other former Soviet occupied republics are mixing back together with other GSD populations and the distiction means less than before 1990.  In general the Czech dogs were bred more for border, guard, and police work but that does not mean that they all were suitable for those jobs. The proper question is what type job is my GSD happy and good at doing??  Within a litter of puppies from any GSD parents there may be puppies best suited for S&R, police and some best suited for home companion and family dogs.  Some so called show lines produce police dogs and some so called working lines produce home companion dogs .. the pedigree is an indication but the proof is in the personality and drives of the dog and the type training they receive or don't receive which will shape their behaviors.  The split between the so called working line and show lines occured in the 1950's and 1960's for the Western European GSD populations when color and conformation became more important than drives and mental stability for the show dogs which led to too much inbreeding to get dogs with the correct color and shape for winning titles.  The so called working line dogs of today have little resemblance to the original GSD of the 1920's which was the early foundation stock of the GSD as a breed after the breeding registry was closed.  The 1920 dogs were much more slender and light bodied because they had been bred to work sheep and livestock.  In the 1930's the GSD became heavier bodied and weighed more as the GSD was morphed into a service dog for police and war use and stayed that way until after WWII was over.  After WWII the full commercialization of the GSD as a breed for show and sale overseas began and a huge change in the GSD occurred in the 1950's and 1960's with the split between so called show and working lines taking place for sake of money and foreign sales.  If you look at the BSP and the BSZS winners you will find some dogs and kennels doing well in both arenas of show and working line.  From my view if the GSD does a good job of doing the tasks that you require that is a good GSD.  The champions of the 1920's were the foundation of the GSD as a breed but they would not do well in the competitions of today and the GSD champions of today will likely not be seen as ideal for the tasks that the GSD of 2120 is required to perform.

You can have a Czech dog registered with AKC- does that make it American? That's the point I was trying to make that often you CAN'T tell unless you KNOW the lines, and that names can be helpful in determining origin, but are not always 100% for that reason. I mean, I can breed a super pair of W.German working line dogs and name a pup "Little Bunny Foo Foo." Anyone would see the name and think American bred pet...so...still gotta take the long route to learning to recognize origins of dogs/lines. 

Claudette,the Pedigree is mostly WG workinglines.The only Czech is thru the Sires mother,Linda. As others said,ways to tell are registry listed and studying but also another tip is most German kennels have the words von,vom,aus,dem,den,etc followed by the Kennel name.Often having the diacritical marking umlaut over the letters a or o.Czechs often,but not always,have the letter z in between the dogs name and the kennel name and often have the diacritically marking acute( little slash)above the  vowels. Again,not a set,in concrete thing but something to help guide you:)