Shape of Berger Blanc Suisse puppy ears. - Page 1

Hi all,

I'm a first time poster here and I'm hoping I can get some advice from either Berger Blanc Suisse / White Swiss Shepherd breeders or GSD breeders.
I am looking at buying my first BBS and have recently seen the first pics of the pup on offer.
Having looked at these pictures I've noticed the tops of the ears appear rounded rather than a sharp triangular shape, is this normal or is it a fault or undesirable in the image of the dog.

All opinions and advice are welcomed.

Thanks.

Ears: Erect ears, set high, parallel and directed forward; in the shape of an elongated triangle with the tip slightly rounded. 

From the FCI standards which the BBSCA states they breed to:

http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/347g01-en.pdf

 

http://whiteswissshepherd.org/

Thanks for that beetree

The pup I'm looking at has very rounded ears at the top, not very triangular in shape but its parents have the sharper looking triangular ears.

Can you post pictures? Is this a repeat breeding? If so, what do the matured progeny look like?

I have no personal experience with this breed but looking on google images, some pups would seem to have rounder ears when young. What does the breeder say about your concern? I would tend to think the pup will carry forward the genetics from the parents, especially if the entire litter shows the same puppy ear form. You should be able to trust your breeder with your concern. If you don't get a satisfactory response, that might be the real deal breaker.

Sure are cute little buggers!

As most (if not all) of the genes in a BBS are the same genes as in the GSD, and as GSDs can vary in how 'perfect' and to their Standard their ear shape and set is, it is quite possible your BBS puppy has ears that are not quite the 'right' shape. If so, this - while it may improve slightly as the pup grows - is unlikely ever to result in the most 'perfect' ear shape. Depends what you want to do with your dog; if you are planning to aim for the dizzy heights of top Conformation Showing, this will clearly be of greater importance to you. I have to say that I do not believe it would be considered a major problem - it isn't the faultiest of faults in the GSD ring, from most Judges perspective; although if your dog always goes up against very good rivals, it could lose it the odd placing. If you really do not like it, you would be unlikely to want to breed on with it, should everything else prove equal with time, right ?

I've decided against getting that particular pup, I don't have any plans to breed off the pup but who knows what might happen down the road. I would have an interest in showing the dog at a later stage so for this reason and others I've looked towards another pup that fits the standard to a higher degree.

Thanks for the replies and advice guys.

Puppy ears go through various stages -- at some stages they can be more rounded looking. I would worry more about many other things than the possible shape of the puppy's ear tips. It probably means this pup will have small, firm ears that stand up quickly.

Christine

Hi Christine,

It wasn't just the ears, in the end the general build of the pup didn't match what I was looking for.
I would be interested to know what else you would be concerned about when choosing a pup.

Are you going to get to go visit the pups? Any video of them or just pics? The number 1 thing is pick a breeder who you think makes good decisions and whose judgments you feel good about. Then pick parents who are what you are looking for -- and verify titles and health certifications through outside sources, if possible (can you search a database to double check the info? Or, at the least, is the breeder willing to share pictures of the hip certification certificates, for example).

Once pups are on the ground -- do they look clean and healthy? Is mom a good mom? How much socialization and handling are the pups getting? Then as far as the individual pup, identify what is most important to you -- temperament? Drive? Looks?

Christine

Are you going to get to go visit the pups? Any video of them or just pics? The number 1 thing is pick a breeder who you think makes good decisions and whose judgments you feel good about. Then pick parents who are what you are looking for -- and verify titles and health certifications through outside sources, if possible (can you search a database to double check the info? Or, at the least, is the breeder willing to share pictures of the hip certification certificates, for example).

Once pups are on the ground -- do they look clean and healthy? Is mom a good mom? How much socialization and handling are the pups getting? Then as far as the individual pup, identify what is most important to you -- temperament? Drive? Looks?

Christine