Ayers long coat GSD - Page 1

I read with great interest the recent comments on Ayers long coat GSDs. I do not know, nor have I ever met Ms. Ayers. I have, however, met someone at a fair who owned a female they had recently bought from her. I was immediately taken with this dog and both my husband and I commented on her quality and beauty. I do not own a GSD. I do come from a family of dog show enthusiasts as well as lovers. I was surprised by the amount of haters who were quick to bash her for breeding for only long hair qualities. After seeing her website and her very detailed purchasing contract I can only come to the conclusion that Ms Ayers has done her homework and it appears that she has taken painstaking steps to have a GSD that has the qualities of good disposition and conformation and that the long coats are the icing on the cake. The woman at the fair was quite happy with her dealings with Ms Ayers and I asked if she would recommend her. She said absolutely! When I came home I looked up her site and any information I could find regarding her which brought me to this site. Clearly, Ms Ayers is a caring, knowledgeable breeder who I would consider buying a dog from. It seems as though there are those who prefer a short coat and feel that a long coat is not true to the breed standard; however, all commented that you can get a plush/long coat in any litter. This proves that a standard breeding can result in a purebred AKC GSD with a long coat. Ms Ayers has only cornered a market which appeals to those who prefer the long coated GSDs. I was impressed enough with the Ayers GSD that I saw the need to make a comment. I hope that others who have negative comments do their homework as well next time.

I don't know anything about Mrs. Ayers, but will comment on one thing you said. You stated "It seems as though there are those who prefer a short coat and feel that a long coat is not true to the breed standard".
This is not a "feeling", it is a fact. Much like saying that people "feel" that a Labrador born with big white spots is not standard. The founder of the breed and the original SV set out the standard for a reason and there are many who "feel" that it should be adhered to, to the best of a breeders ability. Yes you will get the occasional long coat in a litter, but that is what the standard is in place to address. There is also the issue that some of the long coats do not have an undercoat which makes them much less hardy as working dogs. I know that here in the south, the long coats (with no undercoat) suffer horribly in the heat thereby rendering them useless as working K9s or herding dogs. Do they make great pets, well sure. But the standard was set out to preserve the integrity of the breed for the long haul. 
As to "cornered a market", well that speaks for itself.
What's next, allowing for dwarfism and changing the standard to include smaller GSDs? Or maybe GSDs with tail carriage straight up in the air? Or lets go for a shorter muzzle, that should be useful in bitework. scentwork or herding...

As I understand it, you can now show a longcoat in some manner. Since we deal with working lines around here, conformation shows and their rules don't register on our radar. I will happily stick with dogs that are titled and Koerklassed under the German system the way the Captain intended.

Annette

I do not know anything about Ayers GSDs either.

However, to correct a point - The German SV have changed the standard to include long coats. Long stock coats were originally accepted by the German SV, so the standard was originally 'intended' to include longcoats as per 'the captain'. 

At some point (can't remember when, but many years ago) the SV changed it's position on longcoats, and declared it a fault, thereby making long coats non standard. The SV have now changed the standard again, and longcoats (with undercoats) are acceptable, with their own separate registry. They can be titled and koerklassed just as standard coats. They can be shown in their own separate classes under SV rules.

Dwarfs cannot reproduce.

I remember that thread, and I'm not sure that breeding LC was the only issue. I believe it was that they breed much larger than the standard. What others choose to do or buy is their business, but I find it a bit odd that someone who has never owned a GSD would come to a forum filled with people who have raised and bred GSD's for many years tO tell them that they need to do their "homework" before commenting on Ayer's GSD's...

People surprise me every single day. All I can think of is someone trying to market this kennel. Poster....I will support someone who FOLLOWS THE BREED STANDARD but on occassion has a long coat. Either you follow the standard and breed to it or you dont. This woman doesn't so not much more to say about her.

The problem most people have with breeders like this isn't really that they are breeding for long hair. . . It's that they are breeding for seriously oversized, long haired dogs who would rather lay on a couch all day than do anything else the breed was intended for.  Essentially they are breeding Shiloh's but they are AKC german shepherds.  But that doesn't bother the general public just GSD people.  What should bother the general public a bit with this particular kennel:  their website is so hard to navigate I can't find any info regarding health screening on their breeding dogs ( if it is done ), can't find any sort of guarantee listed, they charge very expensive prices on puppies that are considered pet quality, and most importantly the whole "old fashioned" pitch is misleading.  if you look back at the origins of the GSD    ( http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=1208  ) they looked nothing like the dogs that are being called old fashioned nowadays. 

I also remember that thread somewhat. But I thought it was more about one sided breeding. For example your comment ".... Ms Ayers has only cornered a market which appeals to those who prefer the long coated GSDs." People hear seem to agree on at least one point. Most dislike breeding not for the purpose to at some point better the breed. One might assume she is breeding for the cash. If she does health test that is great. I have no knowledge of the breeder so I direct no comments to there program. But more that comment that I loosely quoted from you.
Reggie

The standard for the SV and AKC have different interpretations, and what people want vs what is needed is also 2 different things. Many people here on this board are die hard fans of upholding the exact standard, and they will only try to breed perfect examples of the breed. Nothing to argue about. Its not taking anyone's money away, people that want the REAL German shepherds bred to the standard will only buy from breeder's that are strict about it. People that want something different will shop else where.

People get really uptight when they think there income is getting messed with.. It must be what the fuss is about, because no one is ruining the breed if there are breeders ADHEARING to the standard.. There is no lack of quality dogs..

Whisper