great GSD forum - Page 1

What a great forum and tool this site can [ should ] be! My own journey started many years ago buying from a back yard breeder. My first three dogs carried this kennel name and as the years went on he bred better and better dogs. The reason he bred better specimens is he got involved in dog sport and police training. He was net-worked with more and better GSD people. Watching my first GSD contact grow is one reason I have tried to learn from everyone and to network. I look for, breed, and own very specific GSDs now. To get to this point has taken a lot of time and energy. I have had back yard dogs, American show line dogs, German show lines and German work lines with dogs from other western European and  Eastern European countries . Every dog taught me something. Every dog led me towards more information and a better understanding of the GSD world. There were many [ and still are ] obstacles to navigate but it is an enjoyable journey. I can imagine early in my quest someone could have defeated me and sent me away from this great breed. I am thankful it never happened. I hope I can be a good student and mentor in the future. I have had to tell some people hard to handle opinions on their dogs. I only hope my words and actions helped them move forward to a better dog or to love, understand, and accept the dog they owned.  I would hate to be a person who kept a good GSD person from growing. Please use this site as a great forum.

Yes I have to agree this site can be an excellent learning tool.  So after reading your post, which of the GSD's you owned has been your favorite temperament, structure, working, showing?  Just curious.  Thx  Nan

I'm new to this forum and GSD's. I have received positive support here from several members, even though I'm not in their "league", and am not going to be showing or breeding. I just love the intelligence, loyalty and working history of the German Shepherd dog.

You sound like an insightful type of owner/trainer. Look forward to reading more from you.

since you ask what lines do I have........ I never want to make personal boasts on this site. I try to give insight to what I have experienced. My start was from a back yard breeder who was connected to the GSD americanized dogs but with old lines pre- Lance of franjo, I witnessed his growth towards more complete dogs. I got involved in dog activities with membership and participation with a GSDCA local club. I did AKC obedience and watch the conformation people. When one of my first dogs came up with bad hips I was told by a conformation person ''too bad. but you can at least do obedience with her''. What a shame that training a dog is an after thought in that population!  I helped out at every event they had for years until Schutzhund entered my area. I joined clubs and got very involved with Schutzhund-IPO sport. I met police handlers in my area and then nationally. They saw things they liked and things they thought were just wrong with my sport dogs and training. The local Police came to us to watch and learn about exhibiting their dogs for their standardized street test for Police K9. I witnessed many police K9 and learned from them the difference between what sport does and the real world must do. I am training my current dog for a date in the future, and it is high sport level. What a privlidge. The police train for the ''drop of a hat'' notice with real BAD people and truely innocent citizens all messed together. I do not want their job! What I learned from the AKC conformation breeders is a show win is more important than the breed itself. This statement is my editorial opinion.What I learned from the Germans is the breed must have peer reviews to make certain that breeders adhere to the standard. The Germans have many great examples of this and too many poor examples but they do work on it.

What I learned from the AKC conformation breeders is a show win is more important than the breed itself.

Sad, very sad, but Rik (a former AKC breeder/handler) said essentially the same thing last week. Something about going into the ring knowing the dog on the end of the leash might win, but was not a good representative of the breed.

As if WL's aren't also bred for specific reasons that don't always conform to the FCI and AKC breed standard either. IMO the GSL's are the breeders who take on the most with their dogs.

You wouldn't know it by reading this forum, but more and more AKC people are starting to show their dogs  in performance venues; some are even trying Sch with their dogs. I believe Gustav just posted that he has a few AKC breed people in  his IPO training class. Every month the GSDCA magazine,"The Review" publishes the names of GSD's that have earned AKC performance titles, BH's. AD's, and IPO's; the list is growing. Some are showing dogs from Eichenluft and Eurosportu and other German line breeders while others are showing Am bred dogs and some own both. After years of failing to promote performance activities, the GSDCA is finally opening its collective eyes and realizing that its not all about conformation wins. They are offering many performance awards to encourage members to get out and do something with their dogs.  That can only help the breed in the long run.

 

My first job with dogs was in a kennel and the owners were not GSD people but very involved in ''dogs''. My boss told me that ''dog people'' last about 5 years, and every 5 years you will see about 80% new people. I have found this to be , too true. A ''newbee'' can get a ribbon for their ''world beater'' at an AKC match show when they are only a few months old. This can be a very limiting accomplishment! True knowledge takes much longer and quite a few dogs. Every thousand mile journey begins with the first step. The path can be clear [er] for those who search. Let's us all help light the path.

Match wins encourage some to stick with it. My first show wins were at matches and here I  am 42 years later along with about half the people that started out at the same time showing at matches.. Back then there were not nearly as many AKC shows as there are today and matches were a very big deal for getting a young dog ready for the big time. Some that won at matches went on to win as adults; some fell apart and didn't make it. Still many of those same owners persevered, got a better dog and kept going. It's a starting place. I often think that those hosting the SV shows miss the boat by not offering some sort of non-regular classes for puppies.....sweepstakes, games, something that is fun for the pups and the owners. I haven't seen or heard of anything like that at an SV shows or club events.

Turnover in some breeds is much higher than in others.

Agreed Blitzen, nothing stops a Club OR Training Group to host a puppy show...
They can have the regular SV show and the day after OR before, have a puppy show Judged by the same SV Judge...

In December 2011 alone about 400 GSD's earned AKC performance titles. About 8 were AKC CH's, about 15% were German lines- both working and show lines (as far as I can tell from their registered names). One GSL finished his AKC CH. Armani von Finkenweg Sch3. One UD dog is an AKC CH Sch3 bred in America out of a CH ASL sire and a GSL Sch 3 dam. One TD was sired by a GSL Sch3 out of an AKC CH dam.

These are only the dogs I know, there are probably a lot more GSLxWLxASL in this country with performance titles. We don't know how many, if any,  earn IPO's, do we? Does the SV report that as the AKC does?