If you had a Magic Wand.... - Page 24

Very simple
There are two ip addresses because I logged in from two different locations.

All the ha ha Beetree. Sooner or later they will find a rationalization to publish yours or anyone else's. 

Oh, exposing yours was an error, didn't you read mrdarcy's apology?

Truth is, too many people already know that information. I don't fool myself about that. I think making more friends than enemies makes the most sense!
 

No worries Jen. :)

Qira embodies the perfect German Shepherd, irritatingly smart, versatile, wants to please, absolute natural at herding, amazing discernment, 100% trustworthy around the general public, children and elderly, but ready to protect if the need arises. There have been a couple situations where I am shocked she didn't break my car windows, lunging at some creep. Sweet as sugar and loves to cuddle. Able to have a quiet day, but also more than willing to go on day-long hikes, and runs at the park. She likes to bite too, though we didn't pursue much Schutzhund. Work schedule did not mesh, but we had fun when we did go.
 

The other dog in my post, the sable, is Jace v Sitz vd Hose. Owned by my friend Susan. I could nitpick a few things about him, but I adore that dog overall. 

 

Jen has a couple dogs I'd consider "perfect" as well. Capri is my girl! <3

The above description although wonderful is exactly the problem BW tries to explain...and catches a world of grief for.

Saying stuff like that about your own dog or having your friends say it is NOT an objective assessment, its just forum banter.

 

I think it is a personality type thing, there are people who crave to know stuff about the world, I mean really with courage and conviction want know the truth and dam the consequences to themselves that the truth might bring. Then their are people that want to create their own world in their minds as they would like it to be.

 

The two types will always be in conflict.

It's like as a lot of young males want to see how tough they are, one will learn kung fu or karate for 20 years and believe he has some magical ninja tough guy powers and can stop an army with his mind.

The other guy will go do full contact competition fighting and get real bones broke and have scars and injuries to find out he is just a mortal with strengths and weaknesses.

 

Which guy knows more about reality?

 

Why do you think Dawulf's dog hasn't ever been objectively assessed? Why do you think just because someone says something, that it has to be false? I have had my fair share of GSDs (and handled more) and that dog is a good dog. I owned her from puppy-4ish, so my experience surely counts for nothing, and I won't bore you with it :p. She's not a world level podium dog, but she's close to the ideal as written in terms of a versatile dog who does numerous things very well. I think that's all Dawulf is saying- but you're taking it as some pet owner who has never seen any other dogs, and that's simply not true. 

Just as not all people say is true about their own dog, not all is false, either.

Not everything someone says about their dog, or a dog they like, is necessarily a complete picture, either. Just as we do not know from Dawulf's post whether the dog in question has been "objectively assessed", or tested - as Jenn points out. But then if you DO also list areas in which those assessments and tests took place, if they don't fit with the view of some others that the method or arena isn't the same as THEY use to test their dogs, that is discounted too.
So we get the like of Bav's sweeping blanket "Phooee"s ...

Do you guy's think there is any merit at all in standardized tests for anything?

Pilot licence, brain surgeon......?

We should maybe just move to a 5 star user rating system and count the number of likes and views you get on the internet to assess dogs, life and everything.

Seems to be the way the world is "trending" anyways.

There is nothing "unstandardized" about e.g. UK KC Obedience, Scent or PD Trials, or Competative Obedience competition. They may not be the SV's preferred method, but that does not mean that they have no relevance at all to the assessment of a dog's abilities. Hell, there may even be merit in the kind of tests PPD people get organised - I for one would not presume to write them off the way some do, since I do not have detailed knowledge of them. My gut, and years of experience with the GSD breed as whole, tell me they are not great ways to do it, I do not like training stuff I see on some PSA videos, but I don't go condemning it all out of hand the way some folk appear to do.

Just because we haven't gotten any official titling, doesn't mean we haven't done anything. The fact that we don't have titles is purely circumstantial, I promise you that. I look forward to doing the "official" stuff in the future, but for right now dabbling in several different venues (Sch, herding, conformation, ob, tracking, nosework, etc) with my buddy is plenty. I have made a lot of good connections, and learned a lot in the past couple of years since I've had her, and it's been a blast.

At any rate, this thread asks what your idea of a perfect dog is, and she is mine. I don't want a world podium, over the top drivey dog who yeah, places first every competition, but is terrible in every other aspect. I want a well-rounded, stable, versatile dog who is CAPABLE of doing everything a GSD should be able to, but doesn't NEED to on a daily basis. And I have it.

If I had pics or videos to share of her working, I would. Unfortunately I can't be with the dog and behind the camera at the same time.

Why do most of you feel that personally offended? It´s about dogs only...

It is reality that a lot of people buy dogs based on descriptions made by internet sellers, but these descriptions can´t be verified. The potential buyer neither sees mom, or dad, nor the dog in question.
He has to believe...
I am sure there are people able to evaluate the temperament of a dog without training/titling, but for me these people are the rare exception to the rule.

I guess most breeders who sell untitled dogs have never seen what some working dogs really are able to do - they don´t know the difference. They may differ between their own dogs, in the best case use their best dogs for breeding, but how will they know if even their best dogs are not breed worthy according to the whole breed?
How shall people differ between a good breeder and a bad breeder in case both say the same?

As soon as there is a standard, everybody is able to compare - some dogs will end at the lower level, some dogs at the upper level of the standard.

Hundmutter, for me a German Shepherd Dog not able to title in IPO is not breed worthy, but how will I know in case I don´t participate? Germany "invented" the Schutzhund ( IPO ) titles - tracking, obedience, bitework - simply because some breed enthusiasts a long time ago thought that a breed worthy dog should not only be able to track, not only be obedient, not only be able to bite, but should be able to do all of it.
As soon as a breeder concentrates on one task only ( like agility f.e. ) he may breed good agility dogs, but not necessarily good working dogs according to the breed standard any more.
There are a lot of breeds out there doing more than well in "obedience", "tracking", whatever, but most of them are not able to participate in IPO, and that´s what makes the difference, at least for me.

As soon as a working breed isn´t tested for its initial working traits any more, the breed will loose their working ability ( think about the huge amount of former working dog breeds that became pet breeds ), simply because breeders start to select for pet traits, not for working dog traits.