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by wuzzup on 29 January 2009 - 19:01
by dogshome9 on 30 January 2009 - 00:01
OK Rexy,
Are you a member of Schutzhund Australia?
Do you work your dog ?
Do you do Obedience ?
Do you show him/her ? Or even attend shows ?
Do you Breed or own more than 1 dog ?
What about Herding ? We do have herding trials here and quite a large number of "Show Dogs"
are not only going out there taking part but they are qualifying for titles.
If you were to attend Specialty Shows here you will not see the kind of GSD that you are talking about, no they don't have working titles but you will see dogs that are exceptionaly fit most of them are out with their owners running alongside of a bike or Quadbike or swimming endless laps in the pool, not occasionaly chasing a ball. You must be talking about your own dog !!!!!!! NO DRIVES.
I do agree that Schutzhund is not well accepted here Down Under but I believe we have people here working towards improving that. Here we also have the Companion Animal Act and Breed Specific Legislation, banning the ownership and breeding of dangerous breeds so of course we need to be careful not to go down that road also. People are very quick to jump on the bandwagon and would soon report dogs if they thought that they were attack trained i'm sure.
Because every time a child is attacked by a dog here it is front page news (we had one in NSW recently 4 dogs repoted as Mastiff x Bullterrier ? attacked a child who later died), When this attack was reported one the newspaper it carried a photo of a GSD for some reason.
SORRY TO VENT I just hate to see such utter rubbish.
by missbeeb on 30 January 2009 - 00:01
Dogshome9... we have similar problems in the UK and I know exactly how difficult it is to make others understand... any mention of bitework (or similar) is likely to bring a hoard of anti dog protesters out in force... I sympathise.
by dogshome9 on 30 January 2009 - 00:01
Most of our puppies go to pet homes and for someone to get on this board and talk of low drive puppies that don't even want to chase a ball, they need to visit a breeder who has 6 - 8 week old puppies and sit or even stand amongst them I just love to see peoples reaction when the pups are hanging of their shoes, pants and halfway up their legs it really sorts out who you want to sell your puppies to. It always makes me smile.
missbeeb do you do any bite work with your dogs?
by missbeeb on 30 January 2009 - 01:01
Mine are both oldies now but I've never done bitework. I have had a new insight into bitework recently... thanks to this board, I realise that there's more to it, I used to roll my eyes and think it was all hype, but there's clearly more to it when it comes to assessing the whole dog... never too old to learn LOL.
BUT... you have to keep one eye on public opinion, because the anti dog lot are always lurking!
I fully intend to visit a Sch Trial this year (my first) so... I may be surprised.
by Rexy on 30 January 2009 - 11:01
You are totally correct with society and government views on dangerous dogs, infact an attack trained dog in most States of Australia have to declared and licenced as such which includes Shutzhund accredited where in a public place require a muzzle to be worn as part of the licence requirements. Apart from the restricted breeds the top three breeds of focus are the GSD, Rottweiler and Dobermann where any misadventure occurs involving these breeds, someone is straight on the phone lodging complaints of a perceived dangerous dog at large.
With the GSD under these circumstances, many are breeding soft dogs into their bloodlines, as I said temperaments of a Labradore or Golden Retriever, lovely sweet dogs without question but is not the temperament of proper GSD hence, the amount of breeders that quote "not suitable for protection work" having not the required drives.
It's to the point in Australia where people are getting used to soft GSD's believing that's how they are supposed to be and coming across a GSD with high prey and defence drives, even some vets nowdays a fast to comment that the dog is abnormal.
My GSD a show line male is extremely high drive compared with the average bred, and yes, I have to muzzle him at the vets. He doesn't love strangers as I am led to believe that he should, he hates them with a passion which took specilaised training to make him behave, yet my GSD according to many has a temperament problem because he instinctively guards and protects???.
I would have to train my dog to run along side a bicycle he would try and bite the spokes, anything moving he's onto it and scared of nothing, what about yours dogshome9???.
by dogshome9 on 30 January 2009 - 12:01
Rexy,
I am not talking all breed shows, these hold no interest for me. To gain a Championship what is that ? To me that is
a rather worthless title. In order to gain a Champion status yes a GSD only has to trot 2 or 3 times around a tiny ring, what can a judge see from that display NOTHING.
No they are not required to have working titles in order to enter specialty shows I have already stated that.
I am sorry that your dog has to wear a muzzle when you go to the vet, you really must work on your Obedience training, although as a vet nurse I have seen vets that do insist that all large dogs must wear one, I have no time for such vets either.
If all Australian GSD's hated strangers with a passion where do you think they would be? I will tell you now they would be on the Dangerous Dog List. Is that what you want? I don't think so.
Why would your dog attack the bike wheels? Does he attack cars also? How do you keep him fit, Oh, Sorry you must be young.
Yes I can Guarantee that if any of my dogs were put to the challenge they would not hesitate to protect their family, they have already proven that on a number of occasions.
Breeders also advertise their puppies as NOT SUITABLE FOR PROTECTION WORK because they prefer for them to be in a family situation and NOT stuck in some warehouse or car yard and never sleeping at the end of a bed or next to its owner.
Most of the Australian armed forces and even the police force these days have their own breeding stock.
by Videx on 30 January 2009 - 13:01
The two WUSV Member Clubs, who should support the SV Breed Standard have been SILENT on these changes. They need to issue a public statement condemning these unilateral changes to our GSD Breed Standard.
It is crucial that the SV takes urgent steps to assert its authority and the authority of the WUSV regarding this serious matter.
I urge ALL SV members, around the World, to write and/or email the SV requesting they give this matter their urgent attention.
by Rexy on 30 January 2009 - 14:01
I am not saying that it's wrong for some breeders to abide by the legislation and produce dogs that "will not harrass people" as in some sense it does protect the perception of the breed, but in Australia if you are looking for a "real" GSD and not a Labrador dressed in a German Shepherd's uniform your choice of breeder needs to be carefully researched. A perfect example of this is a dog that I know bred from champion show lines in confirmation that tucks in behind it's owner, legs shaking in fear of traffic to cross the road. That is not what I would expect from a GSD with correct temperament, infact it's more a temperament fault, however the owner of this dog paid a lot of money from the result of show titles to purchase what was marketed as a perfect example of the breed which it's not.
Had in this instance show titles be judged with some mandatory working trial in order for the dog to qualify into the conformation show, the breeding of this line of nervous weak temperament animals withouit show result status would not have begun.
by Mystere on 30 January 2009 - 17:01
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