American showline dogs posting here. Why? - Page 8

Trailraider,  exceptionaly  put, it's just  a pity  there  are  not  a  lot  more like you!!!  liz

Blitzen,  Here are the results from the AKC web site for "working dogs"  aka Schutzhund:

http://www.akc.org/events/working_dog_sport/wds_events_results.cfm

sO NICELY SAID..THANK YOU TRAILRAIDER..I AGREE..WE NEED MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU AROUND!!

I have two ASS dogs (American Showline Shepherds) and I have a German Working Line dog and IMO they are not the same breed! 

I Had a GSD working line and show line in the same time and the only difference I've noted is that my working lines had much more drive and was nut crazy about balls, rocks, woods anything a threw up in the air he grabed it lol..

To tell you the truth..my showline bitch was much more serious in protection (she didn't think it was a sport...she was very serious!) and was as trainable as my other one..she just didn't think she had to kill herself to get that stupid ball.  She work incrdibly well under pressure and what I liked about her was that she had an on/off switch.. When things were over..it was over..

They we're both wonderful dogs and yes they we're GSD!

Two dogs don't constitute a whole. When were they aquired, who were their breeders, what were their first weeks of life like, were they raised to be a pet or working dog, did you make your mistakes on these dogs? Most do make their mistakes on their first dogs, no matter what the lines.You could probably buy another working line dog and be disappointed also. I know I have been. I am not picking apart the lines saying one is better than the other, personally I like them all and have had my disappointments with them all, I have also had my highs with the same dogs. Not a one is good at everthing but they are all good at something. I personally think a dog that can go out and do an actual service to man, such as SAR, TDI, Police K-9, real Herding etc. are more breed worthy than a schutzhund title. Schutzhund is a fun sport, or it can be if you have a good group as I did. But it has evolved away from what the test was actually like when it was created, so IMO it is not what it was intended for any more because of this. From no more gun fire in the BH, to padded sticks, no more attack out of the blind etc. It has evolved ,hence so have the dogs. Not to mention titles in the box, judges looking the other way, people acquiring dogs or sending out dogs to be titled for breeding purposes. You know not what you have unless you have done it yourself from scratch, you do not know the plusses and weaknesses, so you have a title.... how do you know who a good mate for the dog is to balance out those plusses and weaknesses ? You don't, so what good is the darn title? I do believe a dog should have something behind its name to say it has been out in the public, even a CGC. I have personally owned a titled import that would not have passed a CGC. Like I said in my other post too, any newby would get "run off the field" ,never mind their dog ,if it was not what conformed to some clubs ideals were for bloodlines alone. Its not about helping people get the best out of their dog in most cases, its a little clique with testosterone running rampant. The "my dog is better than your dog" menatlity. Anyone here old enough to remember that Kennel Ration commercial?

Look, to each their own but don't start making generalizations about working dog people beating their dogs.  I'm sure that a few ASS people have taken their dog out of sight and beaten the crap out of them after a bad day in the ring.  Their are jerks in any aspect of show because they all have egos and some of them don't take getting beat well.

Personally, I'll take that "break my neck to get the ball" dog any day over the couch potato.  That's my preference and what I think they should be like.

MI GSD, well said.

I was not disapointed in my first working shepherd..We (me and the dog) got a schutzhund 1 and a CDX (2 legs on a UD) Multiple High In Trial and a lot of fun. he passed away at 13th what a great dog he was...but he was a lot to handle.  Even the breeder was sure I would bring him back because he had too much drive.

I trained my female but never showed her for a working or ob. title (all myfault..I was a little lazy) She made her Championshipin 3 week-end. We we're very pleased.

I've trained many dogs and never use force retreiving or force tracking and personnaly I think it is barbarous and just leaves the dog very anxious..they don't work for fun anymore..they work out of fear of correction..This is the old way of working dogs..and can't believe people are still doing that in 2008..And then they say that those dogs are great working dogs..do they have a choice??

I'd rather have a dog that works with pride and joy that one that I have to force to work. IMO

Thanks for the link, Animules, but for some reason I am not able to open any AKC on line documents . Been trying to see what goes on at those "working dog trials". Anyone know the rules for staging one of these events? Do they play pin the tail on the donkey or do they actually have real performance exercises? At any rate, it looks like these "trials" are only being offered at specialties, not all breed shows so far. I guess I could equate these events to those we hold at specialties for Malamutes - weight pulling, backpacking, hiking events where points are earned from the parent breed club, not AKC.

How many here would have Schutzhund titled dogs if you had to do it yourself?