dogs bred for looks lose mental bite - Page 10

I agree High Desert that in a pet I need satisfaction from beauty too. It would be a majority who choose a GSD for a family pet love the beauty that a GSD offers and working line drives generally are too much for the average pet owner to handle. In Australia, there are too many show line GSD's that people try to re-home by 2 years of age being unable to handle and cope with the drives they possess which are low in comparison to a working line dog.

I can't see regardless of origin, the wrong in breading beautiful looking low drive GSD's for family pets as bite work is of no interest to the people wanting in a GSD an affectionate loyal friend. It goes to show how breeding structures have been able to provide the versatility in the GSD to appeal to such a wide range of individual needs from a dog. We chose a long coat German show line that doesn't even comply (due to coat) with the breed standards but he is beautiful to the eye and satisfies us. Having said that, should my interests be in the working ability of the dog, my choice remains with the GSD but of working line breeding to best suit my needs in that application where looks then would be a secondary requirement.

There a few other breeds that have provided the versatility to suit such a wide range of personal needs from a dog as the breeders of GSD's and providing their intentions are to breed healthy animals to hopefully live a long life, they are doing a great job in my opinion. 

 

                                                                                                 It would be better if a dog has it ALL, but I have not found any yet
     I will never tire of saying, my dog has it all. There is a reason that a well bred, great looking dog "deseves" a higher price tag than others. Like I said, Tracey deserves all the credit for my dog being what he is. She is devoted to her dogs and breeding the best of the best. She keeps the intended purpose of the German hepherd in the forefront of what she is producing.
     This dog came off the airplane, and out of his crate with such confidence, I was amazed. Everywhere I go with him I am told he is the most beautiful Shepherd, ever seen. I can take him off leash, anywhere. I AM WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO HIM.

Never having owned a working line GSD as a comparison, my German show line male by 18 months of age was a real handful in terms of drive and confidence until extensive training taught him to behave. He would chase anything that moved and wanted to bite everyone he considered a threat and yet to find "anything" that scares him. At 12 months, someone using a high pressure washer sprayed him from a distance where he leapt at the washer nozzle grabbing it in his mouth. These washers have the pressure to remove stains off concrete, scary in fact that water pressure in a dogs mouth, but he refused to let go until yanking it from the person's hand. Another instance that being totally unnacceptable behaviour in society, he shot out the gate and bailed up a guy walking past who in fear, yelled and screamed at him hitting him in the face with a bag. We heard him bark an saw the moment that he lunged at the guy's bag and took it off him. We actually got into trouble over that. But none the less, he is a show line with high drive, courage and hardness???

My message really is just mutual respect, more moderation in opinion except supported by reason or fact, both is better but either is still worthy of posting. This is a forum.

The  way some people frame an opinion or against an arguement is also very strange. It seems it is not SchH itself per se, but the general mindset of a higher percentage of people who do it that matters more. There is a great deal of irrational fervor.

I have repeatedly, four or five times,  stated tt I have nothing against SchH. I kind of like it. The abilities of some of these dogs are delightful. I don't see, simply as a matter of polemics, why someone would drag a SchH post across two threads to show a "point". What is the point? I have nothing against SchH, so why would one want to repeatly say that SchH is good stuff. It is beating a dead horse to express a fervor to the wrong audience. In fact, I have tried to correct some misconception of SchH for some people who are against it. There are many angles too, yes, some of these "works" are predicated on the lesser worth of canine life. One should be circumspect  before becoming fervent about anything.

So if you do not accept SchH with the fervor of disrepect of non-followers, then you must be a traitor!

I accept that SV has done a far better job then AKC in promoting the orthopedic health of the GSD, but things are not black and white. For just orthopedic considerations, which is better: a American dog with a level strong back but with just two generations of OFA H&E, average good hips, or an import that has a pronunced roach back but has four generations of average a2 and E normal? I will choose the former. 

Worthy of discussion is ancestral link for HD and ED with incomplete sibling reporting. No taker.

The claim that other diseases are more prevalent in top American dogs is just that. One should have either fact or reason. No taker.

All the top American dog breeders, the champion producers, I have met care about  their dogs. There are many very good American Showline breeders, upon the backdrop of low quality masses.