GSD on the way out?? Here is the article - Page 7

Told you it was about being selfish.

BTW, I challenge you to ride a bicycle as fast as my guys can do a long bite.  Here's a test for those of you who work your dogs:  ask your dog to jump up on the couch, leave him there for a minute then go stand by the door with a tug or a ball or even a sleeve (for those of you who know and understand the dog's natural ability and desire to bite something) and see what the dog does.  I'm guessing that everyone's dog (besides High in the Desert's) flies off the couch to go "work".  So given the choice, who won out,,,couch?  Or work?  Point being, if done properly (as previously mentioned) the dog should perceive the work as play, hence dogs at work are playing,,,,,,a lot.

Geesh, i thought i just saw on animal planet that the GSD is still in the top 3 in popularity, sometimes #1, sometimes #3, usually #2, depending which stats you follow. Personally we have quite a few GSD "wonder dogs" Once in a lifetime dogs in our house as i write. Our working line gsds assist us daily to no end on our small organic farm. Daily we are amazed by their fantasic intelligence, alertness and willingness; We are amazed how quickly they learn any new task or job or "play" , We are quite sure this is why GSDs are so incredibly successful at SAR in the many catastrophies the world has experienced recently. We read her article to our gsds, and they responded with ; " Truly, the author of the nytimes artical and rin tin book has found some measure of fame, and if her book is as poorly researched and written as this article, her fame and popularity will be her downfall . "

Police forces are constantly looking for the Holy Grail, preferably as within budget as possible as the guys that hold the purse strings usually have no idea what the guys at the sharp end actually need.  After trawling through dozens of gift dogs (usually unsuitable for the police for the very reasons they are being got rid of) it is easy to come to the conclusion GSDs are not as good as they were.  In UK,  several have experimented with other breeds and generally returned to the GSD, with a few exceptions that use Mali's as well as GSDs.  Why not, there are some excellent ones around, not all are hyper nervebags, a good dog is a good dog!

As for a working dog not being satisfied with a home environment, I have placed many in active companion homes who think they have the best dog they have ever had and my home is currently occupied by 2 high drive male GSDs (now 12 years old) who have lived in the house all their lives, qualified in Schutzhund and accepted retirement with no problem at all.  My partners high drive Sch H 3 Mali also lives in the house, all are easy to have around, settled and seem perfectly happy being companions.  Give them what they need in terms of mental stimulation, attention and exercise and they love it.

Margaret N-J

The title of the op is very annoying. It shows a certain degree of arrogance.

I don't mean the original intention that the working Mal is better than the working GSD. I don't think so.

The arrogance is in suggesting one of the most popular breeds of dogs is being replaced by one of the least popular breed. This is as aburd as it is arrogance in slighting the great majority of owners of the GSD for their reason, ie slighting their reason of ownership. This is a very conceited elitist attitude that borders on religiosity.

I have nothing nothing nothing against working GSDs. In fact, I like them in their way. They don't have the angulation but they are charming in their ways. What I can't stand is the arrogant attitude of some of their owners that this is the only way to own a GSD.

The mal will never replace the GSD. The mal is too atheletic for their own safety in subburban America, your average  8,000 sq feet lot.  They have a much greater chance of becoming loose, getting run over. The are also too vocal  for most owners.  The Mal is too much for 95% of owners. It also requires more exercise than the GSD.

I run my dogs about 8-9 miles a week. With two dogs I bike about 16-18 miles a week. I will likely have a third one and I will be biking about 24-27 miles a week due to ownership of my dogs.
I am hitting 50 and I still wear the same waist jean as I did in college. 30 inches. This is what pet ownership of the GSDs do to me.

Nothing wrong with "work" for a GSD; nothing wrong with "pet" as a GSD. Different strike for different folks.

The police in NRW as the article spokes about has a breedingprogram for malinois for over 20 years now, so it´s not strange they have malinois in majorityy, I don´t think that´s the case in other german states. In denmark mals are rare what I´ve heard, and the malinois is certainly not in majority as policedogs in sweden either, probably the same in finand.

"They don't have the angulation but they are charming in their ways"


You say that like it is a bad thing.

I'm not being arrogant, just flabbergasted.

"They don't have the angulation but they are charming in their ways"




You say that like it is a bad thing.





Poor angulation is not a bad thing per se; it is just not a good thing if a dog wants to trot and cover  more ground poor stoke without breaking into gallop.

Why is it desirable for a GSD to cover more ground per stoke this way? This goes back to herding days. It is believe to that less effort over time to cover the  greatest distance.

We don't herd with GSDs any more. But the ideal stands and it is visually pleasing to see a GSD trot with great coverage per stoke. I like to see it; many people do.

If there had not been such a standard, I believe I would still like to see great ground coverage and ease of movement from a GSD; just pleasing to watch. This will require balance and enough angulation front and rear.


Likewise, many prefer dark almond eyes; no particular reason but preference.




If you are hinting at overangulation, sometimes it is overdone but usually not. Feedback is always good. When the trend is to overbred a certain feature, it is better to correct such error in subsequent breedings. I agree, if this is what you are hinting.

I think one dog in the pedigree of my dogs is a bit overangulated, so for the stud I chose one with a little less so that the next generation would be just right, hopefully.






 

  

I also like hearing compliments from strangers about my GSD's movement.

"look at it movesl"


There seems to be  prevalent appeal for the movement of the showline GSDs.


I hear "beautiful dog" often, but only occasional compliment on their gait.

This might be a stupid question... Don't take it as rude pleAse... Can you tell me of any other herding breed that is encouraged to have more "angle"? Or even a herding breed that has the same type of angles as the gsd for "ground cover" ease.

"Can you tell me of any other herding breed that is encouraged to have more "angle"?"

I can't. 

But the whole ideal of greater coverage when trotting has been with the GSD breed for a long time.

To me and to a lot of people, it is a very pleasing feature of the GSD and may be it can be proven that such trotting method indeed saves energy and wear and tear on a dog. 

I do observe that my GSDs can have a significantly higher speed trotting without breaking out into gallop than my previous dogs. When trotting this way, they do not become exhausted as easily.


Greater angulation means that the whole legs are in fact longer as there is great folded part of the limbs, which when unfolded provides greater coverage.


To me and many people, this angulation indeed adds to the appearance of the dog even when at rest. This is also why the Mal will not have this visual appeal of the GSD. 



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