Originally posted by Giselle
Okay, back. I just thought of something. In the same way working people accuse conformation people of showing dogs that could not do their original work....How can you justify that? How can you (general you) look at a BIS GSD and say, No, that's wrong. That dog can't work."
You can't say "no thats wrong, that dog can't work" without seeing ANY dog actually working in the sport/activity they're bred for... thats the point! I totally cannot judge any show GSD as unfit to work ~ however, there is NO point in having an insanely exaggerated 45* angle topline and hocks that touch the ground, except for aesthetic reasons! Its not practical in a dog that will be running, herding, working, being knocked over by criminals, etc, every day. I know one of the best GSD breeders in Cali, she imports a lot of her stock and all of them come from at least 75% German or Scandanavian lines because generally American GSD's are useless if you want a real working schutzhund dog. Her dogs need to have solid, proportionate structure to work all day long ~ their backs are pretty much level and their hocks are straight, and they are some of the top Schuzthund dogs in the country.

I agree with you about breed clubs setting a more vague standard! I think show people tend to obsess over every word in the standard (because they want to win), and therefor exaggerate that as much as possible... the GSD standard calls for a sloped topeline (aka bananaback) and bent hocks ~ so they breed in the most sloped topelines and the most bent hocks possible! ack. the whole thing is crazy. Like I said before, its like selecting a doctor based on how many beauty pageants he's won... you really cant tell IF a dog will work based on how he looks. I think I'm way more annoyed by ACK in general, because Border Collies are bred for working with very, very little attention to looks. Which is why every working BC you see looks unique, two rarely look the same!

^.^ what you said about plenty of show people working their dogs ~ I frickin hope so!!! If they put that much money and energy into showing their dogs to prove their breedability just based on appearance, they'd better prove them in the sport they're bred for.