bloodlines and maturing

[pets4life]

hey i just had a question do working lines from belgium or west germany usually mature slower then american lines or german show lines?

I know east german lines are the slowest to mature. ALso was wondering is there anyway someone can look at a pedigree and predict roughly when that dog would mature? jus a question i dont think it is possible but thought id ask just for curioustiy


last was wondering just say my dog only had 35 percent czech in him or her could she still mature slow the way an east german dog does even with the little amount of blood she has?

[BlackthornGSD]

Mature for what? For working? Physical appearance? In terms of drive and mental attitude?

The Belgian dogs tend to be very drivey as young dogs, like a malinois. The German working line dogs vary a lot. The showline dogs tend to mature physically faster and tend to be less awkward as they mature (a result of people selecting for the show ring and keeping the dogs who are successful young and selling on those that are awkward or "ugly ducklings").

American dogs... just depends.

Typical "border patrol" Czech dogs mature more slowly than the German working lines, largely because their foundation goes back to the DDR dogs and also bc they get a lot of their strength from their defense drive, which develops more thoroughly as a dog matures. Nowadays, though, Czech dogs are often significantly intermingled with the German dogs, so the distinction isn't as great.

[pets4life]

sorry meant as far as mental attitude

does defense drive hit its fullest potential usually after the dog is 2?

[BlackthornGSD]

Originally Posted by pets4life

sorry meant as far as mental attitude

does defense drive hit its fullest potential usually after the dog is 2?

Around then, I'd say. The dogs that mature early are often lower in defense, IMHO, so what you're seeing is early prey drive. But dogs that mature late might not physically stop growing until they are 3 and will take until they are 12-18 months to be ready/able to focus and concentrate to really be into training.

[pets4life]

i assume that west german or other lines of shepherds with some east german mixed in could either mature mentally slow (3 years) or fast (2 years) depending on the individual dog in that case?

[cliffson1]

The "maturing" of the dog is something that I have found only has significance to people who are doing sport/work that involves bitework by the dog. Otherwise, if the dog is of sound nerve ...the maturing of the dog in any of these lines is pretty much the same, commensurate with the physical/mental development and the ownership.

[BlackthornGSD]

Originally Posted by cliffson1

The "maturing" of the dog is something that I have found only has significance to people who are doing sport/work that involves bitework by the dog. Otherwise, if the dog is of sound nerve ...the maturing of the dog in any of these lines is pretty much the same, commensurate with the physical/mental development and the ownership.

Yes, precisely.

[pets4life]

thanks i just had a question this is out of curiousity how old does a dog usually have to be to be a street working patrol police dog? is there a min age?

[cliffson1]

Not really, I have seen many Mals that were ready at 13 months, and most GS are usually between 18 and 24 months....still its all relevant as to whether the dog passes the academy or washes out as to whether the dog was ready regardless of the age.

[pets4life]

i read a lot of leerburg stuff on his site he always says "dogs start to mature at 18 months" i never really knew what he meant like they start to act like adults and loose the puppyness or some just turn into adults at that age always was just curious what he meant

Like for example
" A dog does not develop a strong defensive drive until it starts to mature which is around 18 months of age."

http://leerburg.com/qapropup.htm#prot