Difference btw E. German DDR & Czech?

[JThomas23]

Other than their location of origin, what are the differences between the east German DDR and the Czech types of GSD as far as appearance and temperament goes?

Just curious, this forum is very very helpful when it comes to getting info! Thanks in advance!

- Jerry

[cliffson1]

Appearance....DDR tend to be blockier, especially head, more bone, often very dark sables or blacks, Czechs..little less bone, more West type conformation, medium to big heads, colors tend to be in all ranges of sable along with blacks.
temperaments....DDR, handler sensitive, low prey dive,good defense drive, slower maturing mentally, sometimes nervy that can translate into civil;
Czech, less handler sensitive, good balance between prey and defense drives, usually mature enough at 2 year to do police work or Sch, less nervy and trend towards more concrete nerves.
The above is in general terms, you can have many Czech dogs that look DDR, but 90% of time I see a new dog that is Czech I can rightfully identify it. They have a type to them that is very obvious when you get to know the type...JMO

[Freddy]

Jerry,

Welcome to the forum. You might want to search for a thread called Pohranicni Straze. They were a government run kennel in Czechoslovakia. There's some interesting info in there on maturity rates and body types.

I have one of each but the Czech dog is only 5 months so I can't quite make an informed opinion but he is smart as a whip, confident, and very social.

[atravis]

This is just my own personal observation, having looked specifically for a DDR line dog-

DDR dogs are similar to Czech dogs in appearance. They are both heavy boned, and have large(er), more masculine heads. From what I could tell, the Czech dogs are a little less blocky than the DDR dogs.

Temperament wise, all the Cezch dogs I saw were very drivey, more so than the DDR dogs. They were also much more serious, where as the DDRs were a bit more laid back.

Both mature slowly. Many DDR lines don't hit full mental maturity until 3 years, Czechs usually around 2.

Mulder is a 75/25 DDR/Czech cross (respectively). He has moderate prey drive, but TONS of ball drive. Low fight or offensive drive, moderate defensive. He's very social, and likes to be with me and other people he knows. He's always friendly when greeting strangers, and has been very good with other dogs thus far. He'd make a terrible Schutzhund or personal protection candidate, but would be awesome in something like flyball or herding.

Again, just my personal experience! While he wouldn't be cut our for sport, he's an AWESOME all-around family dog.

[Jason L]

From the sound of this, how does anyone do protection sports with a DDR dog (low prey drive, nervy)?

[atravis]

Any dog can be nervy, and I don't believe it is an in-bred trait for the entire line of dogs. Some can be, yes, but certainly not all. Not the majority.

You just don't work a DDR like you would a Czech. You have to move slowly, and develop WITH the dog. Move too fast, and they'll fall apart... move at just the right pace, and they can be awesome.

[onyx'girl]

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...=24#Post593477
thread from awhile ago, good info.
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...=11#Post921456
^^This one^^ is from when I was deciding which lines to go with. I went with W.German/Slovak blend and couldn't be happier!
Though, I love the look of the blocky DDR and the coloring of that black sable Puck V Grafental.

[umzilla]

Originally Posted By: Jason LinFrom the sound of this, how does anyone do protection sports with a DDR dog (low prey drive, nervy)?

You are asking 2 completely different questions.

How do you do protection sports with a DDR dog?
Intelligently train the dog to what it needs.

How do you do protection sports with a low drive, nervy dog?
You shouldn't....

Christine

[cliffson1]

Many people automatically think negative when they "hear the term "nervy". This is not necessarily a negative thing at all. There are different degrees of nerves just as there are different types and vocations for German Shepherds. Many police and military dogs do very well with a degree of nerviness. Doesn't mean they are over aggressive or shy by being nervy, just a heightened awareness because with the higher nerve threshhold is a solid temperament. Some dogs that have rock solid nerve are somewhat dull, great for most vocations if their drive is good, not necessarily great for policedog in urban setting.(There are many policedogs dogs that are not nervy so I don't need examples of your local dog that is not considered nervy, so are,some aren't)
That's why many Czech dogs are police dogs, they have an edge that with training cannot be converted into good suspicion when needed. Again, I am generalizing but enough of this is true to make the statement. So nerviness is a component that can be an absolute attribute in right porportion as long as it doesn't become severe enough to hamper either the training of the dog or the reliability of the dog.

[GSD07]

When you say 'nervy' do you mean actually suspicion towards people/new things or continuous reaction to any perceived changes in the environment that never shuts off?

From my observing my young DDR dog I can say that he's learning to differentiate in different situations and takes some time before reacting (or deciding not to react) without any cue from me. He is THINKING and I love that, and I praise him for the right decision. Usually he never reacts if he ever was in a similar situation and it didn't turn out to be threatening so I assume he's gaining some experience pool to tap into.