The thing that I just find it hard to understand, is; if a show dog is conformationally different from a working dog, then how does the correct conformation get decided? I understand that with a working dog, it would be based on physical attributes required to do the job for which the dog has been bred. But if the dog is not expected to be built for a job, then how do the breed experts decide what is, and what isn't desirable?
Well, isn't that a good question? It's, uh, complicated.
This is an oft-discussed issue amongst the experts themselves... what is and isn't desirable, and who decides? Which GSD is the "real" GSD? Each camp thinks theirs is, and has their own reasoning, which the other camps tend to disagree with.
I'm guessing it's a fluid thing that changes over time, according to fashions of the day?
Yes and no. The standard itself does not change, but the interpretation of it changes. Look at any breed and how it evolves (or devolves) over time. Some are very dramatic, within 50 years you wouldn't know it was the same breed. Who makes these changes? Judges, handlers, breeders all influence each other. Sometimes a "fad" will come along, some great show dog that has some extreme trait that everyone goes ga-ga over, breeders reproduce it, famous handlers get the dogs seen, judges put them up... fashion... politics... nepotism... yada yada yada. People want to win, and will do whatever it takes.
My personal feeling, which is quite idealistic, is that judges can only put up what is put in front of them. If we get working lines--of any breed--into the conformation ring, the judge at least has a choice. Maybe some all-breed judges have secretly hated the current fad in a certain breed, and maybe they look at the WL dog in the ring and think "we need more of THAT". And if they are brave, they will put up the WL dog, just to make a statement.
Now, this assumes there are (or will be) judges that are NOT corrupt and politically beholden. This will not happen overnight. I'm thinking that *IF* people start showing their working-line dogs, not to win, but just to get them seen, judges will get used to seeing them, and come to appreciate them. And maybe in 30-40 years, we will start to see things change.
But it has to start somewhere, so I think showing WL dogs in AKC conformation is a great thing to do if you have the stones for it. You can't go in expecting to win, and you have to be gracious. You will be spending money, so you have be able to get something out of it other than winning. Personally I love seeing working lines of any breed in the conformation ring, and I think they should get out and be seen. A dog that still does what it was bred to do--imagine that!