Thinking about Breeding

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

If there is a GSD rescue near you, you can get experience with all sorts of dogs and help out, too! You could eventually be the whelping mom foster.
http://www.mvgsdr.org/
I think in IL/IA

[bocron]

Originally Posted by britchick

Do you think when I am just starting out it would be a real detriment to me, to have those pedigree snobs turning their noses up? I know in the horse world, you have some people who simply will not consider a AQH because, well, it’s a Quarter Horse. And if so, do you think that would be a great majority?

Well, you won't know until you go out there. I think the best plan of action is to tell the club contact or the training director your eventual goals. Explain that you want to learn as much about the sport and the breed as you can and by observing you hope to make the best choice when it comes time to buy the pup you hope to get soon.
We have a guy in our club who right now is just getting started. His dog is a 35lb mix of some sort. We totally think he can learn quite a bit by training this dog in the Schutzhund discipline. Today he was out there on the field with the rest of the club giving a go at teaching his dog the go out. The dog was having fun and he was learning by watching the others and then trying it himself. Will this dog ever bite a sleeve? Who knows, but he can still learn with him. Right now he is saving his money to buy a working line puppy, but as he's a junior in college, there is no huge rush. In the mean time, we know why he wants to work the little dog and are happy to help him along. Just think how relaxed he can be about it with the puppy since he'll have done a good bit of it already!

[britchick]

The MVGSDR is actually very close by! I have contacted them to ask about volunteering. I wish I could foster, but right now that isn't an option. My little 1/2 pitt doesn't do well with darker coloured dogs, that is actually one of the reasons why I got a WGSD rather than your traditional colours.

I have also emailed my local Schutzhund club to ask when they meet and how to join. As of yet, I have not heard back from either.

[britchick]

I just finished reading that article you sent. It was very interesting. I never would have thought that testing puppies with the sheep would be so successful. I think that is awesome!

[martemchik]

I guess I shouldn't have said impossible, but it's difficult. And I'm thinking of it from a purely marketing and success point of view. It's not that you can't make amazing dogs, its that your dogs won't be winning much. I'm currently training my first dog, and I love to win. I don't get upset if he doesn't win a trial as long as he qualifies, but I do strive to be the best and get the higher scores. Sadly, it today's GSD world, when you start mixing lines, you're going down the path of "pet quality" dogs.

I know there was just a thread about website marketing, and if you start thinking along those terms your dogs will have a much harder time "sticking out." I'm glad you've changed your mind about mixing lines, but I'd follow the suggestion of the other posters that said don't get stuck on one line just yet. Maybe you would enjoy conformation more and you just don't know it. I wouldn't dismiss lines because of anything you've heard, get out there and watch them, see what their pros and cons are. All the lines have something special about them and something to be admired.

Also, about your last post, what do you mean your WGSL isn't dark?

[GSDGunner]

Originally Posted by martemchik

Also, about your last post, what do you mean your WGSL isn't dark?

Actually it said "WGSD" as in white GSD.

[britchick]

I wouldn't dismiss the show line without giving them a serious chance, because like you said, maybe I will change my mind. From the photos I have seen the show line tends to have more roached backs, and I am not a fan of how seriously roached some of them are now a days. I prefer the straighter backs. They just have a healthier look to me. And I know everybody views that differently, it's just how it looks to me.

Scout is a White German Shepherd cross. He has some tanish coloured markings, but is mostly white. I normally just refer to him as a WGSD because he doesn't like when I mention the cross, he always looks disappointed. He does have floppy ears, which I don't know where that came from, but otherwise he looks a lot like a GSD/Husky mix to me.

Daisy, my Pitt, doesn't do well with darker dogs, and she goes ballistic on black dogs, or dogs with black markings, which is actually why I didn't get a Border Collie this time around. We think that she was attacked by a black dog when she was a pup. She has some rather large scarring in some places.

I have attached some photos of Scout, including my little sister trying to turn him into Minny Mouse!

[Catu]

mmmm, I don't see husky at all, actually little shepherd too. If I had to make a guess, I'd say labrador with something else, something with spots. I'd like to see him standing.

[britchick]

I don't currently have any standing photos, I can try to get some. If you saw him moving you would see the Shepherd better.

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Originally Posted by britchick

The MVGSDR is actually very close by! I have contacted them to ask about volunteering. I wish I could foster, but right now that isn't an option. My little 1/2 pitt doesn't do well with darker coloured dogs, that is actually one of the reasons why I got a WGSD rather than your traditional colours.

ALL volunteers are important and essential, not just foster homes! I am not sure but I think that the person who runs that rescue used to be a mod on this forum (Norma - I could be very wrong!).

I see GSD in the legs...trunk/back too.