I wondered when this would show up. It's surfaced on FB the last few days. It's the typical frog dog stuff you've seen before, from an AR blog, designed to be inflammatory. Before everyone starts screaming around about ASLs, know that there IS a push for a moderate dog. I'm seeing it at the shows, and have talked to breeder friends who have gone away from "too much rear".

 

Like it or not, THIS dog has a big win now that many will want to match.

 

I'm not saying there are not good representatives of the breed within the ALS pool.

I'm also not anti-showline as I've owned before but this for me is not ok.

 

His puppies will fetch top dollar. Yay for the breeder.

I hate how people are creating these dogs and breeds that are so far away from what nature deems worthy of survival. Pugs, English bulldogs, etc.

The farther you get from the appearance of the wolf, the worse off you are.

 

does it take animal rights group to point out that this is CRUEL to a living animal -- typical frog dog stuff -- wouldn't be typical if there were not animals which have such deformed unnatural conformation and enough people drinking the cool aid convincing themselves and others for $$$ gain.
shame on the judges who continually advance such dogs.
shame is that this dog still is not "the worst"
the folly is also seen in bulldogs, pugs, dachshund , .... on and on .

Shawlein Fine Art & Purebred German Shepherd Dogs
stop the madness . stop the insanity.

 

OMG, my dog has the wrong conformation as she walks on her feet and doesn't look like a kangaroo.

 

Oh my...just makes me cringe to look at those photos. What a shame!

 

was this the dog at Westminster?

 

Rumor was Breed and got a Group 4 at Westminster, and went BIS at the Eukanuba.

 

I honestly didn't believe this could possibly be a real article-- that this dog won best of breed in any kind of competition. I had no idea it was that bad

 

I saw that dog on TV.

He was also showing a lot of whale eye and lip licking.
So not only a conformational mess, but temperamental as well.

 

OMG, I know nothing about lines or showing, but I do know that that dog does not look right. Seems down right uncomfortable, and hurts me to look at it. Sad....sad

 

I have seen a lot of American Showline dogs in person, and I haven't seen dogs that look like that. Obviously there are some out there, but neither in the all breed ring or the specialty ring are these dogs popular around here. I have to agree with dogfaeries that this is just out there to inflame.

ETA: what has been going on in facebook, PDB, and forums, is your typical working line people seeing something that they dislike more than usual about showline dogs and making the most of it. It would be like us showline people dragging up a bit of crappy IPO work and dissing all the working line dogs because of it, even if we don't know the first thing about IPO.

 

"Beautiful dogs, failed by the humans who purport to love them the most." This says it all, really.

 

This isn't about bashing show line dogs. This is about this judge putting up this dog as Best in Breed at a National Show. Suggesting this dog best meets the Breed Standard at a National Show.

 

What national show?

Rumor won at Westminster. How many national shows are there?

You know why I think this was dredged up? Because so many people were excited about the GSD going Best In Show. That hasn't happened in a while, and the show line people are all excited. I think this is really out there to bash showline people.

It's kind of like putting out a documentary on how awful racing horses are, after American Pharaoh won the triple crown. There are people out there that want to wound when people are happy -- not you. But the people that originally posted this stuff, because people were bound to run with it.

 

I'm not talking about Rumor.

I am looking at and posting about the dog in the link of this thread. Come on Sue, look at the structure and movement of this dog, it's black and white. Nothing is made up, not about the stack in just one picture, hocks flat on the ground in both a stack and when moving.....it's both wrong and sad to say this is good and something that should be bred for.

 

The "National" show was in Phila. second weekend in Nov, it was aired on TV Thanksgiving. That is the dog in the post.
Westminster is in NY in Feb. Rumor went G4 at that show, she also went BIS in FL at the big Eukenuba show, it was her 100 BIS more than 4600 dogs entered.

 

I don't have an issue with Rumor, different league and dog than the one being discussed in this thread.

 

I saw this article on FB too - that dog's hocks look awful! It does make you wonder what the other dogs at the show must have looked like. Was it politics that put this dog up front? Yikes, poor fellow.

But yes, I have also since seen this being shared by "old-style flat back oversized low drive" GSD breeders as a jab at ASL breeders as a whole. This is an unfortunate case, but I can't imagine it's representative of all ASL breeding practices out there. My pet GSD from American show lines looks nothing like that/

 

selzer said "I have seen a lot of American Showline dogs in person, and I haven't seen dogs that look like that. Obviously there are some out there, but neither in the all breed ring or the specialty ring are these dogs popular around here. I have to agree with dogfaeries that this is just out there to inflame."


I have. Zeus and Zeto Fran Jo, Doppelt-Tays Masterkey and others (in person and close up) - they're in the GSD Reviews .

Inflame . Time to burn the institution to the ground - rebuild .

The other dog , the dark black and tan , looks unwell, unhealthy, uncomfortable , unhappy .

 

I never saw that, I only saw photo's of her in excellent coat, and standing with power in her structure.
As far as that poor pathetic bicolor with the soft ear, I wonder if that puppy was fed crap food, kept in a crate and never allowed to be a puppy. The whole body screams of cramped crate and poor nutrition.

 

As a person that was AT the dog show an KNOWS the dogs that were there, let me tell you this: his owners have busted their butts with this dog. Though the dog is being shown by a pro now, he was raised and completely trained by a junior handler. This dog has a stellar temperament, and has no issues with crowds and people and and and. You'll see lots of show dogs lip lick a lot. It is not an automatic sign of stress. We bait our dogs, they want the bait, they drool.

It was not politics that caused the dog to win. The judging was honest. A more mature animal than what I had was put up (My dog went WD on Saturday).

You don't have to like the dog, but how about we don't state things about him that aren't true? Or imply that the rest of the entry was crap just because you don't agree with what was put up.

 

What about the structure of the dog? Those photos and video tell a story. You can praise the owners and how hard they worked (I'm sure they did..I don't doubt that), but that doesn't make up for the way the dog looks. Parts of the dog are touching the ground that shouldn't be touching the ground. If this is what people think is beautiful or structurally strong, then I want the ugliest dog out there.

 

I know next to nothing about showing, still learning tons about GSDs and being a dog owner in general, but the way that dog's hocks lay flat on the ground just can't be a "good thing", can it? It just seemed to me that, even if he otherwise is a stellar dog, that has to be considered one severe defect to detract from his chances of winning.

 

Doesn't matter what I think of it. The judge that day liked him.

I could present pictures of my own animals that paint them in a poor light and people could run with it. The truth always lies somewhere in the middle

 

I agree about the truth always lying somewhere in the middle. And as others have pointed out, this particular article was intended to be inflammatory. His conformation just looked so aberrant. And I will say it did make me want to be able to do better myself some day! But let's call that a 10 year plan, if I'm lucky

 

the dog is no where near close to the standard . That is what the issue is .
No compartments for an ideal asl , an ideal wgsl -- just one ideal for a fully functional, healthy, GSD .

seems the people with other breeds look on in wonderment at some of the aberrant conformation, embraced by some of the GSD fancy.

 

Then people need to bring out their own animals to show if they don't like it. That's what I did. I'm doing ok for myself.

It's harder to get a look for my keeper bitch, with her being more moderate and correctly sized. She's also dark, which isn't favored.

I'll finish her. It'll just take longer.

Can't complain about a lack of change if you aren't going to involve yourself

 

Then people need to bring out their own animals to show if they don't like it. That's what I did. I'm doing ok for myself.

I truly believe that there needs to be a requirement for working titles as well. Whether through the GSDCA or the AKC if the GSDCA will not. Balance needs to be stressed at the higher levels.

My understanding is the breeder has quite a few dogs herding. I know at least one is going for its BH soon.

 

So this dog has a good temperament, that is great, but what about those hocks touching the floor? That isn't normal in any breed. So my question to those that think this dog is the standard, ard those hocks normal and would you want a dog with those hocks?

I'm not a show person, not even a little bit, but if I seen that dog on the street with those hocks I would honestly feel sorry for him.