GSD's through the ages! Discussions

Thought this link would interest some of you.
My preferred 'shape' is late 50's early 60's. Does show how much they've changed though!
Becky

Thanks for the link Becky - that is really interesting.

I love the dogs from the 50s, 60s and 70s.

Very interesting. I prefer the very earliest dogs. I just cannot understand why anyone would want to create the roached back in that breed. IMO it has done nothing good for the breed.

Hi,

Very interesting link. Nice to see the difference sin the breed over the years but I personally don't see a need or the reason for breeding with sloped backs. ALthough I have been told that no GSDs are deliberately bred this way, it's the way they stand for shows. Admittedly, if you make adog stand with his back legs sticking out backwards his rear end will go down a little creating a slope, but my argument is that when the dog is standing up striaght, no such slope should be present.

Anyway, I enjoyd looking at the piccies.

Yiannis is the exact same shape and build as Gundo vom Klosterbogen in 1975.
Zane is the exact same shape and build as Harras von der Juch in 1921.

Laura xx

Wow very very interesting link. My favourite is the dog on the left from 59 and 60. I also agree very strongly about the roached back.

What a great link. I like the late 60`s dogs best - but I got my first GSD as a rehome in `72 so I`m biased!
I don`t have a good pic of her but this shows her as agile, smaller than dogs now, and lighter built, with a straight back. That was the `norm` for the time (for pets anyway)

Brilliant link, thanks for sharing. My preference is for the early dogs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Just how does the sloped back improve herding ability? I have noted its absence in the dog guide program.

The real early early dogs look really Mali like dont they!!!!

My favs are the dogs in the latter half of the 60s & the 1946 dog!!!!

I think this is where the problem arises. The breed standard calls for a straight back slightly sloping to the croup but in some of these dogs the back is curved not straight whether sloping or not and I really don't like the look of the curved back, very un-natural in my opinion. However, I feel if this problem is to be addressed then they should stop the standing of these dogs with their rear legs apart and crouched. I think if they were all made to stand naturally then all will be revealed!
Becky

I love the early dogs too my fave would be the one from 1910. Its horrid to move up and up and see the backs getting more and more exaggerated until you get to the top where the back looks like a banana!

I agree Becky.

I've just started taking Zane to the smaller show. He'll always do as I ask but he just will NOT stand in that way with his back legs further apart or further back than is comfortable for him. IN a way, I don't blame him as it's not natural. Surely if they're made to stand like that for too long it can CAUSE back problems? I know if I stand in an awquard position even briefly I stiffen up.

Yiannis can do it for a few seconds but falls over so he needs work!

Seto is too old and although he tries to do as I ask (he clearly knows how to stand), he's a littel too wobbly on his legs.

However, doe rthe fact that my dogs either can't or won't at the moment stand int his way mean they can't enter shows? Do other breeds have to stand in such an exaggerated way?

Laura xx

No there is no requirement to show in a particular way so I would personally teach your dogs to free stand naturally and show off what they naturally can do.
Becky

Thanks for the link. my favourites are the 1994 dog & the 2005 dog. AS for the stance all my bitches through the years have regularly stood in that way in the garden with no prompting from me so I have always felt it was a natural stance for them

I thought it was worth bumping this thread up, as it shows the link of GSD changes through the ages (SL anyway).

Is very interesting.

A lot of the early dogs were still crosses between the races

Pity the UK early dogs(& dogs bred for the same look today still have) didn't have the good characters that the German breed standard has always required. The UK KC changed the breed standard to cover for all the top winning severely nervous/fear aggressive dogs"noted suspicion of strangers allowed them to be judged without being touched or having to be too near the judges ! Thank goodness that it was removed so that the windy show dogs can be chucked out of the ring by good judges(done it myself several times) I do hope that the "Alsatianist" judges strat doing this now that they are required to report all such dogs to the KC

It is interesting to see
Lots of people say the sloped back is just because of the way they stand and if they stood normally it would look like the old ones
This link shows that to be untrue
In all the dogs the furthest back leg the hock to the ground is 90 degrees
If the modern dogs legs were pulled in a bit that angle would change, you can see that in footage from shows when the dogs stand more upright that angle is totally different
So length of bone / angle of joints has changed

Thanks for that, Interesting to see how much they appear to have changed.