The Czech lines have always been a favourite of mine. But, I think all GSD's are beautiful and mesmerizing I totally admire them and love nothing more than watching my boy glide along. He is far from many GSD lover's ideal, plus he is white ;-) but I love him to death! Anyway to me a true GSD lover can appreciate pretty much any and all sheps!
In the US, some classify the white German Shepherd dogs as an additional type, sometimes as a branch of North American show lines, although due to politics it can become confusing. I have a good friend and a well respected acquaintance who are both breeders of white coated German Shepherds. I always enjoy following their success in conformation, obedience, and general performance and of course their pictures. I don't think the dogs are any less lovelier or well put together because of color alone.
Aww Thank you. He is the apple of my eye....lol I currently train in Sch (and yes he loves the bitework!) but I am moving this week to a new job training personal protection dogs so I don't think I will be able to get to a Sch club anymore. :-( I will carry on doing some fun bitework with him though, probably on suits, as he loves it too much to stop.
Do you have any photos of these dogs?! I have had people tell me they aren't 'proper German Shepherds' etc!
I don't know a lot about DDR/gsd breeding, but he is a lovely dog, not too exaggerated and very smart.
Thank you. Here is Zidane who Voraus mentioned. I think he is mostly Belgium breeding going back on some Czech?? I can see a bit of Zidane in Kofi.
Yes it was Hans Prager - I had heard excellent things about him and his reputation with working dogs, but I think he got quite a hard time on here :? Just had a fresh look at his website and realise he does specialise in the Czech dogs. For some reason I thought it was Czech AND DDR.
I know just what you are saying. I am guessing the forum you dipped into was the working BC board. I was a member for a while. I could also agree with much of the sentiment of what was being said, but not perhaps to be so blinkered as some of the posters. We do not live in an ideal world, more's the pity ;-) Yes Border Collies are indeed an incredible breed, and exceptional at their original purpose, but that is not to say that some cannot also live a fulfilling existence away from livestock.
He is a handsome boy. I think Kofi has Zidane's eyes and expression. I am now wondering if the Vondervalken lines have Zidane in them (off to look) as Zidane reminds me very much of a Vondervalken dog.
Wow, that's very exciting to hear about your new job!! I'm sure you will find something enjoyable for you and Kofi to both do, the beauty of the breed is that they do not need to always be training in sport or work as long as they get to live and train alongside their person That being said, the dogs I know that have gone from SchH to being worked on suits just LOVE it! So I don't doubt it will be extremely fun for Kofi as well. As far as lineage goes, Zidane is mostly West German with his sire being half Czech, and a little DDR thrown in through Orry von Haus Antverpa who is half DDR. Yes, quite a few None my own photos, they are on their public websites: One of my friend's first homebred girls. She did not get her dam's excellent pigment, but her structure is lovely. Her dam was white (masking black/tan) and her sire, sable. Here is my favorite male white German Shepherd, currently 10 years old. Here are some of his progeny, so they are sired by a white German Shepherd. They have all excelled in performance, obedience, and conformation, just as their sire has. She has a white dam and a black/tan sire In regards to the "proper German Shepherd" statement, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I respect that, but it is my own opinion that a German Shepherd Dog should be judged by temperament, working ability, functional structure, character, nerves, and health first and foremost. No good dog is a bad color, and the Captain never spoke for disqualifying the white coated dog. If you have a good German Shepherd Dog by those standards, then the rest be damned Yes, with lovely results White is just as natural a color in the breed as black/tan is, so there is no health related reason to avoid white to white specifically, it is not like merle or dilutes among certain breeds. However, the breeders I have spoken to are those that see the white colored coat as any other coat color, and look at the total dog instead of the color. If the dog is white, then it is white, and if it is black/tan then there's that, too. White bred to white is not for the sake of producing white puppies, but rather because the dam and the sire are both good dogs by their own right. I've actually noticed that breeders of white German Shepherds and generally more performance oriented dogs (outside of bitesports specifically) are the ones who utilize the most health tests on their breeding stock - just as a general observation. Many breeders in the US will use both Czech and DDR lines in their breeding stock, in fact most that breed one will almost be guaranteed to have lines from the other! So I can see why you thought that. I've read many of Hans Prager's posts from other forums, so have been left with a general impression of the type of dog he favors, he's a big Czech line advocate and an expert, as well. Works with the biggest name in Czech lines out there currently, and I have spoken to a couple people for whom he has imported dogs (from z Jirkova Dvora/Jipo-Me, of course). I always look forward to reading what he has to say. He certainly has a reputation Good or bad depends on who you ask, but he is a big name in the breeding, importing, and general working dog world so there is always to be good and bad floating around from people's mouths. As Winston Churchill says, "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."