German Shepherds - suitable for agility? Agility

Off topic but in Weimaraners there is very little difference if any between show and working dogs before the docking ban came in. Obviously the chances are the two strains will start to differ but a large proportion of weims are worked as well as shown, a weim will gain his title of ch if he has passed his field trials, if not he is 'just' a sh ch.

I did not like the GSD placed BOB in Crufts last year, I felt he was too overdone and that is Crufts! I don't deny that they may do well at a professional level but in my opinion, if I were to go for a GSD i'd be looking for one more like the top picture I posted. I love Miniature Dachshunds and own one myself, but I doubt i'd have another. Touch wood mine will never have any problems but her body is so over exaggerated I cannot even let her walk up a staircase on her own for fear of her hurting her back. A lovely breed and one i'd always wanted to own but like this 'type' of GSD, Bulldogs, Pekes and many other breeds, I just fear it is unhealthy for the future of the breed.

I mean no offence to anyone, the dogs are beautiful. It is just my opinion. I guess from watching a dog from top show lines suffer with HD and other problems due to his composition, from a very early age, once bitten twice shy for me. :-(

Surely your dog being fat is down to you, not his breeding ?
[ breeding which you presumably researched and chose ? ]. How much of `lots wrong with him` is due to him being fat ?

I mean no offence but unless there is a medical condition causing him to be overweight, [ like a thyroid issue perhaps which would presumably be treatable ? ], then how can you blame his weight on his lines ?
Were his sire and dam also fat ?
If they were and if you felt this was wrong, why buy from that breeder ?

exactly my dog is not fat ,he is still on the same food that the breeder suggisted but he looks it because he is huge, he is underweight weighting in at 41 kgs for a male of 3 years, his breeding was ****, but what would i know, I had been brought up with GSD, I wanted one..........so please get your facts before you attack me, read previous posts..........but do not quote when you have not got the facts

Hi Random , then you would still have to go over to Europe to get that type, was the one from top showlines with HD English lines, the highest score I have had with my continental dogs is 2:4, the lowest 0:0, I have all the data for hips in the GSD that have been scored under the BVA system 95% of high scores are from the few English show & petlines, you are welcome to view the data.

He was from German lines but bred here in the UK and very similar in body to the dog you posted, Tabo vom Zellwaldrand. I believe his Sire was imported.

I would not like to discredit his breeders though if that is ok as they have bred some wonderful dogs with no problems, they do health test and hip score, just one of those things as HD is known to skip many a generation. My cousin who owned him has had GSDs all his life and had never been to a 'big' breeder before but wanted to try his hand in the ring and working with his dog. The dogs he owned previous never had a single problem with their hips, backs or anything like that and were mostly English bred or indeed rescued but certainly not 'built' for show and always had straight backs. This dog was very different in shape to his owners previous dogs. He was a lovely character and is dearly missed.

Sorry for hijacking thread!

Could I just point out that this is the picture used on the KC site for the GSD Breed Standard.

German Shepherd Dog (Alsatian) Breed Standard

12-May-06


© The Kennel Club - Unauthorised Reproduction of Text and Images Prohibited

The Kennel Club Picture Library - © David Dalton



This is how a GSD should look imo and apparently that of the KC too. Nothing like the shape of most out there today you have to agree!

You stated

Now you say he is`nt and that I have attacked you and did`nt have my facts right - I`m sorry if you are offended but you did originally clearly state that your dog is fat :smt102 :-/

You say his breeding is, I presume, not so good ? [ as the word is blanked out ], but if that`s the case and you knew it, [ just assuming that to be the case as you have stated yourself what your opinion is of his breeding ], then why support the breeder by buying from them ?

I`m confused about what you are actually saying :?

my point is that no I did not no, my breeder told me everything was ok..........I believed, my mistake,

I also believe in father xmas and the easter bunny, does is make it wrong

it was 15 mths after my dog was diagnosed with hd, that my breeder held up her hands and said, she never knew that my dogs mother had sibblings with hd, and the father had two siblings with hd................I know its my fault I never checked................but lay off me please, but surley she should of known...but again its my fault for not checking......................it utter ubbish and you know it, oh and believe me I so do not support my breeder, wish I couuld name here

I think Joanne that you are being very rude to Patch, she was only answering your post and IMO was not attacking you. I also got the impression that you were saying your dog was overweight as well as having other health problems which you were associating with poor breeding. So I too am confused by your posts.
I do not think that that makes me rude.
The post that Patch was replying to was your first post on this thread (apologies if I have missed one) so there were no previous posts to read.

I will confess to knowing next to nothing about GSD's as a breed but was really enjoying this thread as I was learning from the benefit of other members experience-surely what dogsey is all about, so would hate to see it spoiled.

I will be the first to admit my dog is overweight..............however he is English linage and according to the book, because of his height he should weigh in at approx 49 kgs.............pmsl.............he weighs in at alot under that weight, my point is that there is a massive difference between English and German lines..............to the point I was saying my dog was fat compared to the Germans lines, but compaired him to the english lines he is underweight..............so reread the posts before you make judgement........................you lot have no idea what the difference is between German and English lines........................such a shame

oh my point is, I am sick to death of peeps saying that my 3 year old is overweight............he is taller than a normal gsd..............again a breeder issue..................but so mad to suggest...........breeders need to take more responsibility

Could not agree more.

Just because a dog is heavy does not mean he is overweight. A lot of the weight on heavier (but healthy) dogs is muscular weight. From my own personal experience and in my own breed a dog with 30kg of weight which is fat looks a LOT different to a dog with 30kg of weight and is muscular. Perhaps because of your dogs HD and problems a lot of his weight is fat rather than muscle? In relation to the GSD, my cousins boy was very muscular and healthy before his HD became too apparent and after this he did gain a little weight and in the end he did look very overweight, when what had really happened is a lot of his muscle had wasted and he had piled on fat instead as he could not be excersied properly. His end weight was not a great deal of difference from his weight when he was healthy and muscular.

That is the English line a pic taken perhaps 70s when they became so inbred on a couple of sires that all sorts of inherent conditions started to develop, these are still having an impact on the lines today, such as the recent blind pup up for adoption, also epilepsy, bone tumors etc.

omg I will shout out loud, my breeder did not know that the male and mum had sibblings had hd till I told them............they did not now that grandparents, gg grandparents had hd till i pointed it out,......................so please do not even start on me......................I bought a dog for 650 for a purebred.......................sighs and logs off............


an english dog, a german dog are different...........trust me,

*rude you think I am being rude.............get back on topic*

my dog in aug last year weighed in at 41 kg, he currently weighs, 38kg, I have not increased his exercise I have cut down his food, I have taken away the tripe..............and he is still on JWB that the breeder recommended...........so please someone tell me how he grew to fast, or the diet that I was finding was wrong,

I owned a large dog, with large bones.................he never grew to fast..............but breeders will disagree................he is english linage.............so leaving this thread................you would not know what a german shepherd dog was if it hit you in the face...........and neither would I

This still does not argue with the fact that this is what the KC still have up as their 'ideal'? Had these dogs not been spoiled by close and over inbreeding then surely this would be the shape which should still be being aimed for today?

this is what they ended up looking like by the early 90's thats when I switched to the SV type

I feed my own dogs JWB and find it an excellent food, I posted on the boards a while ago about my lab pup being overweight but I have found that cutting back the recommended feeding amount slightly has taken some weight off her. My other dog in comparison is fed over the recommended amount and she is very lean but more active generally than Charlie. I suppose it is down to individual dogs and their metabolism/activity level.

Sorry off topic post.

What's with all the full stops?

Please read our Posting Guidelines with regards to conduct on the boards, and construct your posts in an acceptable manner.

just so you know, JWB is a commercial grade 3 dog food, no better than eubannuba.............shocking........ my breeder has now changed foods to arden grange, sorry about sp......................but so mad,

susie going back ot, go to a rescue, pick out the dog that picks you................a pedigree could be found in a rescue not by paying hundreds of pounds for a pedigree.....lol