My best friend is considering ownership of a German Shepherd, so I've been helping her research as much as possible about them. We've done a fair amount, and she's found a local breeder that she has talked to, and owners of dogs the breeder has bred, and has made her choice. During our research we came across the different bloodlines, and I'm really curious about the Czech/DDR lines. I've never seen one of these dogs, and although I can't get one, I really want to know more. What are the main differences between the lines? I've picked up that most American line shepherds are bigger, with lighter bone structure, bred for show, and have less prey/defense drive than the DDR/Czech lines. I've also picked up that their rears are more angled than the others. But what are the main attributes of the DDR/Czech lines? How big are they? From the photographs of them I've seen, they look no bigger than my labrador! I always thought that GSDs were bigger than that (but of course, I haven't really known much about them other than what I've picked up working with them at daycare). Their faces look more square. I'm just curious don't shoot me for my wrong assumptions please!!
In the USA there are basically three types of GSDs 1.Based on Germany Show lines & resemble the dogs shown at SV shows in Germany 2. Working/Schutzhund(now called Vielseitkeitsprufung) 3. The American GSD Now the first two are similar in outlook, the working bred dogs tend to have more work drive-the American GSD are very over angulated & very alien to my eyes Have a look at the types if GSD in North America on this link Now the Czech or DDR GSDs are closely linked to the working GSDs in Germany that developed whilst Germany was partioned into East & West Germany. They can very strong heads & high work drive IMHE but can be a lot sharper & the Czech dogs may have Malnois in their backgrounds as they do tend to be finer in bone. They also tend to be dark grey dogs(grey with sable coat pattern). The DDR dogs are very much like the Working SV dogs I do hope that your friend is going to a breeder who hip scores & Haemopillia tests & who breeds for the correct character & temperament & not coat type & colour
I do so agree with what Joedee has said about hip scores & haemophilia. The type of dog you want is your choice but no one whatever they want their dog for should not put health & wellbeing of the dog first. As for the size of the DDR dogs they conform to the international standard for GSDs that is 60 -65cms for a dog & 55 to 60cms for a bitch. thats very roughly a maximum of 25.5 inches for males & 23.5inches for females.
The breeder she chose does do hip testing/scoring and is giving my friend copies of the parent dogs' papers for that and OFA certification papers. I don't know much about the OFA or how that works, but I do know they do three levels of scoring. My friend knows more about it since, considering she's getting one, has done more research than I. The breeder is also just a hobby breeder who breeds companion dogs with good temperament and confirmation. When we went to visit her, the parents and grandparents were on-site and all seemed very lovely and friendly towards us. However, I don't know if she tests for haemophilia, and I will make sure to tell my friend to ask about it. Nothing is set in stone yet, she hasn't made any deposits or signed any contracts. I have noticed the very drastic 'angle' in the American lines. This breeder's dogs hardly had any angle, which made me happy because the angular hips simply CANT be good for the dogs! Thanks a whole bunch for your help! I appreciate it.
The "American"GSDs(the ones with the extreme rear angulation)are very unstable in movement & whilst they are all OFA tested if they are shown in breed the movement can be bad even with good hips(I had a BC with just the opposite cr*p hips super movement !) The Haemophillia tests should be done on every male GSD to ensure they do not have it, Haemophilliac females are very rare as they tend to be born dead, die shortly after whelping or are miscarried. There is of course no cure for haemophillia so by testing all males greatly reduces the incidence of the disease as affected dogs must not be bred from
Prior to the 1989 revelotion in the Czech Rebulic, the breeding of German Shepherds was predominately from working lines, it is mainly based on the z Pohranicini Straze kennel ( border Patrol) only dogs with high drives were bred from. They have a stronger head, have a look at this site http://www.anrebri.cz/fanda.html the breeding is predominately Pohranicini, they tend to be very dark sables, all black and bi-colour. Apart from hip status I would also get confirmation of elbow status of pups parents.
It's such a shame what unethical breeding can do to a breed of dog. I really do like the appearance of the working lines better. I adore the dark sable coloring, and how they are much more "traditional" (so to speak) than the Ameircan show dogs.
