German Working Bloodline Info

I'm cleaning out some old files (procrastinating from doing my taxes), and I found this article that I had saved from 1992, The German Shepherd Quarterly, by Nancy Jacobsen. It has some invaluable information on the influential dogs in working bloodlines. And, 21 years later, these dogs are the still the foundation of today's working German Shepherds--these traits are still influential and form the scaffold of our dogs' temperaments and working abilities. (Click to embiggen.)

A scanned PDF is available here: http://blackthornkennel.com/GSDBloodlines-article.pdf

Harro is seen most often through his son Fado v Karthago, and Fado is seen most often through his sons Task and Troll v Haus Milinda, linebred 2-3 on Fado, and 7,7,6 - 7,8,8,7 on Bernd Lierberg.

Gildo v Koerbelbach is frequently seen through his son Arek v Stoffelblick (also 5-5 on Inka v Itzal). Nick v Heiligenbosch's mother was 2-3 on Gildo (through Arek and Orly Baerenfang) and also brings forward these old lines--5-5 on Racker v Itzal, 6,7-7,7,8,7 on Inka, 5-6,7,6 on Quicke.

One other huge influence in today's working bloodlines is Orry v Haus Antverpa--a grandson of Robby v Glockeneck, he also brings Enno v Bielstein, Greif z Lahntal, Ziggo Bungalow, and Bernd Lierberg in his 5-generation pedigree.

What you don't see mentioned in this article is the powerhouse producer of top producing sons, Fero v Zeuterner Himmelreich--born in 1984, Fero's influence was just starting to be seen in 1992.

Joy in the Work

Ash's recall, trialing for his BH, Fall 1998

I was looking for this quote today, only to realize that it was on my website on some deeply buried page.

Trust is a sine qua non, and obedience is the foundation of every training; both go hand in hand, and both are inseparable. Blind and servile obedience is not rooted in trust, but in fear, and only rebels when out of reach of the whip. Such service we do not demand from our dogs, but an obedience which is joyful and always willing, founded on love for the master, and as such . . . founded on the satisfaction of a natural craving, which therefore must be consolidated by wise training from earliest puppyhood. With a young dog who is obedient in this sense—who waits upon the eyes and the mouth of his master, who comes joyfully when called, even from his feeding dish or his companions at play, because he knows he will be rewarded for his obedience by a kind word and by an affectionate pat, by a special tidbit, or as the highest reward, by a sharing in the activity of his master — with such a dog everything is possible later on, for joy in the work is combined with its accomplishment. This, as the outpouring of the power accumulated in the dog, is the result of sound nerves and a serviceable body build; and here again, it is a matter of breeding and training, both directed to a special purpose with a definite goal in view.

The German Shepherd Dog in Word & Picture
Max v. Stephanitz

This is what I want for and from my GSDs.

A story of GSD registries

For a more than just a few years, I was an ardent supporter of the United Schutzhund Clubs of America (USA)--I edited the national magazine and wrote articles and I was a breed warden and tattooer. I have titled 4 dogs in Schutzhund and put breed surveys on 3 of them. I competed nationally with Thorn and Ash, and with Ash, I won the first ever H.O.T (Handler-Owner Trained) competition at the Sch1 level and we went back the next year and won the Sch3 level. I threw my life into it for nearly 10 years.

USA is an organization that began as a way to have schutzhund clubs and competitions and recognized titles in the U.S. But USA gradually migrated to aligning itself more and more closely with the SV--the Deutsche Schaferhund Verein--basically, the German breed club for German Shepherd Dogs. From the SV, grew the WUSV--the World Union of SVs, basically.

The GSD in Germany is closely regulated--you are required to have every litter of puppies inspected by breed wardens (who check for failing puppies, genetic and inherited flaws from rear dewclaws to cleft palates to non-accepted colors), then you are required to have an official tattooer come and tatoo your litter at 8 weeks. (All tattooers are breed wardens; not all breed wardens are tattooers.) In order to have a litter tattooed, in Germany, you had to have both parents with a working title, such as a herding (HGH) title or a Sch1 title.

In addition, in order to get the coveted "pink papers"--the highest grade of registration, both parents had to have been surveyed and passed the "Koerung"--an examination of size, weight, temperament, conformation, and working ability. Prerequisites for the Koerung are either an approved hip certification, an HGH or a Sch1 (or police certification, I believe), an AD (a 12-mile bike endurance test at a set speed), and have a conformation rating of G (good) or better (SG = Very Good; V = Excellent; VA = Excellent Select, which is only available at the national breed shows held once a year).

So, it is a labor intensive process and involves a lot of time and energy and people. In Germany, a country smaller than the state of Montana, there are 100s of clubs and judges and shows. In the United States, you'll be lucky if there's 2 clubs in your state.

So, over the years, USA wanted to be able to offer these breed surveys and conformation shows--and pink-papered registrations to qualified dogs bred in the U.S. The problem is that the FCI (the international "UN" of breed registries) will not recognize more than 1 registry per breed per country. So, because AKC recognizes the GSD and the FCI recognizes the AKC, no papers issued by USA would be recognized by any other breed registry. Well, this wasn't good enough--if you're going to put the hours and miles and money into titling and surveying your dog, shouldn't that title be recognized somewhere outside of the U.S.? Shouldn't you be able to export your dog to Germany and have them recognize your working titles so you can compete against them? Shouldn't your dog be able to compete in the WUSV working championships?

So, USA sought for further recognition and did gain some concessions. They set themselves up as a sort of appendix registry to the SV in Germany. You could get actual SV certified pink papers on a dog.

The problem, however, arose when people realized that these pink papers were nothing but a shadow registration. They still had to register with AKC if they wanted to export or breed or show anywhere other than in the U.S.

And then the nitty-gritty details began to wear--you might have a dog with all her working titles and hip x-rays and getting ready to come in heat--and then there would be no dog shows within 1,000 miles for the next 6 months. And then it would turn out that the cost of registering a litter of puppies with USA might cost $800.

So, for a few years, I registered with USA. I believed... believe... in the benefits of the breed survey system. But I no longer believe in the value of registering litters with USA. They began to allow registrations that wouldn't qualify under German rules. And, ultimately, it began to look to me like a rich person's hobby--where if you had the money, you just sent your dog to Germany to get its titles and conformation ratings and survey. And if you hired the right people, the quality of the dog didn't matter--they'd still come back with the highest surveys and the working titles.

So, when the clubs near me crumbled, when my training friends moved away, when I moved and had a new house and 8 acres to deal with, I'd had enough of the competition and the driving, and I quit schutzhund... or took a break at least. I stopped registering with USA. I didn't have a tattoo kit, so I stopped tattooing. But I still had good dogs. Dogs with titles, dogs with proven production records, dogs who wanted to DO things.


So, I am exploring other options, like herding, agility, and SAR training. And I've had to re-examine what I consider my requirements for a dog to be breed worthy. And I find that while I value the (relatively) objective tests the SV system endorses, it doesn't always work here in the United States, where fewer than 5,000 people train in Schutzhund, where driving 2.5 hrs is the NORM to get to a club or a trial, and where the conformation shows are even less frequent than the working trials. I still want to get Coal his Schutzhund 1--but committing the time and energy and money have made it slow going. And when money becomes one of the most significant factors in getting a title... to me, that devalues the concept of a title as an indicator of breed worthiness.

Green Tattoos and Doberfriends

It's been a big week for puppies--on Wednesday they had their first vet visit. The vet declared them all extremely healthy and friendly, and they all got their first shots. They were all between 10 and 12 pounds, so a lot of uniformity in the litter.

Then on Thursday, they turned 8 weeks old and we celebrated with a walk around the property.

Friday, I took the 2 bicolors and Musket to visit a friend and play on her agility field.

Saturday, they all went to see a friend of mine who helped me tattoo them all (hence the green left ears in the following pictures!) then they got to visit with their older half-sister from the K-litter and her 2 doberman buddies.




They also saw strange cats, went in a new house with new scents and flooring, and then they all zonked out in a heap in the middle of the kitchen floor while we ate dinner.

Angulation =/ Pain

I had several responses to my posts that equated extreme angulation or low-slung hips with dogs in pain. But this is a mistake. I've never seen a dog that was in pain just because of the angulation. The "low hips" look is achieved by selecting for a long upper thigh and hock and some other factors--not because the dog is squatting in pain. And it is a mistake to think that extreme angulation means bad hips--some of these dogs are OFA Excellent. They are usually NOT in pain. (At least in young dogs.)

As supposition, I would say that a dog with extreme angulation is more likely to have ACL injuries and back issues--but they are no more or less likely to have HD. I do think most of these lines are more likely to have Degenerative Myelopathy (because it is a genetically inherited issue, and it is often found in the tightly bred, often inbred American show lines) (inbreeding is a factor because it concentrates the genes, thus making the incidence of the genes for DM or other problems higher and sometimes all but impossible to avoid if you stay in that gene pool)--but you also find DM in German show and working lines, although it is more uncommon (you also find back injuries in working lines and until recently the testing to figure out the difference was often prohibitively expensive).

We could also get into the discussion of hereditary illness versus a hereditary propensity to injury--that, is dogs aren't born with ACL or knee injuries, but a dog's genetic knee construction can make a knee ligament injury extremely likely--and this isn't specifically a GSD concern. For example, almost all GSDs (all bloodlines, apparently) have a narrower space in the spinal column for the spinal cord than is common in most other breeds. This in itself may not cause any issues (although it can), but if there is an injury around the spinal cord, there is less room and the injury is more likely to cause problems. So to speak, there is less room for error.

But going back to angulation and "low hips" -- so, the big issue is that the function of a dog with extreme angulation becomes curtailed--lack of stability in movement at any pace other than a trot, lack of agility, turning ability, tight turns, etc. This lack of stability leads to a lack of usefulness--imagine one of these dogs as a service dog, guiding a blind person, chasing down someone in a police chase, or even doing a bomb search or drug search or doing cadaver or live find SAR work.

In contrast, a well-put-together dog, well balanced and athletic, is more likely to have full use of every muscle and have a natural physical confidence. For example, Hunter knows at all times where every foot is planted. She boings like a spring at the gate of her kennel, doing vertical leaps that bring her head over the top of the 6 foot gate panel. She (and her mother Nike) could do a 540% turn on a 12-inch dog walk board that is 5 feet above the ground and not blink twice. One training tool is to put a ladder on the ground and ask your dog to walk through it, thus learning to think about where its rear feet are hitting the ground--Hunter trotted through and asked me what was for dessert. :)




There are a lot of articles out there on this topic--some better than others. I like Linda Shaw's analyses:
For example, here is an excellent illustrated article on movement in dogs with a focus on the GSD.




Breeders must be careful, however, not to develop the flying trot into a caricature of itself, producing animals that are loosely ligamented and over-angulated in the rear, and that show a length of stride that, while impressive to the uninformed, is excessive (Fig 22). This extreme type loses its athleticism at other gaits and in jumping. The correct GSD is capable of a supported trot that is longer, more flowing and more efficient than any other breed, but it can also display the most efficient and spectacular version of the flying trot (Fig 23).

Also check out this informative page on the different types of GSD.

"Ideal" GSD Gait

This is a VA dog from the mid-80s--what the GSD people value is the smoothness of the topline during movement, and the smooth transmission of power throughout the body. Also watch the how the hind feet land in front of the front feet. Another thing to notice is how far forward his front leg goes and how close to the ground it stays--it shouldn't be kicked out high.