I think what we need to focus on is OUR Standard and OUR Breed We have one of the most efficient working/ herding dogs in the canine world.....and the Standard is the reason. There is a reason for good feet, correct croup, athletic powerful dogs that can work all day....strong jaws, good bite, full mouths, length of neck...tail like a rudder ( not a donut <G> ) and yes....even their coats, texture & color. Probably if we were analyzing this to death the least important "fault" in our Standard would be light eyes as far as not affecting ANYTHING except appearance. ( don't even 'go there' with ears ) <G> Should we then decide all dogs with light eyes have a better shoulder opening, or seem "smarter" and not pay any heed to them......until we start seeing "headlights" coming at us? <G> Sure can't hide headlights!! <G> ( It really simplifies things to buy into this Breed ..........and stick with the Standard. <G> ) Yes...there are wonderful long coats out there......and we all periodically have buyers that even prefer them. I don't want to waste time trying to convince anyone that they are "better" at anything......or "worse" in anything. They are what they are. The coat texture and length is incorrect. Soft...or silky.....is not a correct GSD coat.......not nearly as "efficient" to deal with for you....or the dog. We lived in snow country .....snow and ice stick to 'coats' like glue and 'balls up' in little frozen balls that takes forever to get out and get a dog dry. We live in a rural area now, and we hike and camp and run the dogs on trails......and dealing with a coat is 'pain' when it comes to foxtails, stickers, dirt, swimming, brushing, bathing and drying. When we get a coated puppy we work really hard at getting them placed in the City with sidewalks and lawns .<G> We did see Irish Setters used for a short time as sled dogs because of their stride. The 'sledders' we knew gave it up because dealing with the soft silky coat in the snow and trees and brush was a real problem. Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.Marhaven.com From: Jackie Short To: Showgsd Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2010 1:12 PMSubject: Re: Herding with coated dogs I think the important thing to remember, Terra, is that while GSDs come in longcoats, and while Briards and the like have long coats, show breeders (particularly Americans) have bred for PROFUSE coat, because it's aesthetically pleasing. I've seen pictures of real working Briards, Bearded Collies, Border Collies, and Bouvier. The amount of coat they have is SPARSE compared to the show dogs. Proper texture in the show dogs doesn't matter if there is still TOOMUCH coat to care for. Amount of coat is just as important as texture. Jackie & Marcato German Shepherds **************************************************************** ----- Original Message ---From: TerraNorte@xxxxxxx To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2010 12:55 PMSubject: ] Herding with coated dogs I have had coated puppies over the years and had people inquire about coated pups. Usually if you keep up on grooming them when they are blowing coat, not anymore issue than non-coated dogs. What I have come to realize it how hard it is for coated dogs - not only GSD's, but the Border Collies, Aussies, Collies, Shelties, Bouviers, and Briards to actually herd outside of a dirt arena. We have a Briard that is in training for C course and she walks the stock from the pen to the graze, makes a couple of passes through around the graze and is full of grass seeds. Unfortunately with native grass pastures you are going to have some seeds. I now understand why a long coat is an fault for our breed - the human shepherd doesn't have time to brush out that coat every time the dog comes home from work and in order for the canine shepherd to effectively do it's job (take the stock to graze, manage them during the feeding period, and then bring them back home) - it needs to be able to work without dealing with seeds and burs. I wonder how setters are able to go to work in the field without the same issues? ~ Val Manning Terra Norte' GSD Rancho Terra Norte' Wellington, CO _www.ranchoterranorte.com_ (http://www.ranchoterranorte.com) ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. 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