[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Type or sidegait
- From: "RivendellP" <rivendellp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <InquestGSD@xxxxxxx>, <f.fasano@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 20:21:10 -0800
Ileana posts...
I believe that if we breed to the standard we have a better chance to have
both type and movement, along with temperament.
Paul opines...
I've tried to stay out of this topic. Not because I don't have an
opinion...but in some ways it's a trick question.
Form follows function and function follows form. As John Ayotte pointed
out...the GSD is not a driving dog in herding sheep...it is a tending dog.
That said...it can do both and does.
Type is the beauty of the GSD. It's the "Look of Eagles"...the masculine
head...the deep chested body...the maleness of males and the femininity of
bitches. Like the Standard puts it so eloquently...unmistakable when
present.
What was the dog bred to do? It was bred to herd sheep and herd them it
does. Is it a utilitarian dog capable of guiding the blind, knocking down
the bad guy, finding the lost or buried, or being a fine pet? I think you
will all agree that all of those examples are correct.
However...it is a working dog and in order to work it must be balanced in
body parts and proportion. The "Typiest Dog" that Bekins couldn't help move
is not a dog built to the Standard. A Bootiful Moving Collie or Whippet
Style (as Sally put it) GSD is also not built to the Standard either.
There is no correct answer here folks. Like the Standard
says..."Unmistakable when present". That means motion, primary and secondary
sex characteristics, and soundness in mind and body.
In past years I have watched as people have "dumbed down" the definition of
the "Total Dog". The "Total Dog" is unmistakable in looks as a German
shepherd and an extreme moving dog that...as the Standard requests...covers
the maximum amount of ground with the minimum number of steps.
I saw many of those dogs in Concord. I saw them traverse a Conformation ring
on a loose lead, a Rally course with a smile and touching their handler. I
saw a tracking dog follow a track where 100's of other dogs had been but
minutes before.
I saw a lot of "Total Dogs"....
Paul
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