The German Shepherd Breed Through breeding experiments, breeders have been able to create variations of the German Shepherd. Such experiments gave way to new kinds of German Shepherds, one of which is the white German shepherd. A few breeders, such as me, wish to stick to its roots by breeding old-style German Shepherds which are larger than the usual German Shepherd with special attributes. The qualities which gave the breed its reputation, such as intelligence, may disappear as breeders continue to breed for these special attributes. For those who do not know a lot about the German Shepherds you might think that all of these dogs are one and the same. Unfortunately they are not, there are many lines of this breed and the old-style is just one of them. Each line was created for a specific purpose. The different lines of German Shepherds: · International working line- The German Shepherd is bred mainly to gain the working traits rather the looks. Because of this, the appearance of these dogs might differ. · International show line- This line was designed for breeders who are after the appearance of the dog rather than it’s working traits. · North American show line- This line was also designed more for the looks of the dog but with certain variations. These include sloped backs and shaper angulations. There are now debates on whether this line should be considered as a different breed altogether. The breeders of this line argue that though there are great changes in the appearance of the dog, the working attributes have not been changed. Of course, I would argue differently! Other than the lines stated above, there happens to be another line called the old-style German Shepherd. Our goal, as breeders of this line, is to simply bring back the German Shepherd dog to the way it was before. We aim to produce a line of GSD that looks and acts the same as its first ancestors. The old-style German Shepherd differs from the regular German Shepherd simply by its sheer size. The newer GSD is around 24-26 inches tall. The old style German Shepherd dwarfs them by four or more inches. An old-style German shepherd is about 30-33 inches in height and weighs around 110- 140lbs. The features on the face are the same with regular German Shepherds, but the old-style dogs have larger heads, straight backs, big bones and no extreme angulations on the legs, giving it a noble and more poised look. Barold Von Charlottenbrink 1932 Troll Vom Richterbach Grand Champion 1957 Immo Vom Hasenfang 1942 To see how the German Shepherd has changed through the years, please visit this site by clicking here The German shepherd has three different coat types: Normal stock hair German Shepherds are the most common types. The individual hairs are straight, coarse and lay against the body. Their coat is short on the head, front of the legs, hind legs, and the feet and toes. It is longer and thicker on the neck, and back of the fore and hind legs. Long stock hair German Shepherd individual hair is longer and does not lie close to the body. Their coat is considerably longer inside, behind the ears, and on the back of the forearm. The thighs are usually long and thick with a bushy tail with feathering underneath. Some kennel clubs disqualify this type of coat as undesirable. I personally feel this is a beautiful coat which is much desired and gives the German Shepherd the look of its old ancestor, the wolf. The long haired German Shepherd coat is considerably longer than the long stock hair. It is usually soft and forms a parting along the back. Occasionally, there will be an undercoat along the loins or none at all. The long haired shepherd is also disqualified from different kennel clubs. Even though their disqualification doesn’t allow them to participate in conformity trials, they are still able to perform in Agility, Obedience and Working dog events. My German Shepherd line happens to carry all the different style coats, but given the size of the German Shepherd, even my normal stock coat would be disqualified as a show dog. I strictly breed old style German Shepherds as family companions, K9 training, Obedience and Agility. I personally prefer these GSD’s over the others because they happen to be the German Shepherd that I have fell in love with when I was a child. I plan on bringing them back through a network of breeders who share the same goals as I do. Some believe that the long hair German Shepherd sometimes lack the undercoat of a normal coated GSD. A long stock hair does have an undercoat, but a true long coat does not. That led to their disqualification, because it was believed the undercoat would be beneficial in helping withstand the elements during sheep herding in Germanys' climate. Colors and patterns: Most people don’t realize that the German Shepherd also comes in a variety of different colors and patterns. They believe in the traditional black and tan, saddle back pattern dog when they picture the German Shepherd. However, the breed comes in several coat patterns including: · Saddle Backed · Blanket Backed · Bi Colored · Sable · Solid · Black and tan · Black and red · Black and brown(darker tan) · Black and Silver · Black and cream · Blue and tan Solid colors may include: · Black · White · Liver · Blue · Cream (buff)
Along with the many patterns, comes a variety of different colors, not all are accepted by breed clubs. The traditional two tones are as follows:
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