#wkc17

[pantsthepuppy]

He looked so good

[boxerbeans]

okay I couldn't find a post so here's Mephisto's Speak of the Devil "Devlin" who won best of working group!

[dogmart]

Best in show

reserve: irish setter best: german shepherd

[mindthedogs]

@dogmart - I honestly have no idea how to use this but I got the live stream running https://join.me/demondogs Right now it’s best of 2015 Westminster

[pantsthepuppy]

American Showline GSD

I'm going to start off by saying that this is not a post bashing Showline Shepherds AT ALL ! I am not involved in the breed so I feel I have no right to judge their standard, and neither does any other outsider (which is the reason behind this long post if you choose to read it). I was happy to see Rumor win the herding group yesterday and I will be cheering her on tonight in BIS (:

As most of you know by now an AKC German Shepherd named Rumor took the herding group at Westminster . Since that moment there have been thousands of dog people bashing not only Rumor but American Showline Shepherds as a whole (I am specifically talking about facebook groups here, dogblr has seemed pretty civil on the topic which is great). Now this is nothing new , every time a Shepherd shows off its exaggerated gait and stack on a well know dog show we here the cries “those dogs are crippled” and “the breeders are ruining the breed”.

Specifically regarding Rumor I have seen “she’s crippled” & “the dog can’t move , she’s walking on her hocks”,

And some comments that agreed Rumor fits the AKC standard and that the standard is ruining the breed :

“ She’s a good example of what the AKC standard is atm, it’s just too bad that the AKC standard calls for shit functional conformation and movement that is extremely inefficient. Here’s a picture of her from Eukanuba a couple years back, you can see her literally walking on her hocks. It’d be a shame if she won BiS because suddenly her offspring and offspring from her relatives would be worth mega-bucks, perpetuating awful and destructive conformation in American GSDs. At least she’s a bitch and not a dog so popular sire syndrome can be avoided”

and

“I hate American Line GSD’s and don’t like the movement at all, but there is nothing wrong with Rumor and she is a perfect example of the current interpretation of the standard.”.

So it seems many people find fault with the breed standard, particularly the movement which they consider walking on their hocks. So let's look at the AKC standard for movement in a GSD -

Gait: A German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog, and its structure has been developed to meet the requirements of its work.

General Impression - The gait is outreaching, elastic, seemingly without effort, smooth and rhythmic, covering the maximum amount of ground with the minimum number of steps. At a walk it covers a great deal of ground, with long stride of both hind legs and forelegs. At a trot the dog covers still more ground with even longer stride, and moves powerfully but easily, with coordination and balance so that the gait appears to be the steady motion of a well-lubricated machine. The feet travel close to the ground on both forward reach and backward push. In order to achieve ideal movement of this kind, there must be good muscular development and ligamentation. The hindquarters deliver, through the back, a powerful forward thrust which slightly lifts the whole animal and drives the body forward.

Reaching far under, and passing the imprint left by the front foot, the hind foot takes hold of the ground; then hock, stifle and upper thigh come into play and sweep back, the stroke of the hind leg finishing with the foot still close to the ground in a smooth follow-through. The overreach of the hindquarter usually necessitates one hind foot passing outside and the other hind foot passing inside the track of the forefeet, and such action is not faulty unless the locomotion is crabwise with the dogs body sideways out of the normal straight line.

Transmission - The typical smooth, flowing gait is maintained with great strength and firmness of back. The whole effort of the hindquarter is transmitted to the forequarter through the loin, back and withers. At full trot, the back must remain firm and level without sway, roll, whip or roach. Unlevel topline with withers lower than the hip is a fault. To compensate for the forward motion imparted by the hindquarters, the shoulder should open to its full extent. The forelegs should reach out close to the ground in a long stride in harmony with that of the hindquarters. The dog does not track on widely separated parallel lines, but brings the feet inward toward the middle line of the body when trotting, in order to maintain balance. The feet track closely but do not strike or cross over. Viewed from the front, the front legs function from the shoulder joint to the pad in a straight line. Viewed from the rear, the hind legs function from the hip joint to the pad in a straight line.

I highlighted what I felt was important in describing what people think is over exaggerated , and yes it’s right there in the standard. - http://images.akc.org/pdf/breeds/standards/GermanShepherdDog.pdf?_ga=1.18898623.621279644.1374189048 -

So lets say you’re one of those people who doesn’t agree with the standard and truly believes it is ruining the breed. You’re up in arms over Rumor’s big win, you want to see big changes in the breed before they take herding group wins. You’re passionatley posting Facebook comments about how awful the breed has become and is no longer functional.....but what efforts are you actually putting in to change the breed? How would you rewrite the standard, what big changes would you make? What (in your opinion) makes the breed less functional? What should the function of a GSD be? What are you looking for in a GSD that you feel the Am Showline lacks? How are you involved in the breed? Are you breeding dogs to try and improve upon the current standard? Have you looked into what it takes to change a standard?

If you aren’t at all involved in the breed and have no desire to put forth effort to make changes within the breed you have no right to judge or complain. And this goes for any breed , not just German Shepherds. Those who are truly passionate about a breed will put the time and effort in to better their breed and keep it alive and functional for generations to come. They don’t sit behind a keyboard and nitpick every fault on another breeder’s dog , they try to better the breed through their own lines. I truly believe you have to be involved in a breed to actually make a difference. The best way to do that is probably breeding but even just networking with other breeders who want to see the same changes is progress. I am so passionate about preserving the working ability and athleticism within my breed so I am involved with dog sports and one day breeding. I plan to try and change the standard to allow full tailed aussies to be shown without fault.

So before you type that snarky comment about showline GSDs, bulldogs, pugs or any other breed- ask yourself first are you really trying to make a difference? Or are you just jumping on a bandwagon and insulting a breed you aren’t even passionate about?

And to reiterate : I have no issues with Am Showline Shepherds or their breed standard. I don’t feel I understand the movement and conformation enough to comment on the breed.

[pantsthepuppy]

Just be happy for Rumor

And stop with the GSDs are crippled bullshit. I think Rumor is very moderate and deserving of that win .

[pantsthepuppy]

Kai's win ribbon and medal from WKC . He'll be getting a shadow box just like his mama Deuce did for her big win in 2008.

[dogmart]

@lambdalupi