“Workingline German Shepherds. When you choose to share your life with one, you are not just getting a ‘straight backed GSD’, you are getting the whole package.
He is not a Labrador with pointed ears.
You will likely get some territorial behaviour and some possessiveness, this is normal, not a temperament fault and you need to train the dog to understand how much or how little you want him to be this way.
You will likely be getting a dog that does not want to to play and socialise with every strange dog he meets, it is normal for a workingline to only want his family and dogs he knows and if you want him to tolerate strange dogs, you have to train for it against his natural instinct to keep his family to himself.
You will likely be getting a dog that doesn't want to share his toys with strange dogs so be prepared to play with him and his toys yourself and don't let strange dogs intervene.
You are getting a dog with strong instincts to search, play, chase and tug and these must be satisfied with appropriate games together.
You are getting a dog that is intelligent and quick to learn, good as well as bad so must make a serious effort to train him and give him guidance, you cannot just let him bring himself up. Are you sure you still want one?’
Danton Quarantino posting in AlpineK9 (27 July 2022).
OP isn’t wrong. And these traits are exactly why I love the breed.
Are there show line dutchies? (At least in Europe?) love dutchies but I also like conformation. And are there very visible/temperamental differences between show line and working line?
Dutchies are....complicated. Grated, this is coming from someone who is very new to them and not super involved in the breed, but dutchies more are split into KVPN and FCI/AKC. Pando is AKC so (hopefully) if he matures well, we will dabble in conformation. He has a bit of an overbite right now so we are seeing if that disappears. KVPN is for bitework or police work. They can be mixed with Malinois.
As for visual differences... KVPN can be a bit bigger (and thicker, but otherwise I can't really tell the difference by looking at them (but. again. I am inexperienced. I am sure an Actual Dutchie Person can absolutely see it). They will also likely have more drive, but FCI/AKC dutchies do not lack drive in the least so it is dependent on the dog.
Introducing Zaku! He is an eight-week-old workingline Belgian tervuren, he was born on Valentine’s Day, and I’ve been actively waiting on him since 2020. He is @fayeandknight‘s Forte’s half-brother!
His breeder described him as bubbly, happy, sweet, and handler-oriented. She also described him as a “flying puppy” because of his habit of launching himself into her arms when she was picking up a different littermate.
Zaku handled hoteling and a ten-hour car trip like a complete champ. When we got home he had a bit of time to process everything and had a very impressive intermittent eight-hour tantrum. Very understandable, he’d just been through a lot and he is very small and his feelings are very big. Once he’s settled into his new routine he’ll feel better.
He met Kermit and most of the roommate’s dogs last night. Within five minutes, Kermit was play bowing and they had a fun little romp.
Looking forward to having adventures with this little guy!
HAPPY 16 BIRTHDAY 🎂🎉TO MY SON JUNIOR ! YOU ARE. A GREAT SON AND MAKE ME A PROUD DAD ! #elitearmored#theelitearmoredmotivator#usmilitary#motivation#selfempowering#motivator#motivation#motivationalspeaker#entrepreneur#speaker#Fitness#Gym#personaltrainer#coach#elitearmoredathletics#athlete#youthmentor#youthcoach#positivemindset#love#peace# lifecoach#psychologymajor#marriagelife# #camping#family#familytime#jesuschrist#gsd#workinglines#germanshepherds# (at West Covina, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYxYKELtAw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Our “E” Litter at 6 weeks old! My favorite litter to date, one of those boys has my heart. :sob:
Boys:
Eiran, Einar
Edge, EApollo
Elliot, Enzo
Girls:
Ezra, Extra
I was asked to read a mating outcome this morning for a workingline GSD breeder. I rarely comment and if I do, it's brief because it's a waste of my time. People don't actually want an honest assessment; just for me to say, yeah, great idea. I don't argue because I don't care. I'm not making any money by selling semen and the consequences of returned puppies sold to pet homes aren't my problem.
I will say that if you are buying a workingline GSD puppy, make sure the breeder can explain in detail what's going on in the pedigree. Is the hardness and aggression balanced by solid nerve? Where exactly is this nerve coming from? Why is this specific dog being line bred on? Okay, there are all these dogs bringing drive, is it so much drive that you are blowing the nerve out? What does high fight drive actually mean in this context? Are the two known lines for bringing a high probability of GDV in this pedigree? Is the risk explained even though it's in the fourth generation? What are the orthopedics like in the overall pedigree? Any dogs known to be joint improvers? Why are you choosing a sire that has sibling breedings in his pedigree? What makes that specific line special enough for the risks? If the breeder can only talk about how the parents are great dogs then it's best to move on to someone who has more knowledge.
I'm competent at reading pedigrees in my breed and I've been doing it long enough to have my assessments been proven correct by the dogs themselves. (Why are you doing a 3-3 line breeding on a dog known for extreme aggression and hardness and selling to pet homes? Four puppies were returned at ten months of age. That sort of thing.) Being right isn't any fun because it's the dogs that suffer. People want dogs that they can do all the fun things with; not stress and feeling afraid of their own dog.
Thoughts and prayers.
*This post isn't directed at any specific person. I get asked to read several pedigrees each week.
Misanthropic Resurrection. To contain such different souls in one vessel and to live with the constant conflict as long as you breathe. It is a party, I tell you.
I recently posted in the Belgian grooming FB group asking for advice on how to make brushing the dried dirt out of Zaku's coat more comfortable for him. He enjoys being brushed but he doesn't like it when his coat is tugged on (understandable!). He will get up and leave a grooming session if there is too much tugging.
I received a lot of great advice-- I should be spritzing his coat with water instead of brushing it dry, brush recommendations, and more. I also received commiserations for my upcoming puppy coat blow and advice on how to deal with that.
Even when I mentioned that my puppy is workingline, all of these showline people were extremely supportive and encouraging.
This is how new people should be treated. There was no judgement, no one saying "your breeder should have taught you this", no one accusing me of ruining his coat. Just advice, encouragement, brand recs, and photos when I asked for clarification.