I take it as a given that Ed won't read or respond to a complete nobody in the gsd world but anyone else know the status of his gsd breeding program.

I understand he went into mals but has that replaced his entire gsd section.

would love to hear Ed's reflections on his own gsd breeding program and the state of gsd in general.

anyone know what the current status is, what lines he is using, successes etc?

just asking from a gsd fanatic POV.

as a hypothetical would love Ed to rate my dog, I really believe I got something special in terms of just plain raw balls out drive, aggression and athleticism.

could be my delusion but I got confidence supreme in my own opinion on this one.

Sending you LB contact info.

k, can you please advise on how to word my inquiry so it sounds more educated.

ETA; message received and reply sent.

others (into gsd) feel free to jump in and help me word up some questions.

an on line interview with Ed and members here would be a hoot.

I can't think of anything more fun and educational.

as presumptuous as it sounds, Ed almost owes us his story.

Peter - I bred GSDs for over 30 years. It was my hobby, I wanted to build a bloodline of working dogs. It was fun, it was a tremendous amount of work, we produced some nice dogs.

But to do it the way I expected to do it required a ton of time and help. Everything needs to come to an end. I made that decision and dont regret it.

I never turned to Mals. Cindy has Mals we have two. Mals and GSDs are two totally different dogs. I have thought about writing an article about the difference. Most people should not own Mals.

Connie said something about you not believing in crates. You are wrong about that. You would be better advised to learn why , how and when to use a crate.

Ed

 Quote: Peter Cavallaro

could be my delusion but I got confidence supreme in my own opinion on this one.

When do you not? Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

geez thanks Ed for responding. I have no doubts breeding to a high standard is a lot of work.

that article if you write it would be received well by many.

I have a bunch of questions re the breed, I understand you are a busy man.

how do you think the operational roles of LEO K9 has changed and how is the gsd coping.

what do you think are the defining trends in the breed since the 70's, asking in the context of working lines not the show/work split.

do you think the breed is more balanced in drives since the 70's and has better nerves and general health (excluding show lines), clearly speaking in averages here.

what top 3 things would you change about IPO as a breed test.

on the mal thing, I hear some claiming that with all the meth/crack heads the mals lack the brute force to stop them due to their size, do you buy into that?

some underground breeders are doing a mal/gsd cross to cross (inbreed) back to parent gsd - what you think of these crosses.

you planning on visiting Australia for a vacation at any time in the future?

won't push my luck on any more questions right now.

Not to answer for Ed (couldn't if I tried) but you mentioned the 70s.

The late 60s, early 70s was the beginning of the end for the American GSD. That was when the breeders started creating the over angulated look.

Before that there were still GSDs that could do well in both working and show. The distinction wasn't anywhere near the division it is now.

The show breeders said it was done so the dog could have a better reach and drive and this would "help" the breed in covering ground and herding.

The German show lines started producing banana backed dogs. Again, for better movement.

Compair the GSD show line structure to a wolf, coyote or, in your case a Dingo.

Structure in wild canids has developed over thousands of yrs. Flaws in structure kept them from hunting and what worked towards survival was what was produced in natural breeding and natural selection because it served a function.

Any time man starts breeding for looks then function suffers.

This is pretty much the curse put on any dog breed that looses function for the sake of beauty.

I hear ya Bob, but I was explicitly leaving the show lines out of this conversation, I have zero interest in them and the excuses of their breeders, as far as I am concerned they are a different breed of dog and have no business associating themselves with the gsd breed.


I am trying to draw out the trends in WL's.

That would vary by what individual breeders think make a working dog.

I personally like a well balanced dog. No over the top drives in prey, aggression, whatever.

Others may breed for the dog that, while controlable by the owner it would eat anyone that gets near it.

Others want a dog that will come up the leash at their owner.

Others want a dog that easily handles itself well in crowds but will act accordingly with any training it has received.

I suppose all have their place and purpose.

I think a lot of today's dogs have over the top prey for a ball or toy simply because these are easy to train if you know what your doing.

I personally think a lot of the "over the top dogs" lack common sense and I value the "thinking" dog for lack of a better term.

Over all I think for the most part the high prey dog is the current trend for many breeders.

I agree, perhaps the higher prey dog is just evolution via market demand.

personally I would take the dog higher in prey as a personal dog, that is not a breeding goal, I am not a breeder. prey is such a fun and versatile drive.

I am no cop but I think the roles are changing, much more little brothers watching and reporting, more criminals and better equipped and more dangerous/vicious criminals, the ice epidemic, more liability.... it takes a better dog these days I would guess, ie one that is safer, more controllable, more trainable, more hitting power, more fight...these are all conflicting demands, I am surprised ANY dog can do it.

I think high prey is here to stay, love it or not.

just needs a higher standard of training than what it seems the old school were capable of.