I have two questions. I have been out of the GSD world since late 90's so my knowledge of lines is outdated and mostly west german in nature.

I wanted to know if I could get any general comments on this breeding. Great/good/poor working lines, show lines, tracking lines, or what have you.

http://www.schraderhausk9.com/Litter_Pedigree_Isy%20x%20Wizard.htm

Secondly, as a student of canine and GSD where would I go for info. How does one go about learning lines and lineage and their purpose? Are there good websites?

this ped is some old DDR stock.

usually bred these days for big heads and dark pigment, kind of collectors items without the aggression the original lines were bred for. I am not really a fan, lots of hype around these lines and not much else.

to learn you first need to look, literally, go see hundreds of dogs doing what you are interested in. take a note-book and write down everything you see good and bad.

you will see patterns and trends emerging in what you like, follow up on sites like working dog EU and also the pedigree database.

note that the PDB has many false entries as anyone can enter anything anytime. but still it is a good starting point.

if you can, find a mentor that has proven success over a long period of time.

you really need to write down what you want as there are many different lines and basically sub-breeds of the german shepherd.

to name a few that imo should have different breed names are;

American show line
german show line
west german working line
Czech dogs
ddr dogs
herding lines

inside these sub-breeds there are many different lines and then there are crosses of all these sub-breeds.

Thanks for the sites and tip on note taking. I am getting a pup from that litter so just looking into it. I noticed female has lots of grafental? And I read that is one of the important lines in ddr.

Anyways I am off to continue research. Thanks again.

may I ask what was your goal for the pup and why do you think that you will find it in the mentioned litter.

I am only asking to see what your process is so that I might learn something.

personally I intentionally look at the pedigree last if at all. I haven't even bothered to pay the $30 to register my dog with the breed association.

big names in peds mean nothing to me, they mean a lot to people trying to sell puppies tho.

I like to learn about the breeder as a person and a trainer first, then look at the dogs work, close relatives progeny etc.

if all that checks out then the pedigree is just mildly interesting, i know right most do it the other way around.

I didn't use the pedigree at all because I don't know East German lines and even so the temperaments and secondly look are more important. Well health would be second and looks third. I honestly am just trying to learn what that pedigree say about the dogs in a broad brushstroke.

I am no expert but for me I like the overall type of all her dogs. Sometimes I can pick a couple of often I find I don't like the females of many breeders. With that kennel I was looking for a black or black sable that are healthy and great temperaments. I know this won't be kosher with many but to my eye I love the dr dogs but I will not be working the dog in any professional manner. It will have a good home, exercise everyday, it will understand pack leadership be obedience train and get some tracking. I didn't want a crazy hyperdrive dog. From many conversations with breeder we arrived with a pup there. She knew I didn't want hyper dog and she knew the training methods and basic lifestyle of the dog.

In a nutshell that is how I ended up where we are at. Plus it's a family decision and everyone agreed they liked her dogs though they were mostly superficial. Basically I believe in working dogs only and then I just wanted a family companion/pet from within that kennel/litter that wasn't on the top end of working ability.

The mother had a lot of characteristics I like as well.

I hope that answers what your were asking.

Ps I do like the history aspect of it. Finding black and white images of your dogs pedigrees which tha far back is non essential but fun nonetheless.

I checked out their contract, looks to support the dog well, big plus for the breeder.

some of those ddr combinations can be a bit defensive and nervy, you might want to be aware of that.

I would be big on socialisation with that pup.

good luck, keep us posted. should be a nice pup.

Hey peter, did you mean "some of those ddr combinations" to be some of the combinations in the actual pedigree of that litter or some of the ddr combinations in general. Just curious as to what you mean. I will post pics when I get the dog in a couple weeks.

thanks

I meant in general, I do not know the finer points of that particular ped to have an in depth opinion.

I am definitely in the west camp.

There are several groups of DDR people on Face Book.I think it would be one of the last place to find as much information or breeders. John

"There are several groups of DDR people on Face Book.I think it would be one of the last place to find as much information or breeders. "

^ is this a typo, you are referring the OP to one of the last places to find information??

I have been on ddr forums, the discussions were mainly about how big their dog's head is, how real it is and how dark it's pigment. ask them to provide a clip and not a still pic of their dog working and you like to get banned.