Hey RS Fans,
I'd like to know if there are any real working Giants that have titled in Schutzhund or are being used in Police Service or SAR in the United States. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
I'd be interested in some real good studs and females that have produced well balanced working Giants consistantly.
Being a prior owner of an outstanding Giant Pia v.d.Frankenhohe, Sch3,FH,AD,SAR,V1 Klub Segerian in 89, Schweinfurt, Germany. and a all around GREAT! K9 (Rest in Peace <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> )I trained her and handeled her from 11 weeks to her death.
I have been in contact with several owners with outstanding Giants way to go Stella(Magik) and Daren(Mot), KEEP UP THE GREAT JOB! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
I would be interested in European lines not the sissy American teddy bear coated soft Giants with no drive but to be a big lap dog!
MY OPINION! not here to offend anyone, just my experience.
Be Safe!

Lewis/Argo and Riley

Hello All:
Lewis, I do know of a couple of people who have very good quality working RS's (here in the states) that are active in SCH/IPO. I don't know of anyone who is "currently" working a RS as a working Service K-9, but I too would be interested in hearing about them. I have an 11 month old male puppy from primarily old DDR working lines. If you want any other info, email me at: b_chow@msn.com.<br />Regards,
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Brandon

There is RS in the group I train with. Here is the link with info:
http://www.montva.com/departments/sheriff/law_enforcement.php#K9

He's a really nice working dog. Excellent drives and aggression.

Dean Anderson at Eastern Shores Kennel in DE handled a RS as a Police K9. At one time his depts entire K9 program consisted of Giants.

John,
Thanks for your help! I will take a look!
Be Safe!

Lewis

Walworth County SO in Wisconsin has had a RS working the streets for several years. In fact he was featured on the cable program Breed ALL About It, when the focused on Giants. The handler raised and trained the dog from the start and the dog received the PSP-1 police dog title.
recently his handler took a detective position and Luger is now retired.

Hello Everyone:
Since this is a topic about Giants or RS's and service work, I wanted to know if anyone that has contact with them (owners or club members or friends, etc)who can comment on how they are doing in regards to the Shepherd, Mal or Dutch Shepherd. I know it isn't fair to compare because they are apples and oranges. I just wanted to get some opinion from people who have access to the Giant/RS who are doing "serious sport work" (ie regional or national level competetion) or if anyone has any on their depts. Also specifically for Kevin (or anyone who is actively in the business of selling and training dogs), do you come across a lot of Giants that are capable of doing police work or how they are doing when going through the WPO, DPO, PSP certifications, etc? I know Giants mature much more slowly and people always tell me you can't train a Giant like a Shepherd or a Malinois so that is why I am asking. I don't know how accurate this is, but I was told that about 1 in 500 Shepherds has the potential to work as a working K9 and about 1 in about 250 Malinois - I wondered what the ratio for Giants are. Also, why aren't more people (trainers or breeders or brokers) using the Giant for serious K9 work here in the USA. I know they were popular in the former DDR but are they still actively used in Europe or have they been facing a serious decline after the wall came down?
Regards,
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Brandon

I can't comment on the breed in general as I have only seen a few. In the past 5 yrs. of working with K9's and in SchH, I've only seen a 3-4 Giants. They were all nice dogs, one was a young pup, but showed a lot of promise. Another was a pet, but easily could have done SchH or PP. Axar, the K9 RS in my area is really nice. There are GSDs, Mals and Rotts in the K9 training group and this RS is every bit of dog that any of those others are. In PSD work I believe it has much more to do with the individual dog, than it does the breed.

As far as the old DDR, many of those lines of dogs; Rotts, GSD, RS changed due to the economic shift from communism to capitalism. Axar is from the Czech Republic, from what I understand, there are good RS breeders there still.

John

 Quote:

Originally posted by BC:
Also, why aren't more people (trainers or breeders or brokers) using the Giant for serious K9 work here in the USA.

If the dogs were available in good numbers there is still a money issue. Giants are expensive in comparison with a GSD, and even a lot of depts are going to MalX's because again, price. As much as I like the RS and will probably end up with another, the odds are just not in your favor of getting one for what you call "serious work" without going through a few. Adults are more expensive than a comparable GSD or mal and are far less common as well. Not to mention even the working line dogs have a coat that a lot of people don't want to deal with.

One of the top breeders of working Giants in the world is Andre Vandergeten of Dovre Fjeld Kennels in Belgium. His Giants have won world IPO titles as well as worked as police dogs in various European countries. Belgium has recently legislated a ban on altering all dogs, so I have agreed to assist Andre in offering his working Giants to working homes in the U.S. A couple of his dogs can be seen on my site at
Look in the importing section and seminar section. I saw his Giants last month in Belgium; they are big and bad. My curiosity is definitely piqued.

Thanks,
Ken

Because of the talk commonly about the lines have been watered down in recent years, although there seems to be very good GSs out there, I'm surprised there's not more hype with the BRT. They look similar, and I would like to see more people get this dog just so you can see a more wide range in their performance.

Are there any GS fans out there interested in the BRT?