I hope I don't start up any trouble in here for asking this, but it's been known to happen.

Does the board generally think it's dangerous to buy a working dog from a breeder that also sells show dogs?

Dangerous,as in, can it do you harm? Probably not. I look at it this way: A koremeister looks a GSDs all day long for his/ her entire career. He / She knows what to look for and compares it to dogs of the same breed for conformation and uniformity in character and temperment. The Koremeister is a specialist of unparalelled expertise. AKC judges will tell you they can rationalize and explain why that Peke is a better Peke than that Chihuahua is a chihuahua than that toy poodle is a toy poodle.........etc. Go with a breeder that does one side and does it extremely well. Good Luck.

Wolf,
I suppose it depends on your definition of a "working dog" To some it means can pass AKC OB tests, agility, HIT. ETC. And there are some show lines that can do that very well, but there are also show breeders that are out to make a buck and will tell you what you want to hear when in all reality they don't know their @$$ from a hole in the ground.

If I had a nickle for everytime I have heard "my (show) dog is very protective" ..... well you know the rest of that saying.

I had a friend back in the days when I was VERY new to dogs that had a Doberman bitch that had been trained in PP. Well, the dog NEVER should have been. She was a fear biter. She would NEVER hold you at the door, she would wait till you were in the house and attack you from behind. If you turned toward her she would run. No suprise to me she was selling her puppies as Show/working dogs.

I guess it comes down to this; if you want a dog that has the potential to work, buy a puppy out of working lines, if you want a couch potato that will fetch a ball ASD's are all you need. I happen to like the way my dog looks. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I don't see how a dog that walks on his hocks is pretty.... not to mention most look like they have been run through a crank press..... :rolleyes:

I guess to me it makes me worry that a kennel doing both is concerned more with making money, rather than producing top working lines. The situation would make me a little nervous. Even if it appeared to be a top kennel.

I just wanted to see the board's opinion on this, I pretty much knew it was a warning sign. To make sure everyone knows the issue, the place distictly had both. It still makes you wonder though about their primary concern.

I feel the same way. Thanks for the insight.

I'm new to GSD's and Schutzhund. I've been researching breeders and reading all the recommended books that this site and similar sites suggest. I have found a few breeders that are proud of the fact that they mix working and show lines to create what they feel is the "perfect working & companion dog".
The more I learn, the slower I move. The biggest problem I have is finding a club close enough to participate in three times a week. The frustrating thing is that there's three good clubs that are all about an hour away in different directions.

 Quote:

Originally posted by Scott W.:
I have found a few breeders that are proud of the fact that they mix working and show lines to create what they feel is the "perfect working & companion dog

Yeah, they most commonly make claims that they breed for "the Golden Middle" type of dog. My preferences lean towards working line dogs with great drives and work ethics that have good conformation. I'm not looking for a "beauty queen/couch potatoe", I'm wanting dogs that work (and work hard) that fit the standard. Personally, it'd have to be a showline dog that had really high drives or great accomplishments in the SchH/working field for me to even consider it. An example is our Femke (7mo old bitch) who's sire is a son of Ico v Ardhaus (2x National champ) and is considered showlines, her dam is a Boomer Emsbogen/Afra Baumberg daughter, all of Femke's grandparents are minimum SchH3, some with FH titles also. She has good conformation, her drives are pretty high, she's a natural at tracking, and a little independent (that's my wife's problem to deal with...hehe).