(I'll cross post here)
VanCamp:
I challenge anyone to name a stud here in the US that everyone can agree is a GREAT stud dog.
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Nessel v Haus Antverpa
Champ v Barenfang

But then again, opinions are like _____, everyone's got one. JMO.

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John H.

This is a very good question. The fact is there are very very few GREAT STUD DOGS. Thats because females need to be bred according to their pedigree, temperament and structure. I cannot remember the last GREAT stud dog - maybe Bernd Lierberg.

Great post Ed. Well stated. Bernd is probably the modern pillar of the breed.

I also think Anderl Kleinen Pfal and Mutz v Peltzierfarm (sp?) were great ones too.

What qualities did Bernd Lierburg pass on consistently?

I have a young bitch who is linebred on Bernd. She goes back on Bernd about 3 times also linebred about twice on him. So she has got a significant amount of his blood in her. I must say that my bitch has rock solid nerves. I mean nothing phases her. She scored almost all 1's on Bernhards test and maybe a couple of 2's. I started stick conditioning with her when she was about 3 mos. and the stick NEVER bothered her. I used to take cymbals from a drum set and beat them right over her head when she would bite the tug and NOTHING. She may have turned her eyes to see what it was, but that was it. She never released her grip, not once that I can remember. She also was never shy in strange evironments even the first day we took her home from the breeder. She also was never phased by fireworks. she sits there as calm as can be. She has got tons of prey drive, but she is also very focused and clear headed. It does not take a hard correction in obedience with her. She has a natural nose for tracking. She always has her nose in the ground, she is not a very calm tracker yet though, she always wants to rush through the tracks and pull me. She is also suspicious of strangers. I can take her out in town and she will do fine, she will let anybody come up and pet her, but while at the house or in the car, she is very protective. She was also a bully of her other littermates when I got her. She is a little dominant with other dogs and a little stubborn at times. other than that I must say that I could not ask for a better female, honestly. I'm sure I made her sound like the perfect dog, but I did not exagerate one bit. I see now why Bernd will go down as probably the greatest GSD in history and why people all over the world do not hesitate to line breed on this dog. His blood has much to offer the working GSD.

Nessel? Give me a break.

What are the bad traits of Nessel ? I do not know very much about him.

Hello:
I have a friend who has a Nessel son who is about 4 1/2 yrs old. I'm not sure of the mother line, but he bought the dog (from a fairly large know broker in California) with the intent of having it become a PSD. The dog has a slight overbite which never corrected and is now about 3/4" long. He is very nervous on the sleeve and constantly has problems with the grip (maybe from the overbite?). I can say that he has flashy OB, but is skittish overall and now is just the family pet. He had a hard time tracking with the dog and I don't know if this is because of the dog or the handler.
Hope this helps,
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Brandon

I know a guy who has a Nessal daughter, but she was a spook-a-roo. I was not impressed with her.

I have seen a few nice Nessel Grandson's. but not enough to say what he is like as a producer.

Two Nessel Sons that have competed and/or won national and international competition:

Quattro v Spitzbubzwinger SchH3, IPO3, FH
Pirol van't Enclavhof SchH3, IPO3, FH, AD
6th Place WUSV 1997

&
Blackthorn's Ashen SchH3 H.O.T ,
a Nessel grandson through Quattro.

I guess to some this is a real crap list, but if I had a dog produce this in his lifetime I'd be pretty happy.

I'm not going to get into a pissing contest with people over this, but I think this is a fair representative of the breed. Ask Ed, if you as a breeder can get a handful of really good offspring from a dog or bitch over their breeding career, you're doing pretty well. Therefore the lesser dogs will generally outnumber to greater.
Again, JMO, and everyone's got one.