I wanted to know , I have a male with great drives for Schutzhund, amazing is more like it and he is still very young, but he shows lots of great success to come .BUT he has one ear that I think will never straighten out.He is compact, heavy bone,great temperament.I was hoping to use him as astud if ALL goes well but now with one soft ear I wonder if should forget about that plan .What are you guys thoughts on that?
ANY opinion is welcome........
Angelique
Here is the soft ear in picture:
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r77/cadogancna/IMG_0516.jpg

I'm not sure how true it is, but I have read/heard that sometimes soft ear problems can be genetic in nature. You might want to ask some of the breeders here about that. I'm sure that Cindy or Ed with all of their years of experience could tell you if that is true or not. I'm not sure if it was one of them or someone else that I think that I remembered them saying that one of the Mal studs that they used or were going to use had some issues with ear problems in some of his litters

Thanks Jan Well I am hoping for one of them to let me know what they have learned over the years on that issue. I am open to hear from everyone else too.

I am certainly no breeder, but I've followed the "breeders path" through SV conformation activities over the last 2.5 (geez - nearly 3 now...) years.

I'm appalled by the lack of work ethic valued among the "big" GSD breeders. I don't have enough experience to comment on the general acceptance of KKL2 and lesser show ratings among the working dog enthusiasts. I think I'm well on record here at Leerburg for respecting both, but having concerns about both.

Either two standards will evolve, or one will prevail in my limited opinion.

Angelique, if you value the SV system (and I'm not saying you should) then present your dog under SV judges both on the trial field and in the conformation ring - and ultimately for a breed survey (KKL) rating. If you believe in the SV system, then you should trust the judges who critique your dog to tell you about your dogs strengths and weaknesses - for breeding purposes. A weak ear is considered a conformation flaw, but there are so many qualities to the standard - that may or may not be considered *significant* depending on your dog's other qualities (AND TITLES - which you might not hear much about in the conformation ring!).

A trustworthy SV judge will tell you how your dog can contribute to the breed (and not), and what type of dog you should look for in a breeding to improve your line.

I'm not 100% sure personally where any of my beliefs lie in the SV system of standards. What I can say, is that I think carefully about whether either of my dogs (one Breed Surveyed, one not) have anything positive to contribute to the gene pool. That's a huge responsibility.

The judges critiques are very interesting to listen to, IMO. I've listened to about 14 of them on our "just turned 3" female, and about 7 of them on our "just turned 2 male." She is clearly the better one when it comes strictly to conformation. He is within breed standards for conformation (while not a star), but I would take him all day long over her for SchH work - at least as it stands today, and they are both young.

And then there is the maturity consideration...male, female, etc.

Lot's to think about. There are many great working dogs, and many great conformation dogs. And even better, some who excel at both - especially in their progeny. All of them are not meant to breed. Gary and I have to think about this every day - so we don't take it lightly.

I wish I had an easier answer about the soft ear.

Beth

Thanks Beth,it all makes sense to me. I wish I had a concrete answer, I know in the dog world opinions and myth run more wild but I know that my dogs lineage has not thrown soft ears that I know of.

By the way Anne ,thanks ,sorry ,I wrote jan...oops