Is it even possible?

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ZaraD
Posts: 577
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 10:06 am
Location: Staffordshire, UK

Is it even possible?

Post by ZaraD »

Hi all

I was reading this article today about the university of Surrey doing a study on German shepherds funded by the kennel club. https://www.surrey.ac.uk/features/kenne ... rch-surrey

It got me thinking do you think we will ever be able to breed German shepherds to look like what they use to years ago? Like these http://www.germanshepherdguide.com/the- ... d-dog.html if you scroll down you will see some black and white pictures.


What do you think? Is it possible?
JudyN
Posts: 7018
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: Is it even possible?

Post by JudyN »

Given the will, I should think it's possible. I saw a 9-month-old GSD today with a level back, and his back legs looked well formed and stable to my inexpert eye. In fact he seemed surprisingly in proportion given his age.

But if we started selecting for fit, level-backed GSDs, I'm not sure how restricted the gene pool would be and if you select for one (healthy) trait other traits will also come along with it and they might not be so healthy (when silver foxes were bred for friendliness to humans, they developed other traits such as floppy ears). So there might have to be some outbreeding to other breeds to improve genetic variation and health.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Is it even possible?

Post by Erica »

I am keeping an eye on a few GSD breeders myself. Their dogs are healthy, stable, and intelligent. They're hard to find (the ones I know of are on the other side of the country from me -- that being 41 straight hours of driving away) but they exist. I'm a big fan of intelligent outcrossing and certainly would be interested in outcrosses from GSDs to other breeds.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
ZaraD
Posts: 577
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2017 10:06 am
Location: Staffordshire, UK

Re: Is it even possible?

Post by ZaraD »

I find it all very interesting and I really hope one day we can see healthy happy GSD of the past. I know there are still some out there but I hope that one day there will be nothing but the stable healthy GSD both in mind and body.
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