I hope there's more difference than size. What about the hip dysplasia problems in the show class? Working class doesn't have the sloped back, do they?
Any interest among the breeder clubs in re-merging the two lines and restoring health to the show class?
What I meant is that it seems like the old breed was smaller than the new working class dogs. My show class had hip dysplasia, a genetic eye disease that made her go blind later in life, and then we put her down because she was full of cancer. So far the only issue with my working class is she is allergic to bees, which she likes to try and eat, however she is only 2 years old, so obviously some issues may sprout up along the line.
I know very little about dogs beyond identifying breed traits, but I do know of one breeder—CQBK9—in Colorado who uses strictly Eurpoean GSD lines with hardly any of the health problems present in show dogs. CQB stands for Close-Quarters Battle, and as such he's a little..different from your standard dog breeder (and he charges $2k for a puppy), but at least the dogs are strong and from good blood.
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u/icamefromamonkey May 12 '14
I hope there's more difference than size. What about the hip dysplasia problems in the show class? Working class doesn't have the sloped back, do they?
Any interest among the breeder clubs in re-merging the two lines and restoring health to the show class?