| What's in a Name?? German Shepherd... American shepherd...
King Shepherd? Really! you will find all kinds of
terms bandied about when it comes to German Shepherds. After all
is said and done there is only one "German shepherd" but many
different types and styles and interpretations of the breed standard.
The Canadian Kennel Club sets the standard for purebred dogs and they
provide a pretty detailed description of what a german shepherd in
Canada should look like and act like. Nevertheless the description can
be somewhat subjective and over the years trendy looks have prevailed,
an example is the amount of angulation. Look at any older book
showing pictures of early german shepherds, there is no angulation or
very little. Over the years the amount of angulation in the rear
and at the shoulder has changed to suit preferences and in theory to
change the way the german shepherd moves.
When people talk about german lines vs. American lines what
they are really talking about is german shepherds from germany vs.
german shepherds from north america. The breed has evolved
somewhat differently in Europe where standards and breeding is more
strictly monitored that in North America. Even in Europe however
there are "show" lines and "working" lines, and these two types of dogs
can look very different as well as have very different temperaments.
As for "King Shepherds" well in truth there is no such thing.
This term was made up by someone who thought that breeding an oversized
shepherd would be a great idea and lets call it a "king" shepherd.
In fact its a pretty bad idea. Oversized anything can be a
problem, breed standards for size exist for reason.. putting extra size
on the frame of any breed just results in extra stress on joints and
bone structure that is likely to cause health problems in the future. |
