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Friday, June 12, 2015

The German Shepherd Dog

And now for something completely different - my newfound obsession with the German Shepherd Dog.

The German Shepherd Dog's history began in 1899 with the vision of a man named Max von Stephanitz. His goal for the breed was a working dog whose appearance would be secondary to his or her ability. The dog should be intelligent, reliable, firm of nerve, and above all must be able to WORK!

This work can include herding, tracking, aiding in law enforcement, and personal protection. The dogs must have the body and the temperament needed to get the job done without being skittish or overly aggressive. Many German Shepherd Dogs today can be expected to excel in obedience, agility, tracking, search and rescue, and protection - this last includes bitework that comes with an unquestionable expectation for the dog to release a bite on command. Also desirable in today's world is a reliable "off-switch," enabling the dog to make full use of his or her drive when at work, but then "turn it off" and be a conscientious companion in the home.

Over time there came to be a discrepancy between working line German Shepherds and show line German Shepherds; the latter were bred for a specific look favored in the show ring, such as a sloping topline and severe rear angulation, physical characteristics that may negatively affect a dog's ability to work. This is often the case with today's American show line German Shepherds; along with the above-mentioned characteristics, they tend to be lighter and narrower, and have a wider gait than their European counterparts. These are beautiful dogs that still share many of the features of their working line brethren, but not likely to have the same level of working ability.

American show line German Shepherd

West German show line German Shepherds have been tailored for a specific look to a certain degree, too, BUT they are also required to pass at least the first level of working trials before being registered and allowed to breed. This proof of the ability to work usually comes through obtaining a title in Schutzhund, a three-part program that tests the dog's abilities in obedience, tracking and protection work. These dogs must also pass an endurance test that requires him or her to trot for 20km. Lastly, they have to pass testing of the hips to ensure they won't pass on genes for hip dysplasia. Only then is a dog or bitch allowed to breed.

West German show line German Shepherd

American show line German Shepherds are also expected to have their hips and elbows certified before being bred, which is accomplished with x-rays of the joints after the animal has reached 2 years of age. One way to help distinguish between a "backyard breeder" from a reputable one is whether or not the sires and dams have had their joints certified by the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals.)

These show line dogs bred in the U.S. won't usually have working titles, but conformation showing titles (championship, etc) are a good thing to obtain before breeding an animal. This is a form of proof that the parents have desirable conformation and temperament to pass on to offspring, keeping to the breed standard.

Working line dogs differ from show dogs in that their ability to work has been kept the main focus of their breeding, rather than an emphasis on appearance. Breeders of these dogs work with them to obtain working titles through programs such as Schutzhund or IPO (which is very similar but uses international standards). These titles prove the dog's ability to work (by way of their stamina, endurance, nerves, and drives) before allowing them to contribute to another generation of German Shepherd Dogs.

Seeing titles in a puppy's pedigree is all well and good, but a breeder of working line German Shepherds who does not title their own sires and dams is missing a rather important piece of the picture.

A working line German Shepherd Dog

Working line German Shepherds Dogs mostly trace their lineage to DDR (East German), Czech, or West German origins. They tend to come in a wider array of colors. In addition to the black and tan and black and red common in American and West German show lines, you'll often see solid black, bicolor, and a variety of sable German Shepherds in the working lines.

Black sable coloring

Bicolor

Reputable breeders of the German Shepherd Dog should be aiming to better the breed by adhering to the standards set by the breed club. The wording differs somewhat in the standards set forth by the American Kennel Club and its European counterparts.

AKC German Shepherd Dog Breed Standard:

The first impression of a good German Shepherd Dog is that of a strong, agile, well muscled animal, alert and full of life. It is well balanced, with harmonious development of the forequarter and hindquarter. The dog is longer than tall, deep-bodied, and presents an outline of smooth curves rather than angles. It looks substantial and not spindly, giving the impression, both at rest and in motion, of muscular fitness and nimbleness without any look of clumsiness or soft living. The ideal dog is stamped with a look of quality and nobility - difficult to define, but unmistakable when present. Secondary sex characteristics are strongly marked, and every animal gives a definite impression of masculinity or femininity, according to its sex.

Temperament - the German Shepherd is fearless but not hostile. He exudes self-confidence and a certain aloofness. He will stand his ground when strangers approach and accept kind overtures, although he is not overeager to make friends with new people. A shy, anxious, or aggressive dog is to be penalized. The character must be incorruptible. (Kennel Club standard uses the terms steady of nerve, loyal, and tractable.)

Size - For males, the height measured from the ground the to highest point of the shoulder blade should be between 24 and 26 inches. For females, 22 to 24 inches. Weight for males should fall between 66 to 88 lbs, and for the female, 49 to 71 lbs. NOTE: A breeder who markets their dogs by advertising that the sire weighs in at 130lbs is NOT ADHERING to the breed standard!

Color - Strong, rich colors are preferred. Pale, washed-out colors and blues or livers are serious faults. White dogs are disqualified in AKC conformation showing. (Admirers of white German Shepherd Dogs started their own club that allows showing of these dogs).

The head is noble, cleanly chiseled, strong without coarseness, but above all not fine, and in proportion to the body. The head of the male is distinctly masculine, and that of the bitch distinctly feminine. The expression keen, intelligent and composed. Eyes of medium size, almond shaped, set a little obliquely and not protruding. The color is as dark as possible. Ears are moderately pointed, in proportion to the skull, open toward the front, and carried erect when at attention, the ideal carriage being one in which the center lines of the ears, viewed from the front, are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ground. 

The neck is strong and muscular, clean-cut and relatively long, proportionate in size to the head and without loose folds of skin. When the dog is at attention or excited, the head is raised and the neck carried high; otherwise typical carriage of the head is forward rather than up and but little higher than the top of the shoulders, particularly in motion. Topline- The withers are higher than and sloping into the level back. The back is straight, very strongly developed without sag or roach, and relatively short. The whole structure of the body gives an impression of depth and solidity without bulkiness.

The shoulder blades are long and obliquely angled, laid on flat and not placed forward. The upper arm joins the shoulder blade at about a right angle. Both the upper arm and the shoulder blade are well muscled. The forelegs, viewed from all sides, are straight and the bone oval rather than round.

The ideal dog has a double coat of medium length. The outer coat should be as dense as possible, hair straight, harsh and lying close to the body. A slightly wavy outer coat, often of wiry texture, is permissible. The head, including the inner ear and foreface, and the legs and paws are covered with short hair, and the neck with longer and thicker hair. The rear of the forelegs and hind legs has somewhat longer hair extending to the pastern and hock, respectively.

The whole assembly of the thigh, viewed from the side, is broad, with both upper and lower thigh well muscled, forming as nearly as possible a right angle. The upper thigh bone parallels the shoulder blade while the lower thigh bone parallels the upper arm. The metatarsus (the unit between the hock joint and the foot) is short, strong and tightly articulated.


To be continued...

Monday, June 8, 2015

Bittersweet Dreams Are Made of This

My sister was my very best friend. She passed away 4 years ago and even now it seems I dream about her every night.

It may just be that I am more likely to notice and remember the nights I dream of her, but even if that's the case, I sure do dream about her an awful lot.

Sometimes this is a joyous thing. It's like having the opportunity to hang out with her again, even if we now spend our time together protecting giant (and I mean GIANT) spiders from mall cops with dubious intentions.

Every now and again my sleeping mind recognizes that she is dead and it's as if she is communicating with me in light of that fact, commiserating with me about how sad it is to be separated, or showing me glimpses of some fantastical afterlife and assuring me I'll join her there some day, but that the time for that has not yet come (a belief to which, sadly, in the waking world I do not subscribe.)

More often though, the dreams that acknowledge she has died are chilling. These I wake from unnerved, but also enormously saddened.

She spent 26 days in the ICU before succumbing to what ailed her. As her condition worsened, we faced new steps in attempting to manage the illness and treat her, and I remember when she first died the initial feeling was that this was just a new obstacle to overcome. Okay, now what are the treatment options for her death? How can we overcome this next hurdle? It took some time for the constant panicky adrenaline rush of her decline to wear off and to realize there was nothing more to be done. It was over.

Some of my dreams are fueled by this idea. She is dead, so now what's our next step to help her get better?

Many times her "death" is represented in my sleeping mind as her being in bed, back in her old bedroom in our childhood home. The room is always dark, we have to be ever so cautious and quiet around her so as not to disturb her. Sometimes her body only appears there at nighttime. Sometimes I crawl into her bed at night, anxious, knowing that after I drift off to sleep I will wake with a start in the dark of night to find her in the room with me. This can be a happy thing, but also frightening because she is not always the only thing to break through the veil between worlds at that hour.

Other times the dreamtime logic insists that she lives again only when I sleep, and so it's a happy and exciting occasion to bring her back in my dreams, although bittersweet in the knowledge that as soon as I wake, she will be gone again.

One of the scariest scenarios for me is the one where she has come back to life, in a manner, but is changed. She knows her family but feels nothing for us, she seems an entirely different person. Even then we are very protective of her in her "condition" (aka dead, returned to us on loan, a fleeting opportunity to be with her again even if she is not the same as she was in life.) Those dreams, when she no longer cares for me, are heartbreaking.

For some reason I have many, many dreams in which the house my sister lived in at the time of her death is a sprawling mansion filled with magic but also haunted by some great evil. I go there to try to encounter her again, but the horrible presence lurks there as well, and my sister's spirit fears it as much as I do.

Just today I experienced sleep paralysis. You know, when you're aware that you are half-asleep but can make no move, nor bring yourself fully awake? But my mutinous mind was convinced that my sister had returned as some malevolent spirit and was possessing me, not allowing me any control over my own body, bringing me to insanity. I worried for all my loved ones, who would not know why I would rise from bed as a completely changed, deranged person.

I don't know why I dream of her returning with a totally different personality or as some dark presence. But whether it's one of those dreams, or one where I get to briefly spend time with her as sisters or continue the never ending struggle to "cure" her from her death, to this day I still wake up crying. Four and a half years later.

I hope tonight will be one of the nights where we just hang out and do nonsensical dream things. That would be nice, spiders and all.

My sister in the year before her death. She went to the Otasaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, NY for a weekend-long event with the folks from the SyFy show Ghosthunters. She won the chance to have this light-painted photo (of ghosts attempting to communicate) done with two of the shows regulars, Amy and Britt of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society)