Saw that - and that she immediately turned off comments. LOL I mean, price aside, who crosses a Great Dane with a St Bernard?! Why?!
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Went back to look an hour ago and the post has gone poof. Not sure if that was owner deleting or mods deciding it didn’t belong in that group.
There are people (mostly guys) obsessed with having the largest dog possible. I saw a guy post his dog in a breed group claiming it weighs 206 lbs… the dog should probably weigh 140 lbs. It’s seriously obese, but the biggest dog in the group. People post their puppies asking if they look too small… it’s ridiculous.
I drove past the sign again today - I was wrong, it said “Shepherdoodle.” 
In the meantime, my friend told me a few girls at the local dog “field” (informal dog park with much more space to run) all bought matching brown border collie puppies. They all live in apartments and have zero dog training experience. How much do you want to bet these poor pups will be in the shelter next year for having chewed one up too many pieces of furniture? 
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Those poor pups!
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For many years the farmers and shepherds breeding working Border Collies would not sell them to inexperienced, non-working owners. Sadly, now a wonderful breed too widely available.
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I’m sure that’s still the case for many breeders. I know breeders that won’t sell gun dogs to pet homes. Not that they don’t make great pets, but without enough exercise (mental and physical) they are not always happy - and yes - get rehomed because they can become destructive and/or neurotic.
I know some people whose dogs have become so obsessed with hunting flies in the house that they are nearly unbearable. That’s a bored dog. My dogs might snap at a fly if one lands near them, but don’t spend any energy stalking them.
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It could even happen to any responsible breeder.
Think about it, responsible breeders would likely sell their unaltered puppies at 12 weeks to what they hope is a responsible family. Those puppies can’t be altered until 6-12 months. At that point you just know there’s a certain (very small) percentage of people who will breed those animals because they can, and sell the puppies, without papers of course (but there’s no small amount of people who are ok with that)
It’s still a border collie though, complete with all the challenges of all BCs, but now without knowledgeable breeders selling the puppies. And it’s not really preventable by the breeder unless they find out AND invest a lot of money in the legal process to take back the dog.
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I was really lucky that a purpose-bred collie pup showed up at my place! I was unsccessful at finding her owner but I had a pretty good idea about where she came from. I got her a job at a cattle ranch and would drop her off on my way to work and pick her up on my way home.
She learned left, right, drive, and hold in less than a day. She was incredible and I miss her.
Without a job, she would have been miserable.
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I have a petite, working-bred red (brown) BC… you would be amazed how many random strangers in places like Home Depot have asked me first if she was a mini (a mini what they never say…), then asked when I was going to breed her because they wanted a pup. I swear even Kestrel laughs about it now… but really, it’s not funny as the last thing those people need is a herding breed! 
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Offshoot - local store has an in house trainer. I popped my head into the open door (with a dog gate in front, so just standing at the threshold) to observe a bit of a training class.
The trainers three intact male WOLVES are loise and rough housing while handlers are trying to teach their dogs skills. I turned right around, no thanks! Tell me you’re trying to prove something, without telling me.
Note I’m no wolf expert, so I looked this guy up after I left. Yup! All he does is brag on his skillz with the wolves. What a joke.
Looks crippled to me. It’s a fairly recent change. When I was growing up German Shepherds stood 4-square, just like Collies or Labradors or any other dog of similar size and weight.
1959 show German Shepherd
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My current poodle was NOT health-tested and has a heart murmur and skin issues, so there’s that. He came from the pound but does look full poodle (he was a mess when we got him; growled at everyone and everything, from the broom to the pool and had NO hair at all from flea allergies). It’s taken a lot of work but he’s now the envy of the neighborhood on walks and is mostly non-reactive now, fortunately. I don’t think he got out at all in his former life (we’ve had him for 9 years and he was about 2 when we got him). The mini pup I’m getting in January (from a reputable breeder someone on this forum suggested) comes from health-tested parents; they’ve done the genetic tests recommended by the poodle club, so we’ll see how that experience goes. But I can’t imagine breeding our current dog just because he’s insanely cute (he’s a large mini or small standard; 16" so “legally” a small standard, and he’s the perfect size) and friendly…now. He’s been neutered since we got him so it’s possible someone bred him (shudder). I hope whomever got any puppies of his has fun with the allergy shots 
.
Agree that breeders nearly ruined the GSD going for more and more angulation behind and a more radically sloped topline.
But the most recent photo you posted was from 2009 and most show breeders have been backing off a bit from that extreme look.
For instance, this gorgeous bitch won BIS at Westminster in 2017. She still has a good deal of angulation behind (I’m not a fan of the “hock on the ground” stack), but at least she doesn’t have as radical a slope to her topline.
That said, I am partial to the 1960 version shown in your post. That is more like the GSDs I fell in love with in my youth.
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This GSD conversation is deja vu. Didn’t we already discuss that exact same graphic and the question I asked at the time was whether those are show dogs or just random photos supposedly from that date. E.g. the photo from 1899…is it a known breeding dog of that breed? Or just a photo from someone’s archive that “looks like a GSD?” The photo from 1959 is a ‘show dog’ from where? Is this a county fair, or is this Crufts, or is this an AKC event? It could be anything.
The “hock on the ground” stack is one of the main reasons the dogs look like they have an extreme topline, but it’s a trained pose. Any of the dogs in that graphic could be trained to stand with their hock on the ground and then it would be easier to compare their conformation.
For those who don’t show dogs - the dog show “stack” is specifically for the purpose of comparing dog to dog. GSDs are the only breed to show in the “hock on the ground” stack just to show off the hock angulation. But they could also be stacked standing and certainly in a real show, judges see them in both positions.
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I was at the beach with mine, and a rancher came up an said, “My God! She’s herding the ocean!! Does she have any pups?”
When I told him that she was spayed, he looked at me like I was the biggest moron on the planet.
Considering that working collies can sell for $15,000 + at the Red Bluff sale, he was probably right.
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Farming for opinions.
I have my first bitch puppy in at least 15 years, maybe 20. She is a rat/min pin cross, prob top out at 15#. She is just about exactly 8mo old.
Prior to this, I was of the 6mo=neuter camp. But every dog I had neutered at 6mo ended up with the on again/off again limp by 10yo, and prob earlier then that.
She will be my second “real” agility dog. We are dabbling in puppy agility now, 4" jumps, tunnels, and some intro to contacts.
I am insecure about my ability to keep her locked up and away from marauding males, considering the stories I read here and elsewhere.
My other dog is 7yo castrated male, was neutered at 3.5yo, never bred.
I was going to wait until she was a year old, at the advice of my trainer but I do not know if I am set up to keep her safe. I am single, live alone, and work outside of the house for up to 8hrs. They currently have a dog door with access to a very secure yard. But I don’t think that’s enough, again, from what I am reading.
I am also not sure I want to deal with the stress to both dogs of her going through a heat cycle, house rules changing, locking her up for hours, or taking her to work while leaving him all alone.
But I am afraid I am condemning her to life of lameness by pursuing this activity of choice (agility) with an earlier spay.
Does anyone have an opinion of what I should do? Thanks.
If you’re not confident in your ability to keep her from being bred, spay. Absolutely.
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I’d wait until a year.
When she’s in heat, I’d block off the dog door for both dogs when you’re not home. That way if there’s confusion on new rules at least she has a friend to commiserate with.
Don’t anthropomorphize too much. She’ll be fine with minor rule changes
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How high is the fence?
But I agree, if you can’t be sure, spay.
