Don’t be so sure. There are lines doing all kinds of work. Here is my showline herding. He was a machine and got his first herding title when he was just 11 months old.
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Here’s a new one from my local Craigslist—an “Afghan Doodle”.
Why? Just why?
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Oh good… a fast as fu—heck flake crossed with something intelligent. I predict an escape artist that is an entire county away before you even realize it got out.
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With no recall because it saw a squirrel….
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Eh, a quick look at this year’s top 25 AKC GSDs in the All Breed standings has at least half of them with backend titles, mostly agility, rally, farm dogs, herding & dock diving.
I know lots of people (hint, protection people) only consider protection work “work” but it’s not like these dogs are crippled, untrainable messes. They’re getting out there and doing stuff and getting the titles to prove it. Not saying I’d want to take a straight line show GSD and try to do bite work with it but, frankly, I wouldn’t want ANY breed for bite work that wasn’t specifically being bred for the job out of proven bloodlines. Protection sports are strictly a “don’t f*ck around with the maybe dog” for me.
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Exactly this.
Sheilah
Agreed; and if you want to cross-reference that list against OFA statistics, they probably all have passing hips. I checked the top 10. Three “fair”, 6 “good”, one “excellent.” But keep going. I doubt very much that you’d find any dog on the list with a failing health test, or a family history of dysplasia or “being crippled” (whether that means back or hips, something else.)
Lots of other passing health tests as well (elbows, cardiac, thyroid, eyes, temperament).
“People” make decisions based on nothing but their own fuzzy memory about “GSDs of my time” and a grand total of one conformation show seen on TV with a bad angle. And no knowledge whatsoever about the breed or the breed standard, health testing, or well, anything.
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What do you bet that entire litter was for the white and black one? It does make you wonder what happens to the muddled color ones
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Last night at the vet for regular dog/puppy stuff, there’s pretty liver colored mutt thing, young. Smooth double coat, extremely skittish. I asked the woman “pretty pup, what is he?” She replies “Well, he is SUPPOSED to be a golden doodle, but I don’t know how much doodle he got, his hair is wrong!” and on and on and on. I suppressed my urge to say “well that’s what can happen when you breed two dogs with entirely different coat characteristics…”
That pup was so skittish that it hid under a chair. Then, a moronic vet assistant/vet tech came out and reached under the chair for the pup and of course the pup snapped at her. Comeon lady, you work at a clinic, don’t you know not to EVER do that to a dog?
The extreme skittishness of a dog that is supposedly a cross of two pretty friendly breeds shows that the bitch and stud are temperamentally poor OR the breeder did not do appropriate socialization (read, puppy mill).
She probably paid several thousand for a dog that has a crappy temperament and not the desired coat. What a racket.
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It seems that they do all sell, surprisingly. This “farm” always has puppies, and lots of em. Cocker Spaniels, Great Pyrenees, Newfoundland, St. Bernard, and crosses between Pyr/Newfoundland and St. Bernard/Newfoundland. They have ALL OF THESE available right now.
I’ll bet $100 they don’t know that they could just breed Landseer Newfies. 
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I don’t disagree with you, you’re probably right. But, for what it’s worth they are individuals and it’s entirely possible for the breeder to do everything right and still end up with a very timid pup. The key going forward is for the breeder to reevaluate their stock, and for the new owner to continue socializing. My sister has a beautiful lab. Both parents competed in field trials and hunted, both were friendly and confident. Breeder is well respected. Pups were raised in the house, got to meet lots of people, the breeders grandkids, other dogs, cats, etc. The pup that my sister chose was incredibly timid. If someone looked at her wrong or a branch banged the window she would immediately start shaking. By 10 weeks it was very obvious that she shouldn’t be bred, not a trait that you want passed along. My sister worked hard with her. She’s five now, loves her people, but is very submissive. Easily could have turned into a fear biter in the wrong hands.
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I foster for a poodle rescue. So many doodles getting turned in that were purchased during Covid. Majority have behavior issues.
Then what’s is with the senior dogs getting turned in??
You are so right, but there’s a fighting chance that with a good breeder there’s an attempt to match the timid puppy with the right owner. To be fair, for sure there are some designer breeders that also try to do that as well, but I suspect the odds favor the former, if for no other reason than someone breeding an established breed has less variability to deal with… Meaning if your happy, outgoing doodle puppy happens to be the one with the non doodle coat, I’m pretty sure the one with the doodle coat and best color will be the one you get top dollar for, even if he’s timid.
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I grew up with boxers. I have friends who are into various breeds. But when it came time to get my own, there was no particular breed that I really wanted. So went to a shelter. Fast forward many years and a number of dogs later, still cant pin down a breed. Some were short haired, some furry. At this time I have my last “big” dog( 50-60 lb) and my first “small” dog. The small one is 27 lbs, smart as a whip, loves everyone, clearly some dachsie in there. When the time comes I will look for something sort of like him, 30ish lbs, not a foo-foo sort of thing. Maybe some one has recommendations? I will be over the 70 mark by then.
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Corgi dogs are my favorite!
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Sheltie? English Cocker? Medium Poodle?
English cocker is an interesting thought.
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