Why DDR Dogs??? - Page 2

My first GSD was a showline male. Then the next one was a german workinline male. I met Kim, Rookies owner, when she had her DDR/workingline male Judd. That is when I was introduced to the DDR dogs. I fell in love with the way they look. I like the big blocky look and the nice dark sables. I am glad that I have one of my own now. I own the full sister to Rookie..her name is Brix..

She is a little over 2 years old. Her D.O.B is July 16, 2006

Thank you djon for giving out the information you just did - very interesting. It is sad that DDR dogs of today are a shadow of their ancestors. I think those of you who own one should consider yourself fortunate and give the dog a life he deserves.

I am trying to picture the time when these dogs worked for the state... hats off to the spirit of DDR...

Evo --------->

Sire DDR (Sven grandson) Dam 3/4 WGWL 1/4 everything else! (7 lines back to Racker)

Hard headed, stubborn, wilful, unsociable, aloof, civil with explosive drive.

Goes utterly bonkers for his ball or a sleeve, and will guard a blade of grass. 

Thinks the sun shines out my butt thankfully, and still acts like a overgrown pup around me.  He just looks down his nose at other people.

I love him to bits, but I wish he was that little bit more social, 2inches smaller and about 20lbs lighter

Even as a pup he was intense!

Thank you djon,

this is an interesting post, I am in love with the east lines for how intelligent and serious they can be,
I guess that does pose a problem if you do not socialize and train your pup from the time you get him,
they can be strong willed & will walk all over you if you let them, I myself am looking for a dog that I
can train to be obedient, and is always in calling distance, never running off and leaving the family
alone, he's just so darn dependable, that that's the big draw for me.
 

no one that loves the German Shepherd Dog wants a houndy, doggie, slobbering idot for a dog,

to you and your intimate knowledge of a true GSD, I guess the DDR dog in America can seem to
represent only a shadow of it's ancestors.

Thanks for some food for thought,

               Paula

 

I agree that socialisation is extremeley important, but if the dog doesn't want to interact with other people and treats them with disdain, what can you do?

Some dogs are truly one-man or one- woman dogs.

Evo is a prime example.  He was bred here, and raised here I picked him practically from the minute he was born, I was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, the first voice he heard. He was out and about from 7weeks old, is great with kids, in the respect that he wouldn't eat one; because he's grown up around my young son and his friends.  However he's just never been interested in other people.  He won't accept treats from anyone, infact he won't eat anything thats not in his bowl - he'll sit and let someone pat his head, but he has no interest in them whatsoever.  As long as they are fine with him, he's fine with them...try to mess about with him and he's a whole other dog!

He's never been a dog that you could 'make' do something, always keeping me on my toes by having me thinking faster than him.  He can only be out-witted once, because it won't work the second time!

I am the centre of his world, and sometimes that isn't always a good thing.  Maybe I made him the dog he is, maybe he was always going to be the dog he is, no matter what I did.

Would I have another dog like him? mmmm maybe, maybe not I honestly don't know

He sounds like the perfect dog to me. Want to trade???? Reminds me of my dog of long ago, a solid black. Lousy at sport, lousy at "obedience", indifferent to anyone outside the family, followed me everywhere, a phenomenal natural protector.

What's the pedigree on yours? Do you have a website?

Only part of the east german dogs were used as Grenzhund or Diensthund, and it was absolutely not the purpose that they were bred for. The majority of the dogs and the breed purpose was to make an allrounder of stable temperament, fit to do any kind of work you throw at them, robust and healthy, as well as powerfull enough to protect your livestock or home, and to impress anybody who just thought of implementing harm on you or your property. The upmost difference towards other lines is that they are bred to think and act for themself, and today its almost impossible to find a more clear headed dog then out of DDR lines.

Yes, they have changed somewhat. They are smaller in size today to comply with the SV standards. Back then it didnt really matter if the dog was registered or not. The registration was done at the breed survey at age 2. If you had an outstanding exemplar of noneregistered parents, it happened that either the dog was registered without parents or the dog became offspring of  another registerd dog. A little money or a goody hard to get at this time got you a long way. (excuse my english regards to the grammar) My last pups dad was 73cm at the shoulder, he was denied registration because of the size, and this was back in the early 90s after the wall came down. The bigger size dogs had to "die" out, as the SV already had its fingers over everything. And to understand the times better, everything that came from east germany had to be simply bad-bad-bad...

DDR dogs are very well capable of high level sport, and they do have a very nice prey drive. The problem is that too many people doing the sport want to see imediate results with less effort of training. Also the trend is that the earlier you can title a dog the better it must be, and can be earlier put up as stud. You can not train a DDR dog like that, they are all puppy for quiet a while. You build carefully upon on what they offer to you. The relationship and teamwork is your goal, not a quick title.

Sorry I'd have replied sooner, but I got reminded in no uncertain terms his tea was 30 seconds late

LOL Nooooooo! I wouldn't trade him for the earth despite his little quirks

His pedigree is here http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/540545.html