# Question for the breed standard guardians



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

My grandmother came to this country about 100 years ago. She was short, somewhere in the area of 4'6 maybe. And her parents, who I never met were short as well. But my dad is 5'7, and his six kids range from about 5'5 to 6'2. Mom is about 5'5, but she has brothers who are about 6', though her folks also were not tall. 

So, something happened, through the generations, and perhaps better food, or even better access to food, that made the younger generations larger the their ancestors.

Now can we apply this to GSDs? If feeding better foods does make a difference in growth and potential, by selecting only for dogs within the standard, is it possible that we will in time be selecting the weaker dogs to go forward with? 

There are a bajillion and a half over-standard GSDs, but I have only met one very poorly bred GSD that was under the standard size. Is this only because Americans like everything super-sized? Or is it in part because in the natural order of things, the off-spring are growing a bit larger than their ancestors. 

Can selecting for size actually contribute to the deterioration of the breed?


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I think selecting *only* for size (either way) is detrimental; I think selecting only for any one thing is detrimental.

I can't relate to the human analogy since I'm Dutch and we're the tallest people in the world. At 5'7" I'm the shortest of my Dutch friends and there were four (also Dutch) people taller than me on my high school gymnastics team.


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## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

I agree wth Lies. I think as long as breeders and are selecting for more than "only" size, that one criteria will not be what weakens the breed. I personally believe that a good dog is a good dog. If he/she is strong in all other areas then being slightly out of standard for size should not be a determining factor for breeding.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

I think the purpose of what you are breeding for has a lot to do with the size. If you are breeding for show....oversize will tend to creep in, if you are breeding for performance....standard and smaller will tend to remain, if you are breeding for the public.....oversize will tend to creep in. The purpose of breeding has always affected what the outcomes of traits for this breed materialize.


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