DanBar Ranch
European Type And American Type in the Doberman - PART 2
In Europe; The Working Line - Show Line Split
In Europe, sadly, the Doberman has finally been split in to working line and show line families. This has happened in the German shepherd, Rottweiler and Great Dane breed as well. Many people think that all European Dobermans are "working line" because they may have schutzhund titles - but this is deceptive. Until very recently all Dobermans used for breeding had to have at least a Schutzhund I title. Today this is no longer true, however in order to win high level show prizes, a Doberman must still have some kind of "working" title. This can be the IPO title (formerly schutzhund) or a ZTP title, indicating it has passed a "Fit For Breeding" test.
But there is enough interest in working/sport Dobermans in Europe that there is a population of breeders who put working character first. These folks breed the so called "working line" dogs. There ARE differences between European show line and these European working line Dobermans, and this page will explain this.
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The most common fault of today's European hyper-type dogsis a great Dane like head with way too much lip (dogs like this will bite their own lips when trying to do bite work) and an overly heavy body which takes away agility and working abilty.
The Dangers of Hyper-Type
Dog shows were developed to reward those dogs which most closely resembled the written "standard" of their appearance. Here is the problem. A judge must choose between many dogs which are perhaps very close in appearance and all handsome. How does he choose? He *could* chose a balanced dog which is "medium", meeting the standard but not exaggerated in any way. But far too often a judge will choose a dog which is "extreme" for type. Example: If the standard calls for a "pronounced fore-chest" then he or she will pick a dog with a chest which sticks out further than the other dogs - even if it looks silly and out of balance. After all, if a little pronounced fore-chest is good, than a LOT of pronounced fore-chest must be better, right? (Wrong). Little by little, over time, these judges select dogs with more and more "hyper-type" and breeders, seeing these dogs win, start to produce dogs with these attributes. Slowly the breed starts to "drift" toward this faulty type.
This is a serious problem in Europe today, and in many breeds. Below are examples showing the result of selection and rewarding hyper-type. In the Doberman it has resulted in truly horrid specimens with Great Dane like heads, hanging lips, "pouter pigeon" chests, over-angulated hind legs and generally over-done in many ways.
Ataraxie's Emil, SchH 3, IPO 3, FH2
A champion working dog showing the athletic build common to working line dogs. This dog is sire of my Czech import "Lancer".
2018 IDC Sieger Indro del Diamante Nero, IPO I is shown here as an example of today's show line European Doberman. Heavier in built, with exaggerated chest, but still a handsome dog.
The most common fault of today's European hyper-type dogsis a great Dane like head with way too much lip (dogs like this will bite their own lips when trying to do bite work) and an overly heavy body which takes away agility and working abilty.
