I did read the article, and I first must say that the competition in question was held in Mexico, not Germany, so that might affect the experience. Also, we have no clue which German judges were present.
Personally, I'd take a roach backed German show line dog long before I'd take the poorly bred, over angulated Ambred GSD. But that is a personal opinion, and I'd like to make it clear that I'm not a fan of the banana back and splayed feet, either. My dog DOES have a sloping croup, and I think it's important to distinguish between a true roached back and a sloped croup (and I'm not sure if the author of that article knows the difference). There are dogs who don't look good, IMO, who have been VA rated, and some of it does bother me.d I won't disagree with the notion that the SV has been headed in the wrong direction on conformation for a while -- but I refuse to believe that the proper GSD is the Ambred one. Not a chance.
I did find it odd that she went on and on about health problems in German show lines due to "angulation"; IME, it's not the German dogs who have issues with angulation, but rather the American ones. As for the temperment: I've never seen show lines nipping at one another in the ring. Show lines are a bit more prone to dog aggression, and there could have been several factors working together to produce what the author witnessed. I really can't say...I can tell you my personal show line pooch does have some issues with barking and hackling at other dogs. However, Germans tend to find this behavior normal for a dog.
I also found it remarkable that the author was upset about the "lack of pigment." The bitch she showed pictures of looked sable to me (again, I could be wrong) and the last time I checked that was still an acceptable color of GSD. The dog doesn't have to have a saddle to conform to the standard, or be mostly black. In fact, the only thing, if I remember correctly, that must be black is the bulb of the nose (please correct me if I have that wrong).
So all in all it seems to me teh ranting of an upset Amshow breeder whose dog didnt' get the attention she was hoping for at hte show. I could be wrong.
Bado IS an excellent looking animal!
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