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Strangely enough, I used to know somebody who lived in your neighborhood-long ago, of course, in the '60s- who bred Elkhounds.
The bolded is because that's not only not what German Shorthairs used to be, it's absolutely outside breed standard. As the guy at Westminister says, they were developed to be a house and hunt dog, a joy in the field and at the fireside. In the last...twenty years or less? there's been an influx of high-strung (when the absolute average used to be mellow), difficult to obediance train (when they used to be eager to please and tractable on the lead from puppyhood), and utterly stupid (Matilda, our last old-type shorthair, learned how to herd cattle by sitting in the truck and watching us do it) strains into the breed. They're also more showy: taller, longer legs and noses, much higher action when the classic type was squarer and stockier.
It's discouraging, the results of people buying dogs as decor.
You're right on about Standard Poodles, and they're on my list of dogs to look at when the time comes; the only thing against them is that they do need clipped regularly, and are very large. I love their personalities.
I bought a good set of clippers and gave my standard poodle/ German Shep a haircut a couple of weeks ago - first time I ever tried it! She looks pretty good. I bought a good clipper as her hair was loooong! I first only shaved her back half as the blade (#10) was too short. I ordered a #5 and completed it 10 days later. Shasta weighs about 65 pounds. My biggest issue with her is she digs! The chickens love it - she makes them lots of new dust-baths.
It was 6:30, and all I could do was shake my head. I just dont understand some people.
