I don't often re-post stuff from the Terrierman's Daily Dose as we share a lot of readers. But this British Pathé film clip from 1930, featuring a GSD called Mickeve, fair takes my breath away.
So here's the challenge: could anyone find me a modern German Shepherd that could do this?
I'm sure someone will claim this one can, and that this was a "sneaky" video or somehow altered. ;-)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_z3fgk9bQw
What an absolutely lovely dog! Beautiful physique. If I were a GSD owner, I'd love a dog like that.
ReplyDeleteJulia Lewis
http://www.blackthornkennel.com/index.html
ReplyDeleteDo they have Big Air competitions in the UK as associated with dock dogs? I have no idea if you'll find a showline GSD working there but if I wanted to know if anyone was producing a dog capable of such a feat just plain old high jumping that's where I'd look.
ReplyDeleteThe only other place I can think of with even a similar feat is the palisade in French Ring. Not really a jump but more of a leap and scramble over a fence.
Not exactly what you asked for, but I do believe she does all she can to breed healthy dogs of sound temperament that can work. I know she does SAR with them. (I also love her book 'Bones Would Rain From the Sky: Deepening Our Relationship with Dogs'.)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.suzanneclothier.com/content/hawks-hunt-german-shepherds
Yes. But a "German shepherd," no.
ReplyDeleteWow! I've had setters who can go over a 6ft fence,and have a 3 year old bitch at the moment who can do this, and springers who can climb and scramble over an 8 ft fence, but never seen a dog who can clear 9 1/2 feet
ReplyDeleteIt's sad, because I searched online for a GSD that could replicate this and couldn't find any. Found a lot of videos of GSDs frantically scrambling over 6ft fences, but not actually making a flying leap over it, which is incredibly sad since my 17 inch English Cocker Spaniel can make a flying leap over a 5 foot fence without a running start. The only dogs that I could find that even came close to the athleticism of this GSD is the modern game-bred American Pit Bull Terrier.
ReplyDeleteThe dog in your video is what modern GSD breeders should be breeding for.
you said "So here's the challenge: could anyone find me a modern German Shepherd that could do this? " well if you do please let them be prosecuted for cruelty, to inflict such danager to a dog is terrible, they were not designed to jump in such a manner. We all know the terrible problems caused by dogs being made to catch a frisbee so think of that risk times 100 and then you have this film, to show such thing and praise them terrible and foolish
ReplyDeleteBSD can !!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O64hdae33k
Pause at 0:06 and look at the angle of the dog's hips -- there's no slope at all. What a mess show breeders have made of the German shepherd.
ReplyDeleteBijou, that's more of a long jump than a high jump (although I'm not dissing it). Lurchers are also great at the long jump.
ReplyDeleteSome time ago, I read about the difference between the GSD for exhibition and for work. The working GSD breeders feel proud of a dog not to be pretty but of good temperament, intelligence and a few things like that. So far so good.
ReplyDeleteBut the question remains, the actual working GSD can do that? How different really are they against the exhibition GSD? How to prove that?
Yes I imagine any Schutzhund or WT GSD could. WT dogs do a 6` scale and this dog is jumping from a platform (the guy`s back) so inm fact it`s a jump from the back (3`?)
ReplyDeletePlease stop running GSDs down. If you think of Police dogs or the German dogs - who have to qualify in Sch, to enter a show, or working GSDs instead of being so obsessed by Crufts you would see the vast majority of GSDs are wonderful creatures.
The difference is in the structure, as Kuri said. There are likely numerous top level modern Working Line GSDs that could do this off a 3ft start. But, a modern SHOW GSD, never in a million. They are no longer built to be athletic. Actually I don't know what they are built for anymore.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the poster who said they would not encourage this type of jumping though. If I had a dog that could do it I would not want to risk the injury that could ensure. But, I do take your point, it in the fact that it could rather than it should
When I was a kid my dad would tell me about his GSD who would clear the fence, the fence was taller than my dad who himself was less than 6 feet tall, on top of the fence were 2 or 3 strands of barbwire, I remember asking how the dog would get through the barbwire and my dad said he didn't go between the wires, he cleared the fence barbwire and all to go walkabout in the neighborhood. I remember thinking that I couldn't imagine a dog doing that. Seeing this video makes it seem possible, and my dad really is not a liar, he wouldn't have told me that if it hadn't been the truth. The dog he had looked a lot like the dog in that video, I have just one picture (over 50 years old) of his dog named Lord.
ReplyDeletethat truly is an amazing fete for a dog but I would have preferred to see him land on a mattress or something soft. I can't bear to think what damage it would do to his hips over time if he was doing this on a daily basis!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a mamby-pamby when it comes to exercising my dogs and I have seen some fantastic long jumps in my time. This is something else though and the pressure it must put on the dog's joints will tell in time.
If this was a one-off to show just how fit this dog is then it's fantastic; if it's something the dog did on a regular basis I would be quite worried to be honest.
Sorry if I put a damper on things here.... :-(
Rather to my dismay, I have several GSDs who can jump 6 feet without thinking twice. My girl Nike (22" and 55 pounds) was known to jump a 7 foot fence to get to the back door when she was young. This is a picture of her going over the 1-meter wall with a Sch2 dumbbell (1 kg): https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K8VCZCF8HR4/TT80XCCtgdI/AAAAAAAAMDM/S-sa_l-BJxU/s800/retrieve.jpg
ReplyDeleteOne of her daughters does a vertical "bounce" that lets her look over the top of my 6 foot fencing. And at least 2 of her grandkids think a 6 foot fence is just a fun obstacle.
And my dogs are far from unique. I know of more than one GSD that trains for ringsport and its 9 foot vertical wall. But mostly, today, concern for the health and safety of the dog would prevent most people from training for these types of jumps. There are certainly dogs who could do it the feats--just most owners would be more careful about asking it of their dogs.
To the respondent who points out the difference between a dog leaping over a 9 foot gate and scaling a 9 foot wall....
ReplyDeleteFirst off, this dog isn't actually jumping 9 feet--he is taking off from his owner's back, so it's more of a 6 foot leap, and the owner gives the dog a boost or push as the dog takes off. The dog and trainer were undeniably remarkable as a team--the dog trusts his person completely and the dog is an excellent athlete.
In ringsport, the dog is asked to jump both a vertical wall and a broad jump. The wall is from a short distance away, with little running start. The dog is trained to go straight up and straight down the wall for safety's sake and to best represent an actual task a working (police or military) dog might face. The record height for a dog to scale a wall is 22 feet.
Here are some videos:
http://youtu.be/dkq1YQZ8520
http://youtu.be/ChUfr-BJ4m8
http://youtu.be/7kl8kEw0Blo
http://youtu.be/2eqVbTUDfN8
long/broad jump:
http://youtu.be/qzrypocJg1c
All of my GSDs can jump a 6 foot cattle guard from a standstill. Wynthea Strickland has pictures in her GSD book of one of her dogs jumping a 13 foot length at a height of 4 feet.
(Of course, the dogs [other than Strickland's photo from the 70s] doing these jumps are not dogs bred for the show ring.)
"Do they have Big Air competitions in the UK as associated with dock dogs?"
ReplyDeleteYes and in the USA.
Amazing dogs.
Even pugs........
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs-oKHDq2Zw&feature=related
http://images.champdogs.co.uk/images/k17833d3.jpg
ReplyDeleteYeah I could see a modern military or police dog being able to make that jump - but I wouldn't want it to. Dogs aren't cats. I think that a 9 foot drop is a bit much for any dog.
ReplyDeleteStill, the dog in the video looked amazing. More like what the show line GSD community should be aiming towards.
I wouldn't want this dog....how on earth would you keep him in?! LOL
ReplyDeleteA great show of altheticism though I agree with many of the concerns raised.
That said....my own springer decided to try flying yesterday and took a 20ft fall. Thank god he's non the worse.
VP
Although I agree with the concerns raised about damage to the dog's joints (I think modern long jumps have a soft landing), I don't think they were as clued up on joint health 80-years-ago when this video was taken, as we are now.
ReplyDeleteKristine K is correct. This is illusionism, akin to a Houdini feat. Not only is the dog jumping from a platform, the platform is springing to help him launch.
ReplyDeleteI once watched a guy with six trained kelpies do similar tricks at the beach in Fremantle. They launched off his back one after another . . . awesome to watch . . . but more a feat of training than of athleticism.
Closest modern dog I can think of is TreT, the Ukrainian pittie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hNAXihHWik
ReplyDeleteLook at the awesome, natural structure of that GSD, though! Super cool video. :)
Wow... That's amazing!
ReplyDeleteJemima
The video of the Russian dog is more impressive than the GSD, this dog has it all - he is super athletic and can jump, but is also very well coordinated, balanced and careful about how he lands or climbs down from a height, he has real drive and enjoys his antleticism,but above all this dog is intelligent - he works out how to climb from one structure to the next, and how to get down safely again. All this combined would make him a great working dog, not just a mindless jumper. Super piece of video!
ReplyDeleteThis is Neige, a small working setter bitch going over the the dog run fence which is slightly more than six feet high. She scrambles over, doesnt jump clear, so is less likely to do herself any damage, not as elegant or spectacular as a dog jumping clear, but safer.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/pages/DALRIACH-IRISH-RED-AND-WHITE-SETTERS/119247721451133#!/media/set/?set=a.286443218064915.66139.119247721451133&type=1
Why would you want to encourage people to try this? Shudder to think of the impact on the joints. How sad that you are encouraging this on your blog :(
ReplyDeleteYes, I know a bloke who has one!
ReplyDeletejust go to youtube.. look up mondio ring or frnach ring and you will see dogs doing all of this and much much more.. here I will make it easy for you:
ReplyDeletewatch the broad jump..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJiapCG62qE&feature=related
and wow most of them are those crippled GSD's
bestuvall, most of the dogs in your link were Belgian Malinois. There was 1 German Shepherd Dog and it wasn't a crippled show type GSD, it was a GSD from working lines.
ReplyDeleteSome great video of working bred Malinois
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qre7e9z055M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yadeRfqjMMM&feature=related
Laura, that first one of the Malinois in China is quite incredible. Thanks for the link.
ReplyDeleteJemima
sure.. look up any mondio ring or french ring training.. here I will do it for you:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG3PzDm1VtU&feature=related
there are lots more.. fun to watch.. and the dogs every bit as good as the one here getting a boost from the owner
What a wonderful, and athletic dog, it looks more like a Malinois than today's mutant German Shepherd Frog.
ReplyDeletePits can be amazing athletes,I wish we could breed them with working conformation and drive but with less dog and animal aggression. Although there are breeders doing such,I see many going the route of creating AM Bully types instead. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtiPU_6QXvI&list=FLJZ981Xc_Gu6CH5bZcK0i5g&index=138
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBhBbnat_ss&list=FLJZ981Xc_Gu6CH5bZcK0i5g&index=389
Belgian Malinois are now starting to replace German Shepherds,their agility is outstanding and theirs not enough good GSD breeders in the USA and the UK. Which is sad because I always wanted a GSD but now I`m afraid to get one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MseYzfffG2k
I don't think most GSD's can beat these Rottweilers,a breed not really known for their agility.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiiJKW_GJJc&feature=slpl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDV5CZrF6Y8&list=FLJZ981Xc_Gu6CH5bZcK0i5g&index=24
Too bad not all Rotties are as agile.