Is there any other types of German Shepperd breeds?

Question

A buddy of mine has a german shepard but its really huge! Way bigger then normal sheperds, he said that it's a east german sheperd, so there bone structure is a lot larger than regular german sheperds, is this true?

Answer 1

The dog is probably a King Shepherd. In appearance they are similar to the working GSD, however they are a good deal larger. I say 'working GSD' becuase show dogs are more likely to have the sloping back, which is not a part of the breed standard for the King Shepherd.

Answer 2

German sheperds of 'German' breeding do tend to be larger and somewhat heavy in bone then the 'normal' german sheperd people see. The Germans still tend to breed sheperds to look like they can work all day in a field, and do. The King Sheperd tends to carry a somewhat longer coat then German Sheperds do. It is possible that yes your friend is correct in saying the dog is of German breeding so is bigger because of that, is also possible that the dog is what has come to be known as a King Sheperd.

Answer 3

Yes, this is true. The Germans, (and in general, Europeans) bred their dogs for work. And still do, for that matter. Before the wall came down in Germany, there were East German bloodlines, and West German bloodlines. Each line was a bit different in structure and temperment. The Shepherds you see here in the U.S. would not be able to hold a candle to the ones in Germany. The ones here are bred for looks, and will have major hip problems before the age of 5 due to the extreme slope that has been bred into them.

Answer 4

DDR line Shepherd's are not bred oversize. The owner of my male's sire thought he was huge at 8 months. He is a little over standard right now at 5. He weighs normally 93 to 95 pounds lean, and is 27 inches tall. Most East German (DDR) line Shepherd's are within breed standard. They are bred to work on the Schutzhund field. An oversize Shepherd on the feild is just not as agile. Your friend probably has a poorly bred Shepherd or something way oversize. There is an American Show breeder that I know who's lines were introduced into the Shiloh lines, who get's a few way over standard dog's.

Answer 5

No, it is not true he just has an oversized shepherd. Here are some links have your friend check them out. The first one is international standards which come from Germany. Most German Shepherd dogs from germany would be a bit shorter nice boned and more muscular then the American shepherds.
Sorry to say but either your friend got lied to or he just does not know what he is talking about.

http://www.workingdogs.com/standard_fci.htm
http://www.gsdca.org/Noframes/standard/IllStan1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Shepherd

Answer 6

German Shepards bred from lines from Germany are bred to be larger. I know someone with a female shepard who weighs in at 120 pounds who's from a German line. At her peak when she was only a few years old, this shepard weighed in at 135 and she was all muscle (very fast and very strong).

Answer 7

I know a lady who breeds Shiloh Shepherds. They pretty much look like long haired german shepherds. But is this east european shepherd what your friend was talking about?
http://dogbreedinfo.com/easteuropeanshepherd.htm

Answer 8

There are not seperate breeds, but there are seperate blood lines bred by different people. Some people breed for size, and there are slight variations depending on where you are in the world.

Answer 9

I have never heard of it, but I am not a GSD expert either. If you are wanting a smaller GSD type dog, go with a Belgian Malinios. They have a lot more drive and they are smaller, but they still have a lot of the GSD look.

Answer 10

I am only familiar with long-hair, short-hair, and white as varieties of German Shepherds.
Perhaps a breeder is selectively breeding to create this 'east german' variety with certain traits (such as size).
Its similar to the 'schnoodle' no such thing if you lookup breeds, but breeders have created this variety and given it this name.