Guess this old breed!

i'll say! their heads are a bit more extreme than is needed, but that sets them apart i suppose. you KNOW a BT when you see one lol   ....that is unless you've NEVER seen one. then you're wondering what sort of species you're looking at

and yep i plan to do this again if time and resources allow.
 

I reallllly like BTs. They're a lot of fun, and I think they're really pretty. I like the goofy egg head 

     Yikes! LOL! I was also thinking JRT :) I kinda prefer the look of the older bull terriers, but something about the modern look makes the breed so distinct & lovable ... It's always amazing to see how breeds progressed, sometimes for the better, other times, not so great :(   My great Aunt used to breed GSDs, she started in the 1930s and had her last litter in the mid 70s. These are two of her first Shepherds:

i like the look of the shepherds from back then. cant really tell you why either. just seems more like a DOG.. but that doesnt even make sense lol and i dont want to offend any of the shepherd fanciers by saying theirs dont look like dogs.. i guess i just like the whole "rough around the edges" look in a breed as opposed to cookie cutter designs.

there is a diner in the city that has vintage photos of the city in the lobby.. in one of those pictures is a GIANT hound. i say giant because he is about the size of a Great Dane compared to the man he is standing next to. either the hounds were larger then, or the people were shorter in the horse and buggy era lol  

HoundMusic

     Yikes! LOL! I was also thinking JRT :) I kinda prefer the look of the older bull terriers, but something about the modern look makes the breed so distinct & lovable ... It's always amazing to see how breeds progressed, sometimes for the better, other times, not so great :(   My great Aunt used to breed GSDs, she started in the 1930s and had her last litter in the mid 70s. These are two of her first Shepherds:

Neat pic!!

You know what kills me?  There are these ridiculous breeders that breed so-called "old style German Shepherds".  Their dogs are fat, coated, way out of standard, usually 100-130lbs, not titled, and not suitable for any form of sport or work.

Now if only they would do some simple research and see what an "old style" GSD really looks like!  After all, the breed is less than 150 years old.

Beowulf

Beowulf was V-rated, SchIII (highest), and KKl breed survey (highest).  Interesting how much resemblance there is to Dutch Shepherds (and the brindling).

Horan von Grafrath, 1895

Again, ironically Max Stephanitz, founder of the breed, called him "big for that period, between 24" and 24 1/2", even for the present day a good medium size, with powerful frame, beautiful lines, and a nobly formed head. Clean and sinewy in build, the entire dog was one live wire. His character was on a par with his exterior qualities; marvelous in his obedient fidelity to his master, and above all else, the straightforward nature of a gentleman with a boundless zest for living."

One thing I kinda like about Kenya is her small frame and finer bone that remind me more of "old" German Shepherd dogs, though she does have the bigger ears and deeper chest of the modern dogs (she is west German working lines, some DDR, and some old Kirschental show/herding lines).  She has a level back and "poor" (by today's standards) rear angulation.  Most of the compliments I get for her come from old men.  People my age or my parent's age assume she is a mutt or poorly bred, lol.
 

Thankfully, most of the changes to the breed do serve a purpose (talking about the working lines).

Don't know if the changes with the Bull Terrier are really an improvement - the dogs of today are not historically correct for the breed. And if that isn't the structure which was needed for their job, it really isn't "correct. But the egg shape head now defines the breed.

  As for GSDs - I have the same issues with "old fashion" GSD breeders. The original GSDs were far from mellow, fluffy, great dane sized dogs. I actually argued with a woman once (a dog person even) about this topic. She insisted that while my German line girl was correct "by today's standards" modern breeders have "changed the standard and are now breeding them really small". Nothing I could say could convince her otherwise and she even told me the Shilohs are exactly what the original GSDs used to look like @@

 People ask me a lot if Jora is a "miniature GSD". She is 23" and around 60lbs - some miniature! These people usually go on to say their uncle/friend/neighbor/brother/sister/parents have or had a GSD and it was THIS BIG (holding their hand to show the dog was the size of a pony, often adding that the dog weighed 200lbs). I had a show GSD male that was 28" and about 100lbs and most people (including GSD show people) thought he was an average sized male.

AgileGSD

Don't know if the changes with the Bull Terrier are really an improvement - the dogs of today are not historically correct for the breed. And if that isn't the structure which was needed for their job, it really isn't "correct. But the egg shape head now defines the breed.

i dont know or care what is correct in the show ring and dont bat an eye at the written standards anymore where working dogs are concerned. i used to, to be sure! but after getting involved with the working sight hounds, bulldogs and terriers - even bull terriers -  i have decided each dog has his own metal to prove. if he proves it then he passes that on to the next generation. these are the future of our dogs if we hope for them to survive and not be plagued with health problems.

i watched a video of a standard bull terrier pull down a wild hog after he chased it for quite a distance. the other dogs could only stand back and watch him work lol that head wasnt impeding his job!
But in truth the head is purely a creation of the show dog. the minis were intended to look like the big bull terriers, but obviously they didnt. they eventually started changing their breeding methods. now you cant tell the two apart!! i fail to understand why the KCs want a mini version of ANY breed..... ok i understand.... people want a pet that looks like the real thing but without all the drive.... sad really.. the head of a BT is purely KC creation. none of the worker to worker bred dogs i've seen have such extreme features.. the Dogo Argentine has BT blood and the only similarities they have are the white coats.. but the dogo is still a working dog.. the bull terrier also used to come with cropped ears until that practice was banned.. so breeders started breeding dogs with upright ears. now thats not correct to the original standard either is it?

and yes my husband is one of those that held his hand up to pony size while bragging about his childhood GSD mix. the father of his dog was owned by the general at the Airforce base... supposedly a descendant of Rin Tin Tin.. the dog escaped and nailed a little collie/beagle mutt that belonged to family friends, who gave my husbands family a puppy. Miki was a big boy.. this all happened back in the mid 60's/70's.. i dont know what they were breeding for GSDs then..  

but this is Miki at about three years of age..

he looks average to me!! lol but i have to remind myself.. my husband was only 12 -14 years old when he talks about Miki... of course he would seem large to a child!! my sister's GSD seemed huge too, and she was.. but she was really average for today. big loose jointed big boned dog..  

Miki certainly doesn't look huge too me. Interesting color though!

Obviously structure is important to a working but show ring fads are not :)

 yeah i know, when i said he was a big boy i was quoting my husband and his family lol for his size he was a strong dog, but again... with a twelve year old at the end of the lead... MOST shepherds are strong!

i attribute his colours to the collie/beagle side of his family.. according my DH a lot of people thought Miki had wolf in him. i can sorta see why with the facial markings.