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Many police departments go to Germany because the rearend of American German Shepherds has been ruined by breeders looking for a sloping rear end. If you go to any American dog show, you will see American German Shepherds who are practically walking on their hocks.

This was not true back in the 50s when we had German Shepherds. American breeders want to win at an AKC show, and will breed for "looks" or "type", and will neglect working ability entirely, so most American GSDs are useless for work, and they have done this by excessive line-breeding and breeding to just a few champion dogs, using frozen semen.

This is the reason we went to the Belgian Malinois when looking for a good all round, solid tempered, healthy farm and protection dog. They haven't been "discovered" by American breeders yet, are not that popular, and work harder, have better instincts, and are so much healthier...

Congrats to your son-in-law for having a Malinois... Our rescue male does a perfect "bark and hold" without ever having a lesson in his life on how to do this properly. And our bitch could take down a 250 lb man with no trouble, even though she weighs only 48 lbs.

That is another problem with the American GSDs, they have gradually bred them bigger and bigger, so that they just can't scale walls, work long distances, etc... too big to work, and too clumsy.

It is instinctive in the breed, although some of them can be quite "sharp", and need experienced dog people as owners.

I really hope the American breeders do not get interested in Belgians...

I own a border collie that is registered through the ABCA (American Border Collie Assoc.). The ABCA filed suit to keep the AKC from introducing the border collie's to it's breed standard. They lost, and now the ABCA maintains a 'blacklist' of breeders who breed for AKC standards. It seems that inbreeding is a fairly commom practice to get dogs that look the part. The AKC breed standards have been credited with ruining many breeds of dogs. Now, back to the DW trial!