Quote Originally Posted by wolfy-hound View Post
I would like to point out, German Shepards(and a LOT of AKC breeds) have not "been around for centuries".
German shepards as they are known today are slightly over One century old. Many other breeds are not even fifty. Most of the toy breeds came about very recently.
That's still a LOT of generations, and some breeds HAVE been around for a long long time(usually the Japanese, or chinese breeds).
Any dog being bred can have genetic issues, or defects. The breeder should always be aware of the dog's health and possible issues prior to breeding it, and if they just don't really care, they shouldn't be breeding dogs.
The lack of specifics in the original ad shows that they don't seem at all concerned with the quality of dog, and in fact, very few breeders would part with a quality intact female of breeding age.
German Shepherds have been around for centuries with the same basic drives and instinct but the standards used today were only around for about a century. You can see photos of dogs referred to as German Shepherds from the mid 1800's but they differ greatly in appearance from the dogs of today. If my memory serves me correctly, a German military guy from the Kaiser Wilhelm era drew up the current standard. The general appearance of most breeds constantly evolves as change is not preventable. Everything that you said is essentially correct, I am just being a nitpicker.