The first impression
of a good German Shepherd Dog is that of a strong, agile, well-muscled
animal, alert and full of life. It should both be and appear to be
well balanced, with harmonious development of the forequarter and
hindquarter. The dog should appear to the eye, and actually be, longer
than tall, deep bodied, and present an outline of smooth curves rather
than corners. It should look substantial and not spindly, giving the
impression both at rest and in motion of muscular fitness and nimbleness
without any look of clumsiness or soft living.
The Shepherd should be
stamped with a look of quality and nobility, difficult to define but
unmistakable when present. The good German Shepherd Dog never looks
common.
Secondary sex characteristics
should be strongly marked, and every animal should give a definite impression
of masculinity or femininity, according to its sex. Dogs should be definitely
masculine in appearance and deportment; bitches, unmistakably feminine,
without weakness of structure or apparent softness of temperament.
The condition of the
dog should be that of an athlete in good condition, the muscles and
flesh firm and the coat lustrous.
Temperament
The breed has a distinct
personality marked by a direct and fearless, but not hostile, expression,
and self-confidence and a certain aloofness, which does not lend itself
to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The Shepherd Dog is not
one that fawns upon every new acquaintance. At the same time, it should
be approachable, quietly standing its ground and showing confidence
and a willingness to meet overtures without itself making them. It should
be poised, but when the occasion demands, eager and alert, both fit
and willing to serve in any capacity as companion, watch dog, blind
leader, herding dog or guardian; whichever the circumstances may demand.
The Shepherd Dog must
not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler, nervous, looking
about or upward with anxious expression or showing nervous reactions
to strange sounds or sights, or lackadaisical, sluggish, or manifestly
disinterested in what goes on about him. Lack of confidence under any
surroundings is not typical of good character. Cases of extreme timidity
and nervous unbalance sometimes give the dog an apparent, but totally
unreal, courage and it becomes a "fear biter," snapping not
for any justifiable reason but because it is apprehensive of the approach
of a stranger. This is a serious fault subject to heavy penalty.
Size
The ideal height for
dogs is 25 inches (64 cm), and for bitches, 23 inches (58 cm) at the
shoulder. This height is established by taking a perpendicular line
from the top of the shoulder blade to the ground with the coat parted
or so pushed down that this measurement will show the only actual height
of the frame or structure of the dog. The working value of dogs above
or below the indicated height is proportionately lessened, although
variations of an inch (3 cm) above or below the ideal height are acceptable,
while greater variations must be considered as faults. Weights of dogs
of desirable size in proper flesh and condition average between 75 and
85 lb. (34 and 39 kg); and of bitches, between 60 and 70 lb. (27 and
32 kg).
Coat
The Shepherd is normally
a dog with a double coat, the amount of undercoat varying with the season
of the year and the proportion of the time the dog spends out of doors.
It should, however, always be present to a sufficient degree to keep
out water, to insulate against temperature extremes, and as a protection
against insects. The outer coat should be as dense as possible, hair
straight, harsh and lying close to the body. A slightly wavy outer coat,
often of wiry texture, is equally permissible. The head, including the
inner ear, foreface, and legs and paws are covered with short hair,
and the neck with longer and thicker hair. The rear of forelegs and
hind legs has somewhat longer hair extending to the pastern and hock
respectively. Faults in coat include complete lack of any undercoat,
soft, silky or too long outer coat and curly or open coat.
Colour
The German Shepherd Dog
differs widely in colour. Generally speaking, strong, rich colours are
to be preferred, with definite pigmentation, and without appearance
of a washed-out colour. White dogs are to be disqualified.
Head
Clean-cut and strong,
the head of the Shepherd is characterized by nobility. It should seem
in proportion to the body and should not be clumsy, although a degree
of coarseness of head, especially in dogs, is less of a fault than over-refinement
A round or domey skull is a fault. The muzzle is long and strong with
the lips firmly fitted, and its topline is usually parallel with an
imaginary elongation of the line of the forehead. Seen from the front
the forehead is only moderately arched and the skull slopes into the
long wedge-shaped muzzle without abrupt stop. Jaws are strongly developed.
Weak and too narrow underjaws, snipey muzzles, and no stop are faults
Teeth: The strong teeth, 42 in number (20 upper and 22 lower) are strongly
developed and meet in a scissors grip in which part of the inner surface
of the upper teeth meets and engages part of the outer surface of the
lower teeth. This type of bite gives a more powerful grip than one in
which the edges of the teeth meet directly, and is subject to less wear.
The dog is overshot when the lower teeth fail to engage the inner surfaces
of the upper teeth. This is a serious fault. The reverse condition -
an undershot jaw - is a very serious fault. While missing premolars
are frequently observed, complete dentition is decidedly to be preferred.
So-called distemper teeth and discoloured teeth are faults whose seriousness
varies with the degree of departure from the desired white, sound colouring.
Teeth broken by accident should not be severely penalized but worn teeth,
especially the incisors, are often indicative of the lack of a proper
scissors bite, although some allowance should be made for age. Eyes
of medium size, almond shaped, set a little obliquely and not protruding.
The colour as dark as possible. Eyes of lighter colour are sometimes
found and are not a serious fault if they harmonize with the general
colouration, but a dark brown eye is always to be preferred. The expression
should be keen, intelligent, and composed. The ears should be moderately
pointed, open towards the front, and are carried erect when at attention,
the ideal carriage being one in which the centre lines of the ears,
viewed from the front are parallel to each other and perpendicular to
the ground. Puppies usually do not permanently raise their ears until
the fourth or sixth month, and sometimes not until later. Cropped and
hanging ears are to be discarded. The well-placed and well-carried ear
of a size in proportion to the skull materially adds to the general
appearance of the Shepherd. Neither too large nor too small ears are
desirable. Too much stress, however, should not be laid on perfection
of carriage if the ears are fully erect.
Neck
The neck is strong and
muscular, clean-cut and relatively long, proportionate in size to the
head and without loose folds of skin. When the dog is at attention or
excited, the head is raised and the neck carried high, otherwise typical
carriage of the head is forward rather than up and but little higher
than the top of the shoulder, particularly in motion.
Body
The whole structure of
the body gives an impression of depth and solidity without bulkiness.
Forechest, commencing at the prosternum, should be well filled and carried
well down between the legs with no sense of hollowness. Chest should
be deep and capacious with ample room for lungs and heart. Well carried
forward, with the prosternum, or process of the breastbone, showing
ahead of the shoulder when the dog is viewed from the side. Ribs should
be well sprung and long; neither barrel shaped nor too flat, and carried
down to a breastbone which reaches to the elbow. Correct ribbing allows
the elbow to move back freely when the dog is at a trot while too round
a rib causes interference and throws the elbow out. Ribbing should be
carried well back so that loin and flank are relatively short. Abdomen
firmly held and not paunchy. The bottom line of the Shepherd is only
moderately tucked up in flank, never like that of a Greyhound.
Legs
The bone of the legs
should be straight oval rather than round or flat and free from sponginess.
Its development should be in proportion to the size of the dog and contribute
to the overall impression of substance without grossness. Crooked leg
bones and any malformation such as, for example, that caused by rickets,
should be penalized. Pastern should be of medium length, strong and
springy. Much more spring of pastern is desirable in the Shepherd Dog
than in any other breeds, as it contributes to the ease and elasticity
of the trotting gait the upright terrier pastern is definitely undesirable.
Metatarsus (the so-called
"hock"): short, clean, sharply defined, and of great strength.
This is the fulcrum upon which much of the forward movement of the dog
depends. Cow-hocks are a decided fault, but before penalizing for Cow-hocks,
it should be definitely determined, with the animal in motion, that
the dog has this fault, since many dogs with exceptionally good hindquarter
angulation occasionally stand so as to give the appearance of cow-hockedness
which is not actually present.
Feet
Rather short, compact,
with toes well arched pads thick and hard, nails short and strong. The
feet are important to the working qualities of the dog. The ideal foot
is extremely strong with good gripping power and plenty of depth of
pad. The so-called cat-foot or terrier foot is not desirable. The thin,
spread or hare-foot is, however, still more undesirable.
Topline
The withers should be
higher than, and sloping into, the level back to enable a proper attachment
of the shoulder blades. The back should be straight and very strongly
developed without sag or roach, the section from the wither to the croup
being relatively short (The desirable long proportion of the Shepherd
Dog is not derived from a long back but from overall length with relation
to height, which is achieved by breadth of forequarter and hindquarter
viewed from the side.) Loin: viewed from the top, broad and strong,
blending smoothly into the back without undue length between the last
rib and the thigh, when viewed from the side. Croup should be long and
gradually sloping. Too level or flat a croup prevents proper functioning
of the hindquarter, which must be able to reach well under the body.
A steep croup also limits the action of the hindquarter.
Structure
A German Shepherd is
a trotting dog and his structure has been developed to best meet the
requirements of his work in herding. That is to say, a long, effortless
trot which shall cover the maximum amount of ground with the minimum
number of steps, consistent with the size of the animal. The proper
body proportion, firmness of back and muscles and the proper angulation
of the forequarters and hindquarters serve this end. They enable the
dog to propel itself forward by a long step of the hindquarter and to
compensate for this stride by a long step of the forequarter. The high
withers, the firm back, the strong loin, the properly formed croup,
even the tail as balance and rudder, all contribute to this same end.
Proportion
The German Shepherd Dog
is properly longer than tall with the most desirable proportion as 10
is to 8%. We have seen how the height is ascertained; the length is
established by a dog standing naturally and four-square, measured on
a horizontal line from the point of the prosternum, or breastbone, to
the rear edge of the pelvis, the ischium tuberosity, commonly called
the sitting bone.
Angulation
Forequarter: the shoulder
blade should be long, laid on flat against the body with its rounded
upper end in a vertical line above the elbow, and sloping well forward
to the point where it joins the upper arm. The withers should be high,
with shoulder blades meeting closely at the top, and the upper arm set
on at an angle approaching as nearly as possible a right angle. Such
an angulation permits the maximum forward extension of the foreleg without
binding or effort. Shoulder faults include too steep or straight a position
of either blade or upper arm, too short a blade or upper arm, lack of
sufficient angle between these two members, looseness through lack of
firm ligamentation, and loaded shoulder with prominent pads of flesh
or muscles on the outer side. Construction in which the whole shoulder
assembly is pushed too far forward also restricts the stride and is
faulty.
Hindquarters
The angulation of the
hindquarter also consists ideally of a series of sharp angles as far
as the relation of the bones to each other is concerned, and the thigh
bone should parallel the shoulder blade while the stifle bone parallels
the upper arm. The whole assembly of the thigh, viewed from the side,
should be broad, with both thigh and stifle well muscled and of proportionate
length, forming as nearly as possible a right angle. The metatarsus
(the unit between the hock joint and the foot commonly and erroneously,
called the hock) is strong, clean and short, the hock joint clean-cut
and sharply defined.
Tail
Bushy, with the last
vertebra extended at least to the hock joint and usually below. Set
smoothly into the croup and low rather than high, at rest the tail hangs
in a slight curve like a sabre. A slight hook sometimes carried to one
side - is faulty only to the extent that it mars general appearance.
When the dog is excited or in motion, the curve is accentuated and the
tail raised, but it should never be lifted beyond a line at right angles
with the line of the back. Docked tails, or those, which have been operated
upon to prevent curling, disqualify. Tails too short, or with clumpy
end due to the ankylosis or the growing together of the vertebrae, are
serious faults.
Gait
General Impression: The
gait of the German Shepherd Dog is outreaching, elastic, seemingly without
effort, smooth and rhythmic. At a walk it covers a great deal of ground,
with long step of both hind leg and foreleg. At a trot, the dog covers
still more ground and moves powerfully but easily with a beautiful co-ordination
of back and limbs so that, in the best examples, the gait appears to
be the steady motion of a well-lubricated machine. The feet travel close
to the ground, and neither fore nor hind feet should lift high on either
forward reach or backward push.
The hindquarter delivers,
through the back, a powerful forward thrust, which slightly lifts the
whole animal and drives the body forward. Reaching far under, and passing
the imprint left by the front foot, the strong arched hind foot takes
hold of the ground; then hock, stifle, and upper thigh come into play
and sweep back, the stroke of the hind leg finishing with the foot still
close to the ground in a smooth follow-through. The overreach of the
hindquarter usually necessitates one hind foot passing outside and the
other hind foot passing inside the track of the forefeet and such action
is not faulty unless the locomotion is crabwise with the dog's body
sideways out of the normal straight line. In order to achieve ideal
movement of this kind, there must be full muscular co-ordination throughout
the structure with the action of muscles and ligaments positive, regular
and accurate.
Back
Transmission
The typical smooth, flowing
gait of the Shepherd Dog cannot be maintained without great strength
and firmness (which does not mean stiffness) of back. The whole effort
of the hindquarter is transmitted to the forequarter through the muscular
and bony structure of the loin, back, and withers. At full trot, the
back must remain firm and level without sway, roll, whip or roach. To
compensate for the forward motion imparted by the hindquarter, the shoulder
should open to its full extent - the desirability of good shoulder angulation
now becomes apparent -and the forelegs should reach out in a stride
balancing that of the hindquarter. A steep shoulder will cause the dog
either to stumble or to raise the forelegs very high in an effort to
co-ordinate with the hindquarter, which is impossible when shoulder
structure is faulty. A serious gait fault results when a dog moves too
low in front, presenting an unleveled topline with the wither lower
than the hips. The Shepherd Dog does not track on widely separated parallel
lines as does the terrier, but brings the feet inward toward the middle
line of the body when at trot in order to maintain balance. For this
reason a dog viewed from the front or rear when in motion will often
seem to travel close. This is not a fault if the feet do not strike
or cross, or if the knees or shoulders are not thrown out, but the feet
and hocks should be parallel even if close together. The excellence
of gait must also be evaluated by viewing from the side the effortless,
properly coordinated covering of ground.
Summary
It should never be forgotten
that the ideal Shepherd is a working animal, which must have an incorruptible
character, combined with body and gait suitable for the arduous work
which constitutes its primary purpose. All its qualities should be weighed
in respect to their contribution to such work, and while no compromise
should be permitted with regard to its working potentiality, the dog
must nevertheless possess a high degree of beauty and nobility.
Evaluation
of Faults
Note: Faults are important
in the order of their group, as per group headings, irrespective of
their position in each group.
Very
Serious Faults
Major faults of temperament;
undershot lower jaw.
Serious
Faults
Faults of balance and
proportion; poor gait, viewed either from front, rear or side; marked
deficiency of substance (bone or body); bitchy male dogs; faulty backs;
too level or too short croup; long and weak loin; very bad feet; ring
tails; tails much too short; rickety condition; more than four missing
premolars or any other missing teeth, unless due to accident; lack of
nobility; badly washed-out colour; badly overshot bite.
Faults
Doggy bitches; poorly
carried ears; too fine in head; weak muzzles; improper muscular condition;
faulty coat, other than temporary condition; badly affected teeth.
Minor
Faults
Too coarse head; hooked
tails; too light, round or protruding eyes; discoloured teeth; condition
of coat, due to season or keeping.
Disqualifications
Albino characteristics;
cropped ears; hanging ears (as in a hound); docked tails; male dogs
having one or both testacles undescended (monorchids or cryptorchids);
white dogs.
February 1996 (Revision #4 -January
1998)
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