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General appearance
The German Shepherd is medium size, slightly
stretched, strong, dry, and well muscled, with strong bones, whilst
the whole body must appear compact.
Important size proportions
At the point of the wither, the measurement must be
between 60-65cms in males and 55-60cms in females. The body
length must surpass the wither height by between 10-17%.
Character
The German Shepherd must be self assured, balanced
with strong nerves and absolutely impartial behavior, whilst
maintaining a good nature - until pushed to the limit. The dog
must be vibrant and easy going. Furthermore the dog must be
courageous, have a strong fighting instinct and possess firm
nerves. These are essential requirements since the dog is to be
used as companion, guardian, protector and a working sheepdog.
Head
should be wedge shaped and it should be proportionate
in size to the rest of the body (the length of the head should be
approx. 40% that of the wither height), without appearing
clumsy, shapeless or coarse or over-long. The general
appearance must be dry (no flabby, loose skin). The distance
between the ears must be moderate. The forehead (whether seen
from the front or the side), should not appear to be domed and have
only little or no center furrow.
The ration between the forehead and the end of the
muzzle must be almost 50/50. The forehead width must be the
same as it's length. The skull (seen from the top), from the
ears to the tip of the nose must consist of smooth lines, whilst
having a defined separation between the skull and the muzzle (stop).
Both the under and upper jaw must be well
developed. The muzzle must be straight, it is not desirable for
it to be any other way. The lips must be tight, well-knit and
of dark color.
The Nose
must be black.
The Mouth
Must be strong, well-developed, healthy and complete
(42 teeth in total). The German Shepherd must have a
scissor-like bite, in other words the bottom teeth locking with the
top teeth in a scissor-like formation. Furthermore, the upper
jaw must overlap the bottom jaw. The definition on the sides of
the jaw, is positioned in such-a-way, so as the top and bottom layers
of the front teeth (top and bottom) must not shut level (directly on
top of the other) - the top must not-lap the bottom in a scissor-like
close. The bones of the jaws must be well developed so as the
teeth are not prematurely worn.
The Eyes
middle size, almond-shaped and slightly angled whilst
they must not protrude. The eye color should be as dark as
possible. Light eyes are not desirable as they spoil the
expression of the dog.
Ears
The German Shepherd has ears which are middle sized,
firm textured, broad at the base, set high on the skull, are carried
erect (almost parallel and not pulled inwards), taper to a point and
open towards the front. Tipped ears are faulty. Hanging
ears are a very serious fault. During movement the ears bay be
folded back.
Neck
The neck must be strong, well muscled and without
excessive, loose skin at the throat. It should be at a 45º
angle to the body.
Body
A smooth top line beginning from the back of the neck
and continuing in a straight line over a well developed wither and
sloping slightly toward the croup - without any visible
disturbance. The back is firm, strong and well muscled.
the loin is broad, well developed and well muscled. The
croup must be long and slightly angled (about 23° to the
horizontal), without any disturbance to the topline - it must
continue toward the beginning of the tail.
The Chest
must be moderately broad and the brisket should be
long and pronounced. the depth of the chest should not be more
than 45 - 48% of the wither height.
Ribs
must show a moderate curve. It is faulty for the
ribs to be either barrel shaped (too round) or slab sided (too flat).
The Tail
is bushy haired on the underside, should reach at
least to the hockjoint. The ideal length - being to the middle
of the hock bones. When at rest the tail should hang in a
slight curve like a sabre. When moving it is raised and the
curve is increased. Surgical corrections are not permitted.
The limbs
Forehand
The forelimbs - when seen from all sides must be
absolutely straight. Viewed from the front, they must be
parallel. The shoulder blade and the upper arm must have the
same length, be well muscled and be tightly knit to the body.
The angle of the shoulder blade to the upperarm - ideally should be
at 90º but usually is acceptable around 110º. The
elbows must be close to the body - both in stance and in movement.
The pastern must be 1/3 of the length of the foreleg
and an angle of about 20º - 22º to foreleg. Further
more the pastern should be neither too straight nor too angled (say
20-22º), so as not to deter the dogs stamina.
The feet
should be rounded, toes well closed and arched.
Pads should be well cushioned and durable but not brittle
surfaced. Nails short, strong and dark in color
Hindquarters
The position of the hindquarter bones are rounded
toward the back. When viewed from the back, they are parallel
to each other. The upper and lower thigh bones are almost of
the same length and create and angle of approximately 120º.
The thighs must be strong and well muscled. The hock joint
must be strong tight, whilst on a vertical line to the rear feet.
Gait
The German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog. To
achieve this, the limbs must be in such balance to one another so
that the hind quarter may be trusted well forward to the mid-point of
the body and have an equally long reach with the forefoot and without
any noticeable change in the back line.
The correct proportion of height to corresponding
length of limbs will produce a ground covering stride giving
the impression of effortless movement. The head thrust forward
and tail slightly raised - balanced and even trotting is seen with
flowing line, running from the tips of the tips of the ears over the
neck, back and the tip of the tail.
Skin
Tight, without any wrinkles.
Coat
The consistency of the hair: The correct hair type for
the German Shepherd consists of the undercoat and an topcoat.
The topcoat must be made up of dense, straight - hard and close -
lying hairs. The hair on the head, ears, paws and legs must be
longer and even denser. The hair at the back of the hind legs
form a moderate "trouser".
Color
Base color should be black with markings of brown,
red-brown, blonde and light grey. Alternatively a grey
base-color with "clouds" of black markings and a black
"saddle" and "mask". Inconspicuous white
markings on the chest, and "brighter" shades on the under-
and inner sides of the dog are permitted but not desirable. The
nostrils must in all cases be black. Non-existence of a
"mask", bright - until piercing eye color as well as light
/ white nails and are colored tail tip are considered as a lack of
pigmentation, the undercoat is a slight grey tone. White is not permitted.
Height/Weight
Male:
witherheight 60cm -
65cm OR
23-5/8" - 25-1/2"
weight
30kg -
40kg
66lbs - 88lbs
Female:
witherheight 55cm -
60cm
21-5/8" - 23-5/8"
weight
22kg -
32kg
48.5lbs - 70.5lbs
Testicles
Male animals must have two, apparently normal
testicles fully developed in the scrotum.
Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be
considered a fault and the seriousness with which the faults should
be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.
Serious Faults
Departure from the breed standard which has been
stated in this context and which affects the usefulness and
appearance of the dog, is considered a serious fault. Lack of
pigmentation, heavy and loose dogs, missing or faulty dentition and /
or jaw formation.
Faults of the ears
Ears set too low on the side of the skull, soft and
tipping at the tops.
Exclusion Faults
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a) A weak character and nervous or nervous biters. |
g) Faulty jaws (under-or over shot mouths). |
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b) Proven (documented) serious "HD" condition. |
h) Oversize / undersize by more than 1cm from
the set standard. |
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c) Monorchids, cryptorchids or deformed testicles. |
i) Albinos. |
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d) Deformed tails and ears. |
j) If the color of the hair is white (regardless
if the nose /eyes are dark). |
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e) Dogs with deformities. |
k) Longcoated dogs (where the hair is soft,
long, not tight - especially noticeably long inside and on the
outside of the ears, long hair behind the front and rear legs, long
hair hanging from the tail). |
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f) Dogs with missing teeth. |
l) Longhair with absolutely no undercoat, where
the hair from the back is parted in the middle and hangs down the
side of the dog. |
Information obtained from
Bundessieger-Zuchtschau in Wort und Bild, Bremen 2000 (German) |
