The Breed Standard
Group 1: Sheep Herding - Sheep Guardian
Section 1: Sheep
Herding-dog tested/examined for working qualifications.
Use: Sheepdog with a high degree of versatility and
usability; police dog, and Rescue dog.
A brief history
After the official formation of
the German Shepherd Dog Club (SV), with it's headquarters in
Augsburg, the next step was to have the breed standard accepted
by the German Kennel Club (VDH).
Whilst simultaneously the standard had to be agreed upon
by all involved with the breed at the time.
The SV was effectively launched into life at the first
members meeting, held on the 20th of September 1899,
where proposals and recommendations of the breed standard were
presented by a Mr. A. Meyer and Dr. Stefanitz.
Consequently, several gatherings of the members followed
with the agenda always to better coordinate the breeding
standard; the 6th members meeting on the 28th
of July 1901, the 23rd members meeting in Cologne on
the 17th of September 1909 - the combined meetings
between the then club president and the breed committees were
held at Wiesbaden on the 5th of September 1930 and
the 25th of March 1961, where, by now, it was
apparent that the formation of the (WUSV) (World Union for
German Shepherd Dog Clubs) was becoming a reality.
This framework was continuously
streamlined, and on the 30th of August 1976 further
key decisions for the breed and programme were taken.
Proposals and meetings were always catalogued and conclusions
monitored until the WUSV Congress on the 23rd and 24th
of March 1991 - through the presidents authority, full power was
granted to the WUSV.
General appearance
The German Shepherd is medium
size, slightly stretched; strong, dry and well muscled, with
strong bones, whist the whole body must appear compact.
Important size proportions
At the point of the wither, the
measurement must be between 60-65cm in males and 55-60cm 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 sheep dog.
Head
It has to 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 ratio between the forehead
and the end of the muzzle must be almost 50/50.
The forehead width must be the same as its 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 the 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 over-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.
(see
Teeth
Illustration)
The eyes
Is 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 may be folded back.
Neck
The neck must be strong, well
muscled and without excessive, loose skin at the throat.
It should be at a 45-degree 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
degrees to the horizontal), without any disturbance to the
topline - it must continue toward the beginning of the tail.
(see Illustrations of
skeleton)
The chest
Must be moderately broad and the
brisket should be long and pronounced.
The depth of the chest should be not 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 hock joint.
The ideal length - being to the middle of the hock bones.
When at rest the tail should hang in a slight curve like
a saber. 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 upper arm -
ideally should be 90 degrees but usually it is acceptable around
110 degrees. 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 at an angle of about 20 - 22 degrees
to the foreleg.
Further more the pastern should be neither too straight
nor too angled, so as not to deter the dog's stamina.
The feet
Should be well 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, they are parallel to each
other. The upper
and lower thighbones are almost of the same length and create an
angle of approximately 120 degrees.
The thighs must be strong and well muscled.
The hock joint must be strong and 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 hindquarter may be thrust 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 a flowing line, back and 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 a 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 gray.
Alternatively a gray 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 a colored tail top are
considered as a lack of pigmentation, the undercoat is a slight
gray tone.
White is not permitted.
Height / Weight
Male:
Wither height
60 cm to 65 cm.
Weight
30 Kg to 40 Kg.
Female:
Wither height
55 cm to 60 cm.
Weight
22 Kg to 32 Kg.
Testicles
Male animals must have two (2),
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 fault 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 top.
Exclusion Faults
a)
A weak character and nervous or nervous biter.
b)
Proven (documented) serious "HD" condition.
c)
Monorchids, cryptorchids or deformed testicles.
d)
Deformed tails and ears.
e)
Dogs with deformities.
f)
Dogs with missing teeth.
g)
Faulty jaws (under - or over shot mouths).
h)
Oversize/undersize by more than 1 cm from the set
standard.
i)
Albinos.
j)
If the color of the hair is white (regardless if
nose/eyes are dark).
k)
Long coated 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.
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.
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