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German Sheperd Standards
General Appearance
Slightly long in comparison to height; of powerful, well
muscled build with weather-resistant coat.
Relation between
height, length, position and structure of
fore and hindquarters (angulation) producing far-reaching,
enduring gait.
Clear definition of
masculinity and femininity essential, and working ability
never sacrificed for mere beauty.
Characteristics
Versatile working dog, balanced and free from
exaggeration. Attentive, alert, resilient and tireless
with keen scenting
ability.
Temperament
Steady of nerve, loyal, self-assured, courageous and
tractable. Never nervous, over-aggressive or shy.
Head and Skull
Proportionate in size to body, never coarse, too fine or
long. Clean cut; fairly broad between ears.
Forehead slightly
domed; little or no trace of central
furrow. Cheeks forming softly rounded curve, never
protruding. Skull from ears
to bridge of nose tapering
gradually and evenly, blending without too pronounced
stop
into wedge-shaped powerful
muzzle. Skull
approximately 50 per cent of overall length of head. Width
of skull corresponding approximately to length,
in males slightly greater, in females slightly
less. Muzzle strong, lips firm, clean and
closing tightly. Top of muzzle
straight, almost parallel
to forehead. Short, blunt, weak, pointed, overlong muzzle
undesirable.
Eyes
Medium-sized, almond-shaped, never protruding. Dark brown
preferred, lighter shade permissible, provided
expression
good and general harmony of head
not destroyed. Expression lively, intelligent and
self-assured.
Ears
Medium-sized, firm in texture, broad at base, set high,
carried erect, almost parallel, never pulled
inwards or tipped,
tapering to a point, open at front.
Never hanging. Folding back during movement permissible.
Mouth
Jaws strongly developed. With a perfect, regular and
complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely
overlapping lower
teeth and set square to the jaws. Teeth
healthy and strong. Full dentition desirable.
Neck
Fairly long, strong, with well developed muscles, free
from throatiness. Carried at 45 degrees angle to
horizontal,
raised when excited, lowered at fast trot.
Forequarters
Shoulder blades long, set obliquely (45 degrees) laid flat
to body. Upper arm strong, well muscled, joining
shoulder
blade at approximately 90 degrees.
Forelegs straight from pasterns to elbows
viewed from any angle, bone oval rather
than round.
Pasterns firm, supple and slightly angulated. Elbows
neither tucked in nor turned out. Length of foreleg
exceeding depth of chest.
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Body
Length measured from point of breast bone to rear edge of
pelvis, exceeding height at withers. Correct ratio
10 to
9 or 8 and a half. Undersized dogs,
stunted growth, high-legged dogs, those too heavy or too
light in build, over-loaded
fronts, too short
overall appearance, any feature detracting from reach or
endurance of gait, undesirable. Chest deep
(45-48 per cent)
of height at shoulder, not too broad,
brisket long, well developed. Ribs well formed and long;
neither barrel-shaped nor too flat; allowing
free movement of elbows when gaiting. Relatively short
loin. Belly firm,
only slightly drawn up. Back between
withers and croup, straight, strongly developed, not too
long. Overall length
achieved by correct angle of
well laid shoulders, correct length of croup and
hindquarters. Withers long, of good
height and
well defined, joining back in a smooth line without
disrupting flowing topline, slightly sloping from front
to
back. Weak, soft and roach backs undesirable and
should be rejected. Loin broad, strong, well
muscled. Croup
long, gently curving downwards to tail
without disrupting flowing topline. Short, steep or flat
croups undesirable.
Hindquarters
Overall strong, broad and well muscled, enabling
effortless forward propulsion of whole body. Upper
thighbone, viewed
from side, sloping to slightly longer
lower thighbone. Hind angulation sufficient if
imaginary line dropped from point
of buttocks cuts
through lower thigh just in front of hock,
continuing down slightly in front of hindfeet. Angulations
corresponding approximately with front
angulation, without over-angulation, hock strong. Any
tendency towards over-angulation
of hindquarters reduces
firmness and endurance.
Feet
Rounded toes well closed and arched. Pads well cushioned
and durable. Nails short, strong and dark in colour.
Dewclaws
removed from hindlegs.
Tail
Bushy-haired, reaches at least to hock – ideal
length reaching to middle of metatarsus. At rest tail
hangs in
slight sabre-like curve; when moving raised
and
curve increased, ideally never above level of
back. Short, rolled,
curled, generally carried badly or
stumpy from birth, undesirable.
Gait/Movement
Sequence of step follows diagonal pattern, moving foreleg
and opposite hindleg forward simultaneously;
hindfoot thrust
forward to midpoint of
body and having equally long reach with forefeet
without any noticeable change in backline.
Coat
Outer coat consisting of straight, hard, close-lying hair
as dense as possible; thick undercoat. Hair on
head, ears,
front of legs, paws and toes short; on
back, longer and thicker; in some males forming
slight ruff. Hair longer on
back of legs as far down as
pasterns and stifles and forming fairly thick trousers on
hindquarters. No hard and fast
rule for length of hair;
mole-type coats undesirable.
Colour
Black or black saddle with tan, or gold to light grey
markings. All black, all grey, with lighter or brown
markings
referred to as Sables. Nose black. Light markings
on chest or very pale colour on inside of
legs permissible but undesirable,
as are whitish nails,
red-tipped tails or wishy-washy faded colours
defined as lacking in pigmentation. Blues,
livers, albinos, whites
(i.e. almost pure white dogs with black noses)
and near whites highly undesirable.
Undercoat,
except in all black dogs,
usually grey or fawn. Colour in itself is of secondary
importance having no effect on character
or fitness for work.
Final colour of a young dog only ascertained
when outer coat has developed.
Size
Ideal height (from withers and just touching elbows):
dogs: 63 cms (25 ins); bitches: 58 cms (23 ins). 2.5 cms
(1
in) either above or below ideal permissible.
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 and its effect upon the health and
welfare of the dog.
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Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles
fully descended into the scrotum.
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Click on thumbnails
for larger picture.
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Kerice
