 |
AMERICAN WHITE SHEPHERD ASSOCIATION"A Club United For A Breed Apart" |
|
1959 Standard of German Shepherd DogsProposed Revision published in the October 1959 GSDCA Review General Appearance 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 be well balanced, with harmonious development of the forequarter and hindquarter. The dog should 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 German Shepherd Dog should be stamped with a look of quality and nobility - difficult to define but unmistakable when present. Secondary sex characteristics should be strongly marked, and every animal should give a definite impression of masculinity or femininity, according to its sex. The good German Shepherd Dog never looks common. The breed has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless, but not hostile expression, self-confidence and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships. The German 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 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 its capacity as companion, watchdog, blind leader, herding dog, or guardian, whichever the circumstances may demand. The German Shepherd Dog must not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler. Nor should it be nervous, looking about or upward with anxious expression or showing nervous reactions, such as tucking of tail, to strange sounds or sights; nor lackadaisical, sluggish, nor 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. Any of the above deficiencies in character which indicate shyness, should be penalized as very serious faults. In judging, any German Shepherd Dog who, through fear or over-aggressiveness, attempts to attack the judge, must be disqualified. It must be possible for the judge to observe the teeth and to determine that both testicles are descended. In the case of puppies, temperament allowances shall be made for inexperience and age. It should never be forgotten that the ideal German Shepherd Dog 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. A German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog and his structure has been developed to best meet the requirements of his work in herding. This is to say a long, effortless trot which will cover the maximum amount of ground with the minimum number of steps consistent with the size of the animal. (a) 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 and foreleg. At a trot, the dog covers still more ground and moves powerfully but easily, with a beautiful coordination 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. (b) 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 over-reach 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. (c) In order to achieve ideal movement of this kind, there must be full muscular coordination throughout the structure with the action of muscles and ligaments positive, regular and accurate. (d) Back transmission - the typical smooth, flowing gait of the German 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. (e) To compensate for the forward motion imparted by the hindquarter, the shoulder should open to it full extent - the desirability of good shoulder angulation now becomes apparent - 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 coordinate 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 unlevel top-line with the withers lower than the hips. (f) The German 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, if the knees or shoulders are not thrown out and if he is not cowhocked nor bandy legged. The dog should not come toward you traveling east and west (frenchy) and the front should not appear bowed, both of which are faults. The German Shepherd Dog is properly longer than tall, with the most desirable proportion as 10 to 8 1/2. Height is ascertained by taking a perpendicular line from the top of the withers (the withers consist of the group of four vertebra between the shoulder blades) to the ground; the length is established by a dog standing naturally and four-square, measured on a horizontal line from the point of the prosternum, or breast bone, to the rear edge of the pelvis, the ischium tuberosity. (a) 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 not more than about two fingers breadth apart 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 shoulders 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. (b) Hindquarter - 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 upper thigh bone should parallel the shoulder blade while the lower thigh bone parallels the upper arm. The whole assembly of the thigh, viewed from the side, should be broad, with both upper and lower thigh well muscled and of proportionate length, forming as nearly as possible a right angle. The metacarpus (the unit between the hock joint and the foot, erroneously called the hock) is strong, clean and short, the hock joint clean-cut and sharply defined. Clean-cut, wedge shape, and strong as viewed from the front; the head of the German Shepherd Dog is characterized by nobility. It should be in proportion to the body and should not be clumsy, although a degree of coarseness of head, especially in males, 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 top line is usually parallel with an imaginary elongation of the line of the forehead. Seen from 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. (a) Ears - Ears should be moderately pointed, open toward the front, and are carried erect when at attention; the ideal carriage being one in which the center 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 to sixth month, and sometimes not until later. Animals with 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 German Shepherd Dog. Too much stress, however, should not be laid on perfection of carriage if the ears are fully erect. (b) Eyes - Of medium size, almond shaped, set a little obliquely and not protruding. The color as dark as possible. Eyes of lighter color are sometimes found and are not a serious fault if they harmonize with the general coloration, but a dark brown eye is always to be preferred. The expression should be keen, intelligent and composed. (c) Teeth - The teeth, 42 in number - 20 upper and 22 lower - are strongly developed and meet in a scissor 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 disqualifying fault. While missing premolars are frequently observed, complete dentition is decidedly to be preferred. Teeth broken by accident should not be penalized; but worn teeth, especially the incisors, are often indicative of the lack of a proper scissor bite, although some allowance should be made for age. 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. (a) Withers - The withers should be higher than and sloping into the level back to enable a proper attachment of the shoulder blades. The ideal height for males is 25" and for bitches 23" at the top of the withers. (b) Back - The back should be straight and very strongly developed without sag or roach. The back is the section from the last vertebra of the withers to the beginning of the croup. It should be relatively short. (The desirable long proportion of the German 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 length of withers and hindquarter, viewed from the side.) (c) Loin - viewed from the top, broad and strong, blending smoothly into the back. No undue length between the last rib and the thigh, when viewed from the side. (d) Croup - Croup should be long and gradually sloping, when viewed from any angle. Too level or flat a croup prevents proper function of the hindquarter, which must be able to reach well under the body. A steep croup also limits the action of the hindquarter. (e) Tail - bushy, with the last vertebra extended at least to the hock joint. It should be set smoothly into the croup and low rather than high. At rest, the tail hangs in a slight curve like a saber. 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, are disqualified. Tails too short, or with clumpy ends due to ankylosis, are disqualifying faults. The whole structure of the body gives an impression of depth and solidity without bulkiness. (a) Forechest - commencing at the prosternum, should be well-filled and carried well down between the legs with no sense of hollowness, viewed from the front. (b) Chest - deep and capacious with ample room for lungs and heart. Well carried forward, with the prosternum showing ahead of the shoulder when the dog is viewed from the side. (c) Ribs - should be well-sprung and long, neither barrel shaped nor too flat, and carried down to a sternum which reaches to the elbow. Correct ribbing allows the elbow to move back freely when the dog is at a trot. Too round a rib causes interference and throws the elbow out; too flat or short a rib causes pinched elbows. Ribbing should be carried well back so that the loin is relatively short. (d) Abdomen - firmly held and not paunchy. The bottom line of the German Shepherd Dog is only moderately tucked up in loin, never like that of a greyhound. (a) 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. (b) Pastern - should be of medium length, strong and springy. Much more spring or slope of pastern (about a 25 degree angle) is desirable in the German Shepherd Dog than in many other breeds, as it contributes to the ease and elasticity of the trotting gait. The upright, terrier pastern is definitely undesirable. (c) Metacarpus - (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. (d) 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, splayed or hare-foot is, however, still more undesirable. The German Shepherd Dog differs widely in color and all colors are permissible except predominantly white. Strong rich colors are to be preferred, without the appearance of a washed out color. Predominantly white dogs and albinos are disqualified. The nose must always be predominately black. The German Shepherd Dog 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 outercoat should be as dense as possible, hair straight, harsh and lying close to the body. A slight wavy outercoat, 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 the fore 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 outercoat and curly or open coat. The long coat, which we speak of as "collie" or "wooly" coat, is a fault. Note: Faults are important in the order of their group, as per group headings, irrespective of their position in each group. Attempts to attack a person, as defined in the Standard Marked deficiency of substance (bone or body) Poor gait, viewed from front, rear or side Weak and too narrow underjaw, snipey muzzle Too coarse heads |
|
For
inquiries about club matters please see the club contact
list. |