The Breed Standard for German Shepherd Dog
The Geman Shephers 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 - 65 cms and 55
- 60 cms in females. The body length must surpass the wither hight by between 10
- 17%.
Character
The German Shepherd must be self assured, balanced with strong nerves and absolutely impartial behaviour, whilst maintraining 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 ans possess firm nerves. These are essential requirements since the dog is to be used as companion, guardian, protector and a working sheepdog.
Head
It has to be wedge shaped and it should be proportionate in size to the rest of
the ebody (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 (wether seen from the front of the side), should not appear to be domed and have only little or no centre 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 it's length. The skull (seen from the top), from the ears to the tip of the nose must consist of mooth lines, whilst having a defines 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 mut be tight, well-knit and of dark colour.
The Nose
Must be always black.
The Mouth
Must be strong, well-develpoed, healthy and complete (42 teeth in total). The German Shepherd must have a scissor-like bite, in other words the bottom teeth formation. Furthermore, the upper jaw must be 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 from teeth (top and bottom) must not shut level (directly on top of the other) - the top must overlap the bottom in a
scissor-like close. The bones of the jaw must be well developed so as the teeth are not prematurely worn.
The Eyes
have middle size, almond-shpaed and slightly angled, whilst they must not
protrude. The eye colour should be as dark as possible. Light eyes are not
desirable as they spoil the expression of the dog.
Ears
The German Sheepherd 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° angle to the body.
Body
A smooth top line beginning from the back of the neck and continuing in a
stloping slightly toward the croup-without any vissible 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 briket should be long and pronounced. The
depth of the chest should not be more than 45-48° of the wither height.
Ribs
must be 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 sabre. When moving it is raised and the curve isincreased. 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 90° but usually it is acceptable around 110°. 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
20-22° to foreleg. Further more the pastern should be neither too straight nor too angled (say 20-22°), so as not to deter the dogs stamina.
The Feet
should be roundes, toes well closed and arched. Pads should be well cushioned and durable but not brittle surfaced. Nails short, strong and dark in colour.
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 an angle of aproximately 120°. 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 thrusted well
forward to the midpoint 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 heigh 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, running from 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 correcht 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. tha 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".
Colour
Base colour shloud be black with markings of brown, red-brown, blonde and light grey. Alternative a grey base-colour with "clouds" of black markings
and a black "saddle" and "mask". Inconspicious 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 piearcing eye colours as well as light/white nails and are coloured tail top
are considered as a lack of pigmentation, the undercoat is a slight grey tone.
White is not permitted.
Height/Weight
Male: wither height 60 - 65 cm
weight 30 - 40 kg
Female: wither height 55 - 60 cm
weight 22 - 32 kg
Testicles
Male animals must have two, apparently normal testicles fully developes 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.
