| In accordance
with the official provisions of the German Shepherd
Dog club (SV) e.V., located in Augsburg, a member of
the Federation of Dog club in Germany(VDH) is the founding
organization of the breed German Shepherd Dog and therefore,
responsible for the breed on standard. Work on this
document was begun at the first membership meeting in
frankfurt\M on September 20, 1899 and is based on proposals
by A. Meyer and v. Stpthanitz. Additions and revisions
to the standard where made as follows: membership meeting
on July 28,1901;23rd membership meeting on September
17,1909 in Koln; board and Executive Committee and board
meeting on March 25,1961 in conjunction with the WUSV
(world union of German Shepherd clubs) and during the
WUDV meeting on August 30,1976 where the standard was
agreed upon, revised, and approved by the board and
Executive Committee on March 23,and 24,1991.
planned breeding activies
began after the inception of the SV in 1899.
The German Shepherd Dog was
developed from herding dogs in service during that time
in Middle and southern Germany. The Goal was to produce
a high-performance working dog. To accomplish this goal,
the breed Standard of the German Shepherd Dog was created.
This document addresses both physical qualities as character
attributes.
General
Appearance
The German Shepherd Dog is
medium sized, slightly longer than tall, strong and
well muscled, bone is dry, the whole dog presenting
a picture of firmness. The vertical line represents
the height at the shoulders, which should be special
height measuring stick (Koer Mass), placing the animal
on a solid floor. The horizontal line represents the
total length of the trunk which the German Shepherd
varies between 111% and 125% of its height at the shoulders.
Important
Measurements
Height at the withers for
males: 60-65 cm, bitches: 585-60 cm. Length of for to
rso exceeds height at the withers by10-17%.
Character
The German Shepherd should
appear poised, calm, self confident, absolutely at ease
and (except when agitated) good natured, but also attentive
and willing to serve. He must have courage, fighting
drive, and hardness in order to serve as companion,
watchdog, protection dog, service dog, and herding dog.
Head
The head is wedge-shaped and
in harmony with the dog’s size (length app. 40%
of height at the withers) without being coarse or overly
long. The head should appear dry, and moderately wide
between the ears. seen from the front and side the forehead
is only slightly domed, the center furrow is either
absent or only slightly visible. The length ratio of
skull to face is 50 : 50 %. skull width approximately
equals skull length. Seen from above the skull sloped
into a wedge shaped muzzle. The stop should not be pronounced.
Upper and lower jaws are strong, the bridge of nose
should be straight, not a Roman nose or dish-faced nose.
Lips are taut, well close and of dear color.
The
nose
The nose should be black.
The
teeth
The teeth must be strong and complete in number (42
teeth as per formula). The German shepherd has a scissor
bite, where the Upper incisors must meet the lower incisors
grip. level bite, overshot and undershot teeth are faulty,
Jawbones must be well developed, to permit deep rooting
of the teeth in the gum.
The
eyes
The eyes are medium sized, almond-shaped set slightly
oblique and not protruding. The color should be dark
as possible and not protruding. The color should be
as dark as possible.
Ears
The German Shepherd has medium-sized,
upright ears which are carried erect and perpendicular
to one another, pointed and open to the front. Tipped
ears and hanging ears are faulty. Laid-back ears are
not faulty when the dog is in motion or resting.
Neck
The neck is strong, well-muscled,
and clean cut (without folds of loose skin). The angle
of neck to torso is approximately 45 degrees.
Body
The top line extends from
the point where the neck meets the skull past the well
developed withers and the gently downward sloping back
to the slightly sloping croup without a visible back
is firm. Strong, and well muscled. The loin is broad
well developed and strongly muscled. The croup should
be long and have a slight downward slope (approximately
23 degrees from horizontal) and should merge smoothly
into the tail set.
Chest
The chest should be of moderate
width the underchest long and pronounced. Chest depth
should be approximately 45 to 48% of height at the withers.
The ribs should be moderately sprung. Barrel shaped
or flat ribs are faulty.
Tail
The tail reaches at least
to the hock join, but not past the halfway point of
the hock itself. The coat is slightly longer on the
underside of the tail. The tail hangs in a Soft, saber-like
curve. When the dog is excited or in motion, the tail
is somewhat raised, but should not reach past the horizontal
line. Surgical corrections not permitted.
Limbs
Forelegs
Seen from all side, the forelegs
are straight and absolutely parallel when viewed from
the front. Should and upper arms are of equal length.
Both are held snugly to body by strong muscles. Angulation
of shoulder blade to the upper arm ideally is 90 degrees,
but up to 110 degrees is permissible.
Elbows may not turn out when
the dog is standing or in motion or be pinched inward.
The lower legs viewed from all side are straight and
absolutely parallel, dry and well muscled. The pastern
measures about 1\3 of the forearm length and is angled
20-22 degrees to the foreleg. Pasterns with an angle
of more than 22 degrees or very steep pasterns (less
than 20 degrees) reduce working capability especially,
endurance.
Paws
The paws are rounded, tight,
and arched. The soles are hard, but not brittle. The
nails are strong and dark.
Hind
legs
The rear legs have a pronounced
rounded knee or turn of stifle which projects the dog
‘s rear quarter well behind the point of the pelvis.
Seen from the rear, the hind legs are parallel to one
another. Upper and lower thighs are of approximately
the same length and form an angle of 120 degrees. Thighs
are strong and well muscled.
The hock joint is strong
and dry and the hock stands upright under the joint.
Paws
The paws are tight, slightly
arched, the balls of the feet are hard and dark, nails
strong, arched and dark.
Gait
The German Shepherd is a trotting
dog. Length and angulation of front and rear legs must
be in proper proportion to one another to permit the
dog to move the rear the leg underneath the body, matching
the reach of the rear legs with that of the front legs
and same time, keeping the topline over the back relatively
undisturbed. Any tendency for over angulation of the
rear reduces firmness and endurance of the dog and therefore,
working capability. Correct body proportions and angulation
result in a ground-covering gait which moves close to
the ground and conveys the impression of effortless
movement. With the head held slightly forward and the
tail slightly lifted, the dog trotting evenly and smoothly,
we see a softly moving topline which flows without interruption
from neck to tail tip.
Coat
Coat Characteristics
The correct coat for the German
Shepherd is stock coat (outer and under coat). The top
coat should be as tight as possible, straight, coarse,
and clinging closely to the undercoat. The head, including
the inside of the ears, the front of legs the paws and
toes have short hair. Neck hair is longer and thicker.
On the rear side of the legs hair length increases downward
moderate “pants”.
Skin
The skin covers the body loosely,
but without folds.
Pigment
Black with reddish brown,
brown, tan to light-grey markings. Solid black grey
with darker overcast, black saddle and mask. inconspicuous
small white chest markings, as well as lighter pigment
on the inside of the legs is permitted, but not desirable.
All dogs, no matter what their color, must have back
noses.
Missing mask, light white markings on the chest and
inner leg sides, light toenails, and a red tail tip
are signs of faulty pigmentation. Undercoat has a slight
grey cast. White is not permissible.
Size/Weight
Males: Height at the wither
60 cm to65 cm
Weight: 30kg to 40kg.
Females: Height at the wither 55 cm to 60 cm
Weight 22kg-32kg
Testicles
Visual inspection must show
two normally developed testicles fully descended into
the scrotum. |
