Breed Standard

German Shepherd Dog

^{(FCI
standard nr. 166/30/08.1991./D.} ^{Issue 1997.}

^{German Shepherd Dog. Country of origin Germany. FCI classification:
group 1 Sheep Herding dogs, Sheep Guardian section 1, Sheep Herding
dogs with working test. Utilisation: multi purpose, working, herding
and service dog.}

^{Short historical overview.

^{This standard is
officially laid down by the Organisation for German
Shepherd Dogs (SV) domiciled in Augsburg. The SV is
affiliated to the VDH (Organisation for German dogs) and
are as founders of the breed responsible for Breed
standard of the German Shepherd dog.}}

^{This standard was first established during the
first gathering of members in Frankfurt am Main on September 20,1899
following the recommendations by A. Meyer and M. von Stephanitz}

^{Additions were made during the members gathering on
July 28,1901}

^{The XXII member meeting in Cologne/Rhine on
September 17,1909}

^{The council and advisory committee in
Wiesbaden on September 5, 1930}

^{The meeting of the Breed council and the executive
on March 25, 1961.}

^{The standard was revised by members of the
WUSV (World Organsation of German Shepherd clubs) and accepted by the WUSV
congress on August 30, 1976}

^{In terms of a decree by the
management and the council the last revision cataloguing took place on
March 23 and 24 , 1991}

^{The planned breeding of the
German Shepherd dog with the end goal to create a highly trainable
working dog from crossed Southern and Middle German
herding dogs started in 1899 after the foundation of the Organisation.
To achieve this goal the Breed standard for the German Shepherd dog
which covers both the details of conformation, character
and temperament was laid down.}

1. Head 2.Upper Jaw 3.Lower Jaw 4.Neck 5.Withers 6.Back

Kopf Oberkiefer Unterkiefer Näcken Widerrist Rücken

7.Loin 8.Croup 9.Thigh 10.Knee 11.Stiffle 12.Hock

Lenden Kruppe Oberschenkel Knie Unterschenkel Hintermittelfuß

13.Shoulderblade 14.Upper Arm 15.Elbow 16.Pastern 17.Front chest 18.Under Chest

Schulterblatt Oberarm Ellebogen Vordermittelfuß Vorderbrust Unterbrust

19.Height 20. Length

Hohe Länge

^{General appearance}

^{The German Shepherd Dog is of medium size, slightly long, strong and
well muscled, the bone is dry and the overall construction is firm.}

^{Important proportions}

^{The height at
the withers is for males 60cm-65cm, for bitches 55cm-60cm. The length of
the body exceeds the height at the withers by approximately 10 to 17%.}

^Temperament

^{The German Shepherd Dog must
be of well balanced temperament, steady of nerve, self assured, absolutely
free and easy, and (unless provoked) completely good natured, as well as
alert and tractable. He must have Drive, Self-assurance and Stress
Tolerance (TSB) order to be suitable as companion, watch, protection,
service and herding dog.}

^{Head

^{The head is wedge
shaped. and should be in proportion to the body size (in
length approximately 40% of the height at the withers)
without being coarse, or overstretched. In general
appearance, it should be dry with moderate breadth between
the ears.
The forehead when viewed from the front or
side is only slightly arched. It should be without a
center furrow or with only a slightly defined furrow.}}

When viewed from above, the skull which is approximately 50% of the entire head length, tapers gradually and evenly from the ears to the tip of the nose, with a sloping rather than a sharply defined stop and into a long, dry wedge-shaped muzzle (the upper and lower jaws must be strongly developed.) The bridge of the nose is straight, a dip or rounding is not desirable. The lips are firm and dry and close tightly and are of dark colouring.

^Nose

^{The nose must be black}

^Dentition

^{Dentition must be healthy,
strong and complete (42 teeth and must be in accordance with the
formula). The German Shepherd Dog has a scissors bite, e.g. the
incisors must meet each other in a scissors like fashion, with the
outer surface of the incisors of the lower jaw sliding next to the
inner surface of the incisors of the upper jaw. An undershot or
overshot bite if faulty, as are large gaps between the teeth. A
level bite is faulty, as the incisors close on a straight line. The
jaws must be strongly developed so that the teeth may be deeply
rooted.}

^Eyes

^{The eyes are of medium size, almond shaped, somewhat slanting and not
protruding.
The colour of the eyes should be as dark as possible.
Light, piercing eyes are not desirable as they impair the expression of the
dog.}

^Ears

^{The ears
are of medium size, wide at the base and set high. They taper to a point
and are carried facing forward and vertically (the tips not inclined toward
each other). Tipped, cropped and hanging ears are rejected. Ears drawn back
during motion are not faulty.

Neck}

^{The neck should be strong with well-developed muscles and without looseness
of the throat skin (dewlaps). The neck is carried at an angle of about 45
degrees to the horizontal.}

^Body

^{The top line starts at
the base of the neck and continues over high and long
withers and a straight back up to a slightly sloping croup
without a clearly visible disruption.
The back is of
moderate length, firm strong and well muscled. The loin is
broad, short, and well developed and muscled. The croup
should be long and slightly sloping (appr. 23o) and flow
without disruption of the topline into the tailset.}

^Chest

^{The chest should be reasonably broad, and the underchest should be as
long as possible and pronounced. The depth of chest should be
(approximately 45 to 48% of the height at the withers)}

Ribs

^{The ribs should somewhat rounded, both barrel
shaped and flat ribs are faulty .}

^Tail

^{The tail should reach at least to the hock joint
but not beyond the middle of the hocks, the tail hair is longer on the
inside and is carried in a gentle downward curve, but when the
dog is excited or in motion, it is curved more and carried higher. The
tail should never be raised past the vertical. Clinical corrections
are inadmissible.}

^Limbs:

^Forequarters

^{The front legs must be straight when viewed from all sides.Viewed from the
front they must be parallel. The shoulder blade and the upper arm are
of equal length and are attached to the body by strong muscles. The angle
of the shoulder blade and the upper arm is ideally 90o, but is usually
110o.}

^Elbows

^{The elbows should
neither be turned in or out in stance and in movement . The lower
legs seen from all angles should be straight and absolutely parallel and be
dry and well muscled.
The length of pastern is approximately 1/3
of the leg and is at an angle of about 20 to 22o.in relation to the leg.
Both a steep (more than 22o) and a weak pastern (less than 22o) influence
the working ability of the dog and especially its stamina.}

^Feet

^{The feet are
relatively round, short, tightly closed and arched. The pads are very hard,
but not chapped. The nails are strong and of a dark colour.}

^Hindquarters

^{The
back legs are slightly placed backwards. The back-legs when seen from
behind should be parallel. The upper thigh bone joins the only
slightly longer lower thigh bone at an angle of approximately 120
degrees and the thighs are well muscled..}

The hock

^{The hock joint is strong and firm whilst on a vertical line to the
rear feet.}

^Feet

^{The
feet are relatively round, short, tightly formed and arched. The pads are
very hard, but not chapped. The nails are short, strong and of a dark
colour.}

^Movement

^{The German Shepherd Dog is a trotter. The limbs, therefore, must be
so similar in length and so proportioned to one another, i.e.
angulated, that the action of the rear as it carries through to the mid
point of the body is matched by an equally far-reaching forehand
causes no essential change in the topline. Every tendency toward
overangulation of the rear quarters diminishes soundness and endurance. The
correct proportions of height to length and corresponding length of the
limbs results in a ground-covering gait that is low to the ground and
imparts an impression of effortless movement With his head thrust
forward and a slightly raised tail, a balanced and even trotter will have a
topline that falls in moderate curves from the tip of the ears over the
neck and level back through the tip of the tail.

Skin}

^{The skin is loose without showing folds.}

^Coat

^{The correct coat for the German
Shepherd dog is "stockhaar" with an undercoat
The outer coat should
be as thick as possible, coarse and lying flat against the body. The
coat is short on the head inclusive of the ears, the front of the
legs, the feet and the toes but longer and thicker on the neck. The
hair grows longer on the back of the fore- and hind legs as far down
as the pastern and the hock joint, forming moderate breeching on the
thighs.

Colour}

^{Colour should be
black with regular markings in tan, brown, yellow tan to light gray. Solid
black, gray with dark spots, black saddles and mask Small white
markings on the forechest or a very light colour on the insides of the legs
are permissible though not desired. The nose must be black with all coat
colours. Dogs with little or no masks, yellow or strikingly light eyes,
light markings on the chest and insides of the legs, light/white nails and
a red tip of the tail or washed out weak colours are considered lacking in
pigment. The undercoat is always light gray. White dogs are not
accepted.

Height/ weight}

^Dogs:	^{Height at withers}	^{60cm to 65 cm}
	^Weight	^{30kg to 40kg}

^Bitches:	^{Height at withers}	^{55cm to 60cm}
	^Weight	^{22kg to 32kg}

^Testicles

^{Dogs must have clearly normal developed testicles, which
are fully descended.}

^Faults

^{All deviations from the above must be regarded as faults
and should be evaluated in relation to the degree of deviation.}

^{Serious faults}

^{Serious
faults include anything contained in the breed standard that impairs
working versatility.}

^{Faulty ears such as hanging ears, widely
place ears, soft ears, and permanently faulty ear carriage}

^{Fading pigment; blues, albinos (with complete lack of
pigmentation, e.g. pink nose, etc.) and whites (near to pure white
with black nose)}

^{Serious overall lack of overall
firmness.}

^{Teeth failures: all deviations from a scissor
bite and formula other than those faults which exclude the dog from
breeding.}

^{Exclusion from breeding}

^{a) Weak temperament, nervous and snappy dogs.}

^{b) Dogs with proven "serious HD"}

^{c) Monorchids and
cryptorchids and testicles too small;}

^{d) Dogs with
serious ear and tail deviations}

^{e) Poorly constructed
dogs}

^{f) Dogs with the following teeth failures:}

^{one P3 and one further tooth, or one Canine, or one P4, or one M1
or M2 or a total of 3 missing teeth and more.}

^{g) Dogs
with faulty jaws}

^{Undershot by 2mm or more.
Overshot. Level bite of all Incisors}

^{h) Dogs
that deviate more than 1cm above or under the height standard.}

^{I) Albinos}

^{j) White coats (even with dark
eyes and nails)}

^{k) Long(stockhaar) (long, soft, not tight top
coat with undercoat, tufts on the ears and legs, long tufts on the
back legs and the tail and under the belly)}

^{l)
Long coats (long, soft top coat without undercoat, often parted at the
middle of the back, tufts on the ears and legs and the tail)}

Last updated:June 17, 2010 07:48 AM