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%.}

^Character

^{The German Shepherd dog must possess a balanced character, steady
nerves, and must be self-assured, fearless without being sharp, good
natured, alert and obedient. It must have courage, fighting spirit
and hardness to be suitable as a companion, watch, defence and service and
herding dog. This makes them suitable to be a superior working dog in
general, and in particular to be a guard, companion, protection 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 12, 2004 11:43 AM