TRANSLATION: Mrs. C. Seidler and Mrs. I. Kincaid.
ORIGIN: Germany.
DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 23. 03. 1991.
UTILIZATION: Versatile Utility, Herding, Guard and Service Dog.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I.:
Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs).
Section1 Sheepdogs. With working
trial.
BRIEF
HISTORICAL SUMMARY : According to official resolution, the Association
for German Shepherd Dogs (Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde) with seat in
Augsburg, as a member of the German Kennel Club (Verband für das Deutsche
Hundewesen e.V., VDH) and as founding association of the breed, is responsible
for the standard of the German Shepherd Dog. This standard was originally drawn
up at the first membership meeting of the Association in Frankfurt/Main, on the
20th September 1899, based on proposals made by A. Meyer and von Stephanitz.
Amendments were made to the standard during the 6th membership meeting on the
28th July 1901, during the 23rd membership meeting in Cologne/Rhine on the 17th
September 1909, at the Board of Directors and Advisory Committee meeting in
Wiesbaden, Germany, on the 5th September 1930, and at the Board of Directors and
Breed Committee meeting on the 25th March 1961. The standard was revised and
adopted by the World Union of German Shepherd Dogs (Weltunion für Deutsche
Schäferhunde, WUSV) on the 30th August 1976 and reviewed and catalogued
following a resolution of the Board of Directors and Advisory Committee on the
23rd and 24th March 1991.
The German
Shepherd Dog, whose planned breeding was begun in the year 1899 after the
founding of the Association for German Shepherd Dogs, was originally developed
on breeding from then available Central and South German herding dogs with the
final aim to create a dog highly suitable for the most demanding utility work.
To achieve this aim, the breed standard of the German Shepherd Dog was
developed, emphasizing correct physical structure and particularly a sound
temperament and good character.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : The German Shepherd Dog is of medium size, slightly
elongated, strong and well muscled, with dry bone and of firm overall structure.
BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : The German Shepherd Dog must be even tempered,
well balanced (with strong nerves), self assured, totally at ease (except when
provoked) and good natured, as well as attentive and easy to train. He must
possess courage, combativity and toughness in order to be suitable as a
companion, guard, service, Herding-dog and « Schutzhund ».
HEAD
: The head is wedge shaped and in proportion to body size (length approximately
40% of height at withers) without being coarse or too elongated. Clean and dry
in general appearance, moderately broad between the ears. The forehead seen
from the front and side is only slightly rounded and without any or with only a
slightly indicated middle furrow.
The
proportion of the cranial region to the facial region is 50 % to 50 %. The width
of the cranial region corresponds approximately to the length. Seen from above,
the skull is tapering evenly from the ears to the nasal bridge and gradually
sloping into the wedge-shaped foreface, with a slanting not too abrupt stop.
Upper and lower jaw are strongly developed. Bridge of nose is straight, any
indentation or arch is undesirable. Lips tight, firmly fitted and dark in
colour.
Nose
: Must be black.
Teeth
: Must be strong and healthy; complete dentition (42 teeth according to the
teeth formula).
The German
Shepherd Dog has a scissor bite, i.e. the incisors must fit scissor-like to each
other so that the incisors of the upper jaw overlap those of the lower jaw in
scissor fashion. Level bite, over-or undershot bite are faults as well as larger
spaces between the teeth (gaps). Equally faulty is straight alignment of the
incisors. The jaw bones must be strongly developed so that the teeth are
strongly embedded in the dental arch.
Eyes
: Of medium size, almond shaped, set slightly slanting, not protruding. The eye
colour should be as dark as possible. Light piercing eyes are undesirable since
it affects the dog’s expression.
Ears
: The German Shepherd Dog has erect ears of medium size which are carried
upright, pointing in the same parallel direction (not inwardly constricted).
They taper to a point and the auricle is open toward the front. Semi-drop ears
or hanging ears are faulty. Ears carried laid back in movement or in repose are
not faulty.
NECK
: The neck should be strong, well muscled and not throaty (no dewlap). Its
angulation towards the body (horizontally) is approximately 45°.
BODY
: The upper line runs, without any visible break, from the set-on of the neck
over the well defined withers and over the back very slightly sloping to the
horizontal line, onto the gradually slanting rump. The back is firm, strong and
well muscled. The loin is broad, strongly developed and well muscled. The rump
should be long, sloping slightly (about 23° to the horizontal) and, without any
break in the topline, merge with the tail set-on.
CHEST
: Moderately broad, lower chest as long as possible and well developed. Depth
of chest should be 45 to 48% of the height at withers. Ribs should have
moderate spring. Ribs which are barrel-shaped or too flat are faulty.
TAIL
: Reaches at least to the hock joint, yet not further than the middle of the
metatarsus. It has slightly longer hair on its underside and is carried hanging
in a gentle curve. When the dog is excited or in motion, the tail is raised and
carried higher, but not above the horizontal line. Corrective surgery is
forbidden.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS : Seen from all sides, the forelegs are straight and, seen from
the front, absolutely parallel. Shoulder blade and upper arm are equal in
length, well muscled and firmly attached to the body. The angle between the
shoulder-blade and the upper arm is ideally 90°, but generally up to 110°.
The elbows
must turn neither in nor out, while in repose or moving. Viewed from all sides,
the forearms are straight and absolutely parallel to each other, dry and firmly
muscled. The pastern has a length of approximately 1/3 of the forearm; the
angle between them is 20° to 22°. A weak pastern (angle more than 22°) or a
steep pastern (angle less than 20°) affect the dog’s working suitability,
especially his endurance.
Forefeet
: Rounded, tight with toes well arched; pads firm, but not brittle; nails strong
and dark in colour.
HINDQUARTERS : The hindlegs are placed slightly backwards; seen from the
rear, they are parallel to each other. Upper and lower thigh are approximately
of equal length and form an angle of about 120°. The thighs are strong and well
muscled. The hock joints are strong and firm. The metatarsus stands
vertically under the hock joint.
Hind
feet : Compact, slightly arched; the pads are hard and dark in colour; the
nails are strong, arched and also dark in colour.
GAIT
/ MOVEMENT : The German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog. The limbs must
be so coordinated in length and angulation that, without noticeable alteration
of the topline, the rear legs can propel to the body while the forelegs extend
to an equal distance. Any tendency to overangulation of the hindquarters
reduces the firmness and endurance, and consequently the working ability.
Correct body proportions and angulations result in a flat over the ground, far
reaching, ground covering gait giving the impression of an effortless
propulsion. The head pushed forward and the tail slightly raised result in an
even, effortless trot showing a gently curved, uninterrupted upper line from the
tips of the ears, over neck and back to the tip of the tail.
SKIN
: The skin is (loosely) fitting, but without any folds.
COAT
MAKE UP
OF THE COAT : The correct coat for the German Shepherd Dog is double coat (Stockhaar)
with outercoat and undercoat. The outercoat should be as dense as possible,
straight, harsh and lying close to the body. On the head, inside ears, on the
front side of the legs and on feet and toes, the hair is short; it is slightly
longer and more dense on the neck. On the rear side of the legs, the hair is
longer extending to the pasterns and the hocks. It forms moderate « trousers »
at the rear of the thighs.
COLOUR : Black with reddish-brown, brown, yellow to light grey
markings. Solid black or solid grey. Greys with darker shading show a black
saddle and mask. Unobtrusive, small white marks on chest as well as very light
colour on insides permissible, but not desirable. Nose must be black in all
colours. Dogs with lack of mask, light to piercing eye colour, as well as with
light to withish markings on the chest and the insides, pale nails and red tip
of tail are considered to be lacking in pigmentation. The undercoat shows a
light greyish tone. The colour white is not accepted.
SIZE
AND WEIGHT :
Dogs :
Height at the withers : 60 to 65 cm.
Weight : 30 to 40 kg.
Bitches :
Height at the withers : 55 to 60 cm.
Weight : 22 to 32 kg.
The length
of the body is approximately 10-17 % longer than the height at the withers.
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.
SERIOUS FAULTS :
- Any departure from the above
described breed characteristics which affects the working capability of the dog.
- Faulty ears : Laterally too low set ears, tipped ears,
inward constricted ears. Ears not firm.
- Severe
lack of pigmentation.
- Severe
lack in general firmness.
- Dental faults : All
departures from a scissor bite and the correct teeth formula, if not included in
eliminating faults listed below.
ELIMINATING FAULTS :
- Aggressive or
overly shy.
- Weak temperament and nerves, biters.
- Dogs with
deformed ears or tail.
- Dogs with
malformations.
- Dogs with
missing teeth as follows :
1 premolar 3 plus one additional tooth; or
1 canine, or
1 premolar 4, or
1 molar 1 or 2, or
a total of 3 or more missing teeth.
- Dogs with faulty jaws, overshot by more than 2
mm, undershot; pincer bite formed by all 12 inscisors.
- Oversized
or undersized dogs by more than 1 cm.
- Albinos
- White
coat colour (even with dark eyes and nails).
- Long outercoat (long, soft,
not flat lying top coat with undercoat, feathers on ears and legs, bushy
« trousers » and bushy tail with plume underneath (Langstockhaar).
- Long coat (long, soft top
coat without undercoat, mostly parted in middle of back, feathers on ears, legs
and tail (Langhaar).
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities
shall be disqualified.
N.B.
: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into
the scrotum.
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