German Shepherd Dog KC Breed Standard

German Shepherd Dog

KC Breed Standard





Angulation Diagram Below

General Appearance
Slightly long in comparison to height; of powerful, well muscled build with weather-resistant coat. Relation between height, length, position and structure of fore and hindquarters (angulation) producing far-reaching, enduring gait. Clear definition of masculinity and femininity essential, and working ability never sacrificed for mere beauty.

Characteristics
Versatile working dog, balanced and free from exaggeration. Attentive, alert, resilient and tireless with keen scenting ability.

Temperament
Steady of nerve, loyal, self-assured, courageous and tractable. Never nervous, over-aggressive or shy.

Head and Skull
Proportionate in size to body, never coarse, too fine or long. Clean cut; fairly broad between ears. Forehead slightly domed; little or no trace of central furrow. Cheeks forming softly rounded curve, never protruding. Skull from ears to bridge of nose tapering gradually and evenly, blending without too pronounced stop into wedge-shaped powerful muzzle. Skull approximately 50 per cent of overall length of head. Width of skull corresponding approximately to length, in males slightly greater, in females slightly less. Muzzle strong, lips firm, clean and closing tightly. Top of muzzle straight, almost parallel to forehead. Short, blunt, weak, pointed, overlong muzzle undesirable.

Eyes
Medium-sized, almond-shaped, never protruding. Dark brown preferred, lighter shade permissible, provided expression good and general harmony of head not destroyed. Expression lively, intelligent and self-assured.

Ears
Medium-sized, firm in texture, broad at base, set high, carried erect, almost parallel, never pulled inwards or tipped, tapering to a point, open at front. Never hanging. Folding back during movement permissible.

Mouth
Jaws strongly developed. With a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Teeth healthy and strong. Full dentition desirable.

Neck
Fairly long, strong, with well developed muscles, free from throatiness. Carried at 45 degrees angle to horizontal, raised when excited, lowered at fast trot.

Forequarters
Shoulder blade and upper arms are equal in length, well muscled and firmly attached to the body. Shoulder blades set obliquely (approximately 45 degrees) laid flat to body. Upper arm strong, well muscled, joining shoulder blade at approximately 90 degrees. Seen from all sides, the forearms are straight and, seen from the front, absolutely parallel. Bone oval rather than round. The elbows must turn neither in nor out while standing or moving. Pasterns firm, supple, with a slight forward slope. An over long, weak pastern, which would affect a dog's working ability is to be heavily penalised. Length of foreleg slightly exceeds the depth of chest.

Body
Length measured from point of shoulder to point of buttock, slightly exceeding height at withers. Correct ratio 10 to 9 or 8 and a half. Undersized dogs, stunted growth, high-legged dogs, those too heavy or too light in build, over-loaded fronts, too short overall appearance, any feature detracting from reach or endurance of gait, undesirable. Chest deep (45-48 per cent) of height at shoulder, not too broad, brisket long, well developed. Ribs well formed and long; neither barrel-shaped nor too flat; allowing free movement of elbows when gaiting. Relatively short loin. Belly firm, only slightly drawn up. Back between withers and croup, straight, strongly developed, not too long. Overall length achieved by correct angle of well laid shoulders, correct length of croup and hindquarters. The topline runs without any visible break from the set on of the neck, over the well defined withers, falling away slightly in a straight line to the gently sloping croup. The back is firm, strong and well muscled. Loin broad, strong, well muscled. Weak, soft and roach backs undesirable and should be heavily penalised. Croup slightly sloping and without any break in the topline, merges imperceptibly with the set on of the tail. Short, steep or flat croups highly undesirable.

Hindquarters
Overall strong, broad and well muscled, enabling effortless forward propulsion. Upper and lower thigh are approximately of equal length. Hind angulation sufficient if imaginary line dropped from point of buttocks cuts through lower thigh just in front of hock, continuing down slightly in front of hindfeet. Angulations corresponding approximately with front angulation, without over-angulation. See from rear, the hind legs are straight and parallel to each other. The hocks are strong and firm. The rear pasterns are vertical. Any tendency towards over-angulation of hindquarters, weak hocks, cow hocks or sickle hooks, is to be heavily penalised as this reduces firmness and endurance in movement.

Feet
Rounded toes well closed and arched. Pads well cushioned and durable. Nails short, strong and dark in colour.

Tail
Bushy-haired, reaches at least to hock – ideal length reaching to middle of metatarsus. At rest tail hangs in slight sabre-like curve; when moving raised and curve increased, ideally never above level of back. Short, rolled, curled, generally carried badly or stumpy from birth, undesirable.

Gait/Movement
Sequence of step follows diagonal pattern, moving foreleg and opposite hindleg forward simultaneously; hindfoot thrust forward to midpoint of body and having equally long reach with forefeet without any noticeable change in backline. Absolute soundness of movement essential.

Coat
Outer coat consisting of straight, hard, close-lying hair as dense as possible; thick undercoat. Hair on head, ears, front of legs, paws and toes short; on back, longer and thicker; in some males forming slight ruff. Hair longer on back of legs as far down as pasterns and stifles and forming fairly thick trousers on hindquarters. No hard and fast rule for length of hair; mole-type coats undesirable.

Colour
Black or black saddle with tan, or gold to light grey markings. All black, all grey, with lighter or brown markings referred to as Sables. Nose black. Light markings on chest or very pale colour on inside of legs permissible but undesirable, as are whitish nails, red-tipped tails or wishy-washy faded colours defined as lacking in pigmentation. Blues, livers, albinos, whites (i.e. almost pure white dogs with black noses) and near whites highly undesirable. Undercoat, except in all black dogs, usually grey or fawn. Colour in itself is of secondary importance having no effect on character or fitness for work. Final colour of a young dog only ascertained when outer coat has developed.

Size
Ideal height (from withers and just touching elbows): dogs: 63 cms (25 ins); bitches: 58 cms (23 ins). 2.5 cms (1 in) either above or below ideal permissible.

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 and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.




Dentition

Below is a diagram of the complete dentition

Canine Dentition
Adult dogs have 42 permanent teeth
(20 upper and 22 lower teeth)
Puppies have 28 baby (deciduous) teeth
(14 upper and 14 lower teeth)

Puppies should have 28 temporary teeth that erupt at about 3-4 weeks of age. They will eventually have 42 permanent adult teeth that begin to emerge at about 3-4 months of age. As puppies, there are 14 upper and 14 lower puppy teeth. Puppies do not have any of the molars or premolar 1.

Tooth Emergence Schedule
             
                 Deciduous       Permanent
Incisors     4-6 weeks        3-5 months
Canine       5-6 weeks       4-6 months
Premolars     6 weeks        4-5 months
Molars                               5-7 months

Teeth Types and Function

The chewing forces in the dog have been estimated to be 300 to 800 psi (pounds per square inch) as passive bite force, and with a sudden localized bite force when snapping the jaws shut of as much as 30,000 to 80,000 psi.

There are 4 types of teeth with different functions:
Incisors - used for cutting and nibbling food, scooping, picking up objects and grooming; these are the front teeth situated directly in between the canines; in adults and puppies there are 6 upper and 6 lower all in a row; the center two incisors are usually somewhat smaller and the others get larger as they move out and away from the center


Canines - used for holding and tearing prey/food, slashing and tearing when fighting and as a cradle for the tongue; these are the large fangs; the lower canines lock in position in front of the upper canines; the canines are situated directly between the incisors and premolars; in adults and puppies there are two upper and two lower canines, one upper and lower on each side of the jaw


Premolars - used for cutting, holding, shearing, carrying and breaking food into small pieces; these teeth are situated between the canines and molars; puppies do not have P1 teeth, only P2, P3, P4; adults have 8 premolars on the top and 8 on the bottom, 4 on each side of the upper and lower jaws


Molars - used for grinding food into small pieces with flat occlusal tables; the molars are situated behind the premolars and are the last teeth in the back of the jaw; puppies do not have molars; adults have 4 molars on the top, two on each side of the upper jaw and 6 molars on the bottom, 3 on each side of the lower jaw

                         

Please note the above diagram was used with the express permission of the copyright holder, (Christina Chapman,(KC Accredited Trainer)), for use on this website for educational use, the Diagram should not be copied or used without her express permission or you will be in breech of copyright.





Important Puppy Teeth Information


Puppies should lose a puppy tooth before the corresponding adult tooth emerges, sometimes you will see both the puppy tooth and the adult tooth side by side. This is especially common with the canines. If a puppy tooth is still in place when an adult tooth begins to show, and it shows no signs of loosening, you need to consult with your veterinarian to decide if the puppy tooth needs to be pulled so the dog's bite will not be affected.

It is very important to keep a close eye on your puppy's teeth as they emerge.  Any abnormalities need to be dealt with promptly.

                      GSD Age to Weight Chart

Please note the table below is only a guide and is based on a medium sized GSD.

                Age                             Male                               Female
                3 mths                         14.2kg                             12.1kg
                4 mths                         19.0kg                             16.4kg
                5mths                          22.9kg                             20.0kg
                6mths                          26.1kg                             22.6kg
                7mths                          28.3kg                             24.7kg
                8mths                          30.1kg                             26.1kg
                9mths                          31.5kg                             27.1kg
                10mths                        32.7kg                             27.9kg
                11mths                        33.6kg                             28.7kg
                12mths                        34.5kg                             29.1kg
                Adult  Weight              40.0kg                             32.0kg    


               Construction and Movement Diagrams  

The following diagrams are the copyright  of Christina Champman, (KC Accredited Trainer), and permission has been granted to us to use them on or website as an Educational aid, copying her diagrams from this page and using them without her permission will be in breech of Christinas Copyright.
We thank Christina for allowing us to use these diagrams on our site.