The German Shepherd
Dog Illustrated Standard
Illustrated by Orrie Nordness
Web Version by John Ayotte
and Bill Pfeiffer
Sponsored by The German Shepherd Dog Club of America
Printed copies may be ordered from the Parent CLub Office.
Hindquarters – The whole assembly of thigh, viewed from the side, is broad, with both upper and lower thigh well muscled, forming as nearly as possible a right angle. The upper thigh bone parallels the shoulder blade while the lower thigh bone parallels the upper arm. The metatarsus (the unit between the hock joint and the foot) is short, strong, and tightly articulated. The dewclaws, if any, should be removed from the hind legs.
Feet as in front.
Illustration 20
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Illustration 22
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Illustration 19
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Illustration 21
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Coat – The ideal dog has a double coat of
medium length. The outer coat should be as dense as possible, hair straight,
harsh and lying close to the body. A slightly wavy outer coat, often of
wiry texture, is permissible. The head, including the inner ear and foreface,
and the legs and paws are covered with short hair, and the neck with longer
and thicker hair. The rear of the forelegs and hindlegs has somewhat longer
hair extending to the pastern and hock, respectively. Faults in coat include
soft, silky, too long outer coat, woolly, curly, and open coat.
Color – The German Shepherd Dog varies in color, and most colors are permissible. Strong rich colors are preferred.
Pale, washed-out colors or blues and livers are serious
faults. A white dog must be disqualified.
General Impression: The gait is outreaching, elastic, seemingly without effort, smooth and rhythmic, covering the maximum amount of ground with the minimum number of steps. At a walk, it covers a great deal of ground, with long stride of both hindlegs and forelegs. At a trot, the dog covers still more ground with even longer stride, and moves powerfully and easily, with coordination and balance so the gait appears to be the steady motion of a well-lubricated machine. The feet travel close to the ground on both forward reach and backward push. In order to achieve ideal movement of this kind, there must be good muscular development and ligamentation. The hindquarters deliver, through the back, a powerful forward thrust which slightly lifts the whole animal and drives the body forward. Reaching far under, and passing the imprint left by the front foot, the hind foot takes hold of the ground; then hock, stifle and upper thigh come into play and sweep back, the stroke of the hindleg finishing with the foot still close to the ground in a smooth follow-through. The overreach of the hindquarter usually necessitates one hind foot passing outside and the other inside the track of the forefeet, and such action is not faulty unless the locomotion is crabwise with the dog's body sideways out of the normal straight line.
Illustration 23
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Illustration 24
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Illustration 25
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Illustration 26
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Illustration 27
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Illustration 28
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Illustration 29
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Illustration 30
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Illustration 31
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Illustration 32
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