The German Shepherd Dog Breed Standard from a Herding Perspective
by Kelly Malone
Why on Earth does AKC encompass so many different looking dogs? Why can't we have one hound, or one herding dog? Why do we need the towering Irish Wolfhound, the squat long Dachshund, and the slight, sleek Saluki? Why does the Bloodhound have such long droopy ears and why, is the Basset Hound slung so low?
The cliche "Form follows Function" is so often used, that sometimes we forget what it truly means. The requirements of a job shape the individual that is brought in to do the job. Mankind needed a dog to hunt down wolves. The larger Wolfhound was born. The Dachshund was bred be small enough to worm down a badger hole, and feisty enough to dispatch what he found. The Saluki was bred to run down antelope, and swifter game than the Wolfhound, so his body is slighter and leaner. The Bloodhound's ears cup scent to his nose for evaluation. The Basset Hound is low slung and slower for ''walk behind'' hunters, not horsemen. Each of the AKC breeds was designed to fulfill a specific job, different from any other breed.
Breed Standards were not developed to make foo-foo show dogs. Breed standards are blueprints to make ideal performance dogs. The German Shepherd Dog Standard is a blueprint to make a premier sheepdog and overall performance dog.
Understanding the job of the original German Shepherd sheepdogs will give you a much better insight into the Standard.
Tending style dogs were developed to help move large flocks to marginal, fallow, or "useless" lands. Sheep would be moved along the sides of the road eating the verge, to plots that were lying fallow for the year, areas too rocky, hilly, or otherwise unusable for tilling or habitation. This set up a win-win situation for everyone. The grass got cut. The fallow fields received high quality fertilizer, and the sheep farmer has lower/no feed costs.
The dogs were required to move anywhere from 20-200-1000 head of big, non-reactive sheep. The Shepherd and his dog would move the sheep thru the countryside all day long. the dogs needed to both work independently AND be able to follow exact commands. In the process of protecting active producing fields, a dog would need to move 5 miles for every mile the sheep moved. The requirements of the job needed three rock solid criteria:
*Unimpeachable character, work ethic, and intelligence
*Power and size enough to move non-reactive sheep
*A physical body built for strength and above all, stamina
Herding style sheepdogs have the same requirements with one exception: the dogs need to have more lateral capability. A tending dog goes up and down the sides of fields guarding the crops within. A herding dog has to be able to follow the movement of livestock; he has to be able to play "cutting horse" if need be. A herding dog may be required to push sheep up into a trailer, fight with a testosterone challenged ram, or move a panicky lamb and his canicidal mother. This requires more lateral movement than patrolling a field border.
The Breed Standard gives us a blueprint to make such a dog. It starts out by giving a brief description of the breed's history and purpose and then gets right down to work by starting with the basic frame of our ideal GSD.
THE CHASSIS:
Height: 22'-24' 24'-26' Length: 10- 8 1/2
Leg to Body ratio: 45% 55% Bone: Oval
Length of Neck: Strong and relatively long Length of Tail: Bushy, long and low
These proportions are the key to the success of the German Shepherd. Making the dog roughly 2' tall, gives him the size and basic mass to get most jobs done. the dog is big enough to keep up with sheep as they move, and big enough to discipline them if needed.
The smaller herding breeds were bred for different jobs. They simply don't have the leg length needed to keep up with sheep for long periods of time, or the body mass to fight with them. Dogs that are bigger than 2' tall have major problems. They lack flexibility, are clumsy and injury prone in a fight, and expend too much energy/calories simply moving their own body mass around.
Bodies that are longer than tall give up a little lateral flexibility for stamina. The longer than tall ratio also gives the body more frame to pack on muscle. The Standard is quite specific. The length is to be made of a harmonious, equal set of thirds, forequarter,back and loin, and rear quarter. Too long drastically reduces lateral flexibility, and creates spinal instability.
The leg to body ratio balances the amount of distance that a dog can ideally cover versus his center of gravity.
A dog that is "high on leg" has more leg to cover ground with, BUT, when that same dog needs to make a quick turn: follow a sheep, zig over an A-Frame, rough house with a fellow GSD, or engage an assailant, the dog runs the risk of becoming unbalanced. The dog can torque his joints or spine attempting to regain balance and footing. The problem is caused by the dog's center of gravity been so high off the ground.
Take a box filled with books. Carry it level to your pelvis. Move quickly then turn sharply. The box actually provides a bit of an anchor for you as you turn. Now, move the box up to your chest or shoulders, move quickly and then turn sharply. Your momentum and the weight of the box pull you into the turn and jerk you off balance. Which twinged more, your lower back, or your knees(stifles)? The dog high on leg is going to experience the same physical issues.
By the same token, a dog can be too low on leg. The dog will move like a Sumo wrestler. Short ineffective strides, coupled with correct body mass will make him too ponderous to keep up with sheep.
Oval bone is ingenious. It gives plenty of structural support without the added weight that round bone has. Lack of bone is just as bad. Spindly dogs do not fair well when going up against 100-400 lb. animals.
The neck and tail provide counter-balance and a rudder. They need to be long and carried low to keep the dog balanced while he moves. When the dog has to turn sharply, the tail or neck provide a counter weight to keep the dog over his center of gravity.
A neck that is too long is vulnerable to injury if the dog has to grip or hit a sheep. Whiplash or compression can occur. Too short and the dog moves like a turtle, his lateral flexibility compromised.
LOCOMOTION
The German Shepherd's gait is unique in the dog world. When a GSD has the combination of the correct angles with the correct length of bones, breathtaking is the only word to describe his effortless gait.
Why don't the other herding breeds move like the GSD? Slightly different jobs is the answer. Slaughterhouse dogs need short quick powerful bursts of movement. Cow dogs need low slower power. Border Collies were developed to pull feral sheep out of the Highlands. They needed to be "Greyhounds with hair" to get passed the sheep and bring them in with a light touch. The GSD's need to move non-reactive, constantly moving sheep ALL day long, created this unique gait.
Sheep move. They can't help it. That blade of grass looks better,cleaner, greener. They move toward other groups of sheep, food and water. They move away from ANY sign of danger. A stockdog is trying to ride herd on three, five, twenty or even 200! That entails a lot of movement on the dog's part. Whether tending or herding, the dog is supposed to move far enough off from them to not affect the sheep's job of eating. Again, this means that for every step the sheep take the dog is going to have to take 5, to stay ahead of them.
The requirements of the job need a dog that can:
Move at a steady pace for hours
Put on bursts of speed
Be able to move with power and flexibility for disputes with sheep
ALL GAIT AND TOPLINE FAULTS ARE ABOUT LOSING ENERGY/CALORIES FROM THE JOB AT HAND.
Lack of balance, side-winding, crabbing, kicking up, lifting, sashaying, weaving, crossing over, etc., all "throw" power, generated by the rear, away from the dog's desired line of travel. Several of these faults can increase the dog's risk of injury or breakdown. Loss of energy means that the dog can't function at optimum. He will be unable to finish out a day's work, and he is more likely to make mistakes as he tires. This necessitates the Shepherd to now have to pay for more dogs, meaning more money paid out for basic care and feed.
CHARACTER: WHAT DRIVES THE WHOLE BEAST
People make the mistake when reading the Temperament section of the Standard, to use the filter and vision of Schutzhund. The German Shepherd's requirement and need for...."direct and fearless.....self-confidence....willing to stand it's ground....poised....eager and willing....came DECADES before the breed was ever introduced to a bite sleeve.
Stockwork is THE most difficult dog sport and job out there. It is physically difficult, but it is even more mentally taxing.
A stockdog is required to have the personal power, self-confidence, and skills to stand up to a sheep, and convince it to move without constant bloodshed. the dog's job is to control unwilling, unruly "employees", make them follow the bosses dictates on where to go, when...and...to always be open to command changes from the boss. Think about how many people you know, who have turned down promotions because they didn't want the hassles and responsibility of supervising others. A stockdog does it every day.
Intelligence and independent judgment are critical for a stockdog. Stockdogs are regularly given a job, and required to use their best judgment on how to get it done. If a Shepherd is gate-sorting sheep, she'll tell her dog to cover and hold them to the gate. the Shepherd then turns her back, and starts choosing sheep to retain or let go. The Shepherd CAN"T look up from her job; can't tell the dog ''Go left" ,"Go right", "come in" or "get back" The dog manages the job all on his own. If the Shepherd looks up and tries to tell the dog his job, she's going to mess up HER job.
A dog may be told, "Go out into the pasture and bring in sheep." the command is "Get out" After that, the dog chooses the path, and which sheep to start gathering to the others. He chooses what speed and the amount of pressure he applies to the sheep to get them to the destination.
In sheepdog trials, dogs are heavily penalized for having to be told every step.
Sheep will ignore, or actively attack, dogs that show lack of confidence or power.
Sheep will not tolerate being around a dog that is anxious, bouncing, hysterical, adrenaline-filled, or aggressive.
Quiet, calm, centered, self-confidence, as described in the Standard, is the heart and essence of a sheepdog's job.
VITAL INCIDENTALS:
Coat: A correct coat sheds weather, mud and burrs.
A close coat doesn't protect and an open or long coat mats and holds water
and burrs
Color: Black and Tan/Red with rich color or Red/Gray Sable preferred.
Bi-color has extreme difficulty in the heat
Off colors, Liver, Blue, White generally have more skin issues
Teeth: Scissor bite, with full dentition gives the dog the power to grip and the
correct bone structure for a proper head.
Bad bites and missing teeth can cause jaw and skull deformities.
Pretties: Secondary sex characteristics, head piece, Breed type
The German Shepherd
....."is a WORKING ANIMAL with an incorruptible character
combined with a body and gait suitable
for the arduous WORK
that constitutes it's
PRIMARY PURPOSE."
Why on Earth does AKC encompass so many different looking dogs? Why can't we have one hound, or one herding dog? Why do we need the towering Irish Wolfhound, the squat long Dachshund, and the slight, sleek Saluki? Why does the Bloodhound have such long droopy ears and why, is the Basset Hound slung so low?
The cliche "Form follows Function" is so often used, that sometimes we forget what it truly means. The requirements of a job shape the individual that is brought in to do the job. Mankind needed a dog to hunt down wolves. The larger Wolfhound was born. The Dachshund was bred be small enough to worm down a badger hole, and feisty enough to dispatch what he found. The Saluki was bred to run down antelope, and swifter game than the Wolfhound, so his body is slighter and leaner. The Bloodhound's ears cup scent to his nose for evaluation. The Basset Hound is low slung and slower for ''walk behind'' hunters, not horsemen. Each of the AKC breeds was designed to fulfill a specific job, different from any other breed.
Breed Standards were not developed to make foo-foo show dogs. Breed standards are blueprints to make ideal performance dogs. The German Shepherd Dog Standard is a blueprint to make a premier sheepdog and overall performance dog.
Understanding the job of the original German Shepherd sheepdogs will give you a much better insight into the Standard.
Tending style dogs were developed to help move large flocks to marginal, fallow, or "useless" lands. Sheep would be moved along the sides of the road eating the verge, to plots that were lying fallow for the year, areas too rocky, hilly, or otherwise unusable for tilling or habitation. This set up a win-win situation for everyone. The grass got cut. The fallow fields received high quality fertilizer, and the sheep farmer has lower/no feed costs.
The dogs were required to move anywhere from 20-200-1000 head of big, non-reactive sheep. The Shepherd and his dog would move the sheep thru the countryside all day long. the dogs needed to both work independently AND be able to follow exact commands. In the process of protecting active producing fields, a dog would need to move 5 miles for every mile the sheep moved. The requirements of the job needed three rock solid criteria:
*Unimpeachable character, work ethic, and intelligence
*Power and size enough to move non-reactive sheep
*A physical body built for strength and above all, stamina
Herding style sheepdogs have the same requirements with one exception: the dogs need to have more lateral capability. A tending dog goes up and down the sides of fields guarding the crops within. A herding dog has to be able to follow the movement of livestock; he has to be able to play "cutting horse" if need be. A herding dog may be required to push sheep up into a trailer, fight with a testosterone challenged ram, or move a panicky lamb and his canicidal mother. This requires more lateral movement than patrolling a field border.
The Breed Standard gives us a blueprint to make such a dog. It starts out by giving a brief description of the breed's history and purpose and then gets right down to work by starting with the basic frame of our ideal GSD.
THE CHASSIS:
Height: 22'-24' 24'-26' Length: 10- 8 1/2
Leg to Body ratio: 45% 55% Bone: Oval
Length of Neck: Strong and relatively long Length of Tail: Bushy, long and low
These proportions are the key to the success of the German Shepherd. Making the dog roughly 2' tall, gives him the size and basic mass to get most jobs done. the dog is big enough to keep up with sheep as they move, and big enough to discipline them if needed.
The smaller herding breeds were bred for different jobs. They simply don't have the leg length needed to keep up with sheep for long periods of time, or the body mass to fight with them. Dogs that are bigger than 2' tall have major problems. They lack flexibility, are clumsy and injury prone in a fight, and expend too much energy/calories simply moving their own body mass around.
Bodies that are longer than tall give up a little lateral flexibility for stamina. The longer than tall ratio also gives the body more frame to pack on muscle. The Standard is quite specific. The length is to be made of a harmonious, equal set of thirds, forequarter,back and loin, and rear quarter. Too long drastically reduces lateral flexibility, and creates spinal instability.
The leg to body ratio balances the amount of distance that a dog can ideally cover versus his center of gravity.
A dog that is "high on leg" has more leg to cover ground with, BUT, when that same dog needs to make a quick turn: follow a sheep, zig over an A-Frame, rough house with a fellow GSD, or engage an assailant, the dog runs the risk of becoming unbalanced. The dog can torque his joints or spine attempting to regain balance and footing. The problem is caused by the dog's center of gravity been so high off the ground.
Take a box filled with books. Carry it level to your pelvis. Move quickly then turn sharply. The box actually provides a bit of an anchor for you as you turn. Now, move the box up to your chest or shoulders, move quickly and then turn sharply. Your momentum and the weight of the box pull you into the turn and jerk you off balance. Which twinged more, your lower back, or your knees(stifles)? The dog high on leg is going to experience the same physical issues.
By the same token, a dog can be too low on leg. The dog will move like a Sumo wrestler. Short ineffective strides, coupled with correct body mass will make him too ponderous to keep up with sheep.
Oval bone is ingenious. It gives plenty of structural support without the added weight that round bone has. Lack of bone is just as bad. Spindly dogs do not fair well when going up against 100-400 lb. animals.
The neck and tail provide counter-balance and a rudder. They need to be long and carried low to keep the dog balanced while he moves. When the dog has to turn sharply, the tail or neck provide a counter weight to keep the dog over his center of gravity.
A neck that is too long is vulnerable to injury if the dog has to grip or hit a sheep. Whiplash or compression can occur. Too short and the dog moves like a turtle, his lateral flexibility compromised.
LOCOMOTION
The German Shepherd's gait is unique in the dog world. When a GSD has the combination of the correct angles with the correct length of bones, breathtaking is the only word to describe his effortless gait.
Why don't the other herding breeds move like the GSD? Slightly different jobs is the answer. Slaughterhouse dogs need short quick powerful bursts of movement. Cow dogs need low slower power. Border Collies were developed to pull feral sheep out of the Highlands. They needed to be "Greyhounds with hair" to get passed the sheep and bring them in with a light touch. The GSD's need to move non-reactive, constantly moving sheep ALL day long, created this unique gait.
Sheep move. They can't help it. That blade of grass looks better,cleaner, greener. They move toward other groups of sheep, food and water. They move away from ANY sign of danger. A stockdog is trying to ride herd on three, five, twenty or even 200! That entails a lot of movement on the dog's part. Whether tending or herding, the dog is supposed to move far enough off from them to not affect the sheep's job of eating. Again, this means that for every step the sheep take the dog is going to have to take 5, to stay ahead of them.
The requirements of the job need a dog that can:
Move at a steady pace for hours
Put on bursts of speed
Be able to move with power and flexibility for disputes with sheep
ALL GAIT AND TOPLINE FAULTS ARE ABOUT LOSING ENERGY/CALORIES FROM THE JOB AT HAND.
Lack of balance, side-winding, crabbing, kicking up, lifting, sashaying, weaving, crossing over, etc., all "throw" power, generated by the rear, away from the dog's desired line of travel. Several of these faults can increase the dog's risk of injury or breakdown. Loss of energy means that the dog can't function at optimum. He will be unable to finish out a day's work, and he is more likely to make mistakes as he tires. This necessitates the Shepherd to now have to pay for more dogs, meaning more money paid out for basic care and feed.
CHARACTER: WHAT DRIVES THE WHOLE BEAST
People make the mistake when reading the Temperament section of the Standard, to use the filter and vision of Schutzhund. The German Shepherd's requirement and need for...."direct and fearless.....self-confidence....willing to stand it's ground....poised....eager and willing....came DECADES before the breed was ever introduced to a bite sleeve.
Stockwork is THE most difficult dog sport and job out there. It is physically difficult, but it is even more mentally taxing.
A stockdog is required to have the personal power, self-confidence, and skills to stand up to a sheep, and convince it to move without constant bloodshed. the dog's job is to control unwilling, unruly "employees", make them follow the bosses dictates on where to go, when...and...to always be open to command changes from the boss. Think about how many people you know, who have turned down promotions because they didn't want the hassles and responsibility of supervising others. A stockdog does it every day.
Intelligence and independent judgment are critical for a stockdog. Stockdogs are regularly given a job, and required to use their best judgment on how to get it done. If a Shepherd is gate-sorting sheep, she'll tell her dog to cover and hold them to the gate. the Shepherd then turns her back, and starts choosing sheep to retain or let go. The Shepherd CAN"T look up from her job; can't tell the dog ''Go left" ,"Go right", "come in" or "get back" The dog manages the job all on his own. If the Shepherd looks up and tries to tell the dog his job, she's going to mess up HER job.
A dog may be told, "Go out into the pasture and bring in sheep." the command is "Get out" After that, the dog chooses the path, and which sheep to start gathering to the others. He chooses what speed and the amount of pressure he applies to the sheep to get them to the destination.
In sheepdog trials, dogs are heavily penalized for having to be told every step.
Sheep will ignore, or actively attack, dogs that show lack of confidence or power.
Sheep will not tolerate being around a dog that is anxious, bouncing, hysterical, adrenaline-filled, or aggressive.
Quiet, calm, centered, self-confidence, as described in the Standard, is the heart and essence of a sheepdog's job.
VITAL INCIDENTALS:
Coat: A correct coat sheds weather, mud and burrs.
A close coat doesn't protect and an open or long coat mats and holds water
and burrs
Color: Black and Tan/Red with rich color or Red/Gray Sable preferred.
Bi-color has extreme difficulty in the heat
Off colors, Liver, Blue, White generally have more skin issues
Teeth: Scissor bite, with full dentition gives the dog the power to grip and the
correct bone structure for a proper head.
Bad bites and missing teeth can cause jaw and skull deformities.
Pretties: Secondary sex characteristics, head piece, Breed type
The German Shepherd
....."is a WORKING ANIMAL with an incorruptible character
combined with a body and gait suitable
for the arduous WORK
that constitutes it's
PRIMARY PURPOSE."