Breed Standard FCI GSD Standard
TRANSLATION : Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) E.V. / Original version: (D).
ORIGIN : Germany.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 11.08.2010.
UTILIZATION : Versatile working, herding and service dog.
FCI-CLASSIFICATION :
* Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs).
* Section 1 Sheepdogs. With working trial.
Brief historical overview: According to the official documentation of the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) e.V. (Society for the German Shepherd Dog, “SV” for short) – legal domicile in Augsburg, Germany, member of the Verband für das Deutsche Hundewesen (VDH, German Kennel Club) – the "SV" as the founding club of the breed is responsible for the breed standard of the German Shepherd Dog. Established in the first General Meeting at Frankfurt/Main on 20 September 1899 according to suggestions by A. Meyer and Max von Stephanitz and in addition to the amendments of the 6th General Meeting on 28 July 1901, the 23rd General Meeting at Cologne/Rhineland on 17 September 1909, the Executive Board & Advisory Board Meeting at Wiesbaden on 5 September 1930 and the Breeding Committee & Executive Board Meeting on 25 March 1961, revisions were resolved within the framework of the World Union of German Shepherd Dog Clubs (WUSV) Meeting on 30 August 1976.
Revisions and catalogued measures were resolved with the Enabling Resolution through the Executive Board and Advisory Board from 23/24 March 1991, amended through the Federal Conventions from 25 May 1997 and 31 May/1 June 2008.
The German Shepherd Dog, whose methodical breeding was started in 1899 after the foundation of the society, had been bred from the central German and southern German breeds of the herding dogs existing at that time with the ultimate objective of creating a working dog inclined to high achievements. In order to achieve this objective, the breed standard of the German Shepherd Dog was determined, which relates to the physical constitution as well as the traits and characteristics.
General appearance : The German Shepherd Dog is medium-size, slightly elongated,powerful and well-muscled, with dry bone and firm overall structure.
Important dimensional ratios : The height at the withers amounts to 60 cm to 65 cm for male dogs and 55 cm to 60 cm for female dogs. The trunk length exceeds the dimension at the height at the withers by about 10 – 17 %.
Character : The German Shepherd Dog must be well-balanced (with strong nerves) in terms of character, self-assured, absolutely natural and (except for a stimulated situation) good-natured as well as attentive and willing to please. He must possess instinctive behaviour, resilience and self-assurance in order to be suitable as a companion, guard, protection, service and herding dog.
Head : 
The head is wedge-shaped, and in proportion to the body size (length about 40 % at the height at the withers), without being plump or too elongated, dry in the overall appearance and moderately broad between the ears.
Seen from the front and side, the forehead is only slightly arched and without any or with only a slightly indicated middle furrow.
The ratio from the cranial region to the facial region is 50 % to 50 %. The width of the cranial region more or less corresponds to the length of the cranial region. The cranial region (seen from above) tapers evenly towards the nasal bridge with gradually sloping, not sharply depicted stop in the wedge-shaped facial region (foreface) of the head. Upper and lower jaws are powerfully developed.
The nasal dorsum is straight, any dip or bulge is undesirable. The lips are taut, close well and are of dark colouring.
The nose : Must be black.
The teeth: must be strong, healthy and complete (42 teeth according to the dental formula). The German Shepherd Dog has a scissor bite, i.e. the incisors must interlock like scissors, whereby the incisors of the upper jaw overlap those of the lower jaw. Occlusal overlay, overbite and retrusive occlusion as well as larger spaces between the teeth (gaps) are faulty. The straight dental ridge of the incisors is also faulty. The jaw bones must be strongly developed so that the teeth can be deeply embedded in the dental ridge.
The eyes : are of medium size, almond-shaped, slightly slanted and not protruding. The colour of the eyes should be as dark as possible. Light, piercing eyes are undesirable since they impair the dog’s impression.
Ears : The German Shepherd Dog has erect ears of medium size, which are carried upright and aligned (not drawn-in laterally); they are pointed and with the auricle facing forward. Tipped ears and drooping ears are faulty. Ears carried rearward when moving or in relaxed position are not faulty.
Neck: The neck should be strong, well-muscled and without loose neck skin (dewlap). The angulation towards the trunk (horizontal) amounts to approx. 45 %.
Body :
The upper line : runs from the base of the neck via the high, long withers and via the straight back towards the slightly sloping croup, without visible interruption. The back is moderately long, firm, strong and well-muscled. The loin is broad, short, strongly developed and well-muscled. The croup should be long and slightly sloping (approx 23° to the horizontal) and the upper line should merge into the base of the tail without interruption.
The chest : should be moderately broad, the lower chest as long and pronounced as possible. The depth of the chest should amount to approx. 45 % to 48 % of the height at the withers.
The ribs : should feature a moderate curvature; a barrel-shaped chest is just as faulty as flat ribs.
The tail : extends at least to the hock, but not beyond the middle of the hind pastern. It has slightly longer hair on the underside and is carried hanging downward in a gentle curve, whereby in a state of excitement and in motion it is raised and carried higher, but not beyond the horizontal. Operative corrections are forbidden.
LIMBS
Forequarters
The forelimbs : are straight when seen from all sides, and absolutely parallel when seen from the front.
Shoulder blade and upper arm : are of equal length, and firmly attached to the trunk by means of powerful musculature. The angulation from shoulder blade and upper arm is ideally 90°, but generally up to 110°.
The elbows : may not be turned out either while standing or moving, and also not pushed in. The forearms are straight when seen from all sides, and absolutely parallel to each other, dry and firmly muscled. The pastern has a length of approx. 1/3 of the forearm, and has an angle of approx. 20° to 22° to the forearm. A slanted pastern (more than 22°) as well as a steep pastern (less than 20°) impairs the suitability for work, particularly the stamina.
The paws : are rounded, well-closed and arched; the soles are hard, but not brittle. The nails are strong and of dark colour.
Hindquarters
The position of hind legs is slightly backwards, whereby the hind limbs are parallel to each other when seen from the rear. Upper leg and lower leg are of approximately the same length and form an angle of approx. 120°; the legs are strong and well-muscled.
The hocks are strongly developed and firm; the hind pastern stands vertically under the hock.
The paws are closed, slightly arched; the pads are hard and of dark colour; the nails are strong, arched and also of dark colour.
Gait : The German Shepherd Dog is a trotter. The limbs must be coordinated in length and angulations so that the dog can shift the hindquarters towards the trunk without any essential change of the top line and can reach just as far with the forelimbs. Any tendency towards over-angulation of the hindquarters reduces the stability and the stamina, and thereby the working ability. Correct body proportions and angulations results in a gait that is far-reaching and flat over the ground which conveys the impression of effortless forward movements. The head pushed forward and the slightly raised tail result in a consistent, smooth trot showing a gently curved, uninterrupted upper line from the ear tips over the neck and back to the end of the tail.
Skin : The skin is (loosely) fitting, but without forming any folds.
Coat
Hair texture
Hair : The German Shepherd Dog is bred in the hair varieties double coat and long and harsh outer coat – both with undercoat.
Double coat : The guard hair should be as dense as possible, particularly harsh and close fitting: short on the head, including the inside of the ears, short on the front side of the legs, paws and toes, some-what longer and more strongly covered in hair on the neck. On the back side of the legs the hair extends to the carpal joint or the hock; it forms moderate ‘trousers’ on the back side of the haunches.
Long and harsh outer coat : The guard hair should be long, soft and not close fitting, with tufts on the ears and legs, bushy trousers and bushy tail with downward formation of tuft.
Short on the head, including the inside of the ears, on the front side of the legs, on the paws and toes, somewhat longer and more strongly covered in hair on the neck, almost forming a mane. On the back side of the legs the hair extends to the carpal joint or the hock and forms clear trousers on the back side of the haunches.
Colours : Colours are black with reddish-brown, brown and yellow to light grey markings; single-coloured black, grey with darker shading, black saddle and mask. Unobtrusive, small white marks on chest as well as very light colour on insides are permissible, but not desirable. The tip of the nose must be black in all colours. Dogs with lack of mask, light to piercing eye colour, as well as with light to whitish 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 allowed.
Going details, Acceptable colours in the shepherd coat are black and tan. Black, created by the pigment eumelanin, varies in its degree of extension over the body, while tan, created by the pigment phaeomelanin, varies in its richness. A well pigmented dog will show black extending over at least 50% of its body, with a strong, uniform tan ranging from a golden, "autumn grass" colour to a rich, reddish mahogany. These colours are arranged in four patterns. They are, in order from most to least dominant: sable, black and tan (B&T), bicolour and black.
1. Rich saddle sable, black sable, faded sable.
Sable is the original wolf colour, with a paler ground colour overlaid with a mantle of black tipped guard hairs. In the shepherd this ground will be tan, with an overlay which is heavy and may appear from a distance to be black. Willis discusses, but is not convinced of, the existence of two alleles for sable: grey and yellow. However, the same variation in colour can occur in B&Ts, and can be perfectly well explained by other, better documented genetic influences. I do suspect however, that there may be two sable alleles affecting the degree of extension of the black mantle: one for the saddle or blanket marked sable, the other for the so-called black sable, which shows distinct black markings on its pasterns, toes, stifles, and hocks, and often black overlay on the throat and chest. Some black sables are so dark that they appear black, until they move and the lighter under fur shows through. Two such alleles, if they exist, would coincide with the genetic distribution of pigment in the B&T and the darker bicolour.
2. Rich B&T, melanistic B&T, faded B&T.
B&Ts also show a rich tan ground, but have black saddles or blankets made up of guard hairs which are black to, or close to, the skin. The black mantle should cover the nape of the neck, the shoulders and distinctive harness markings, back and sides down to nearly the belly, croup and tail. Often tan or grey shows through at the neck and down the tail, but if this is noticeable over the croup or along the sides, or the tail lacks a black tip, colour paling is present. "Salt and peppering" of the withers and back is quite common in bitches, even very dark ones, but is more commonly seen in faded males than dark ones. A very pale B&T can easily be mistaken for a light sable, but if they're that hard to tell apart, they're both very faded in pigmentation and should be faulted accordingly. Very dark B&Ts are often advertised as bicolours, and can have heads, necks and bodies that are nearly solid black. However, they usually show some tan shading about the base of the ears, and have few or no black hairs down the pasterns, or on the toes or hocks.
3. Rich Bicolour, Melanistic Bicolour, faded bicolour.
Typically, the bicolour is a black dog with tan points much the same as a doberman. It is in fact the same gene. A very dark one with a strong black mask and much extension of the black may appear to be solid black, with a black undercoat and only some tan shading on the feet. Theoretically, bicolours always show tan around the vent, but I have seen a virtually black dog with just enough tan around the vent (and between the toes) to suspect that it was a bicolour, but not enough to be sure. However, a pale bicolour can look strikingly like a black sable, showing much black over a light grey undercoat, with tan or grey over the nape of the neck and along the harness lines, and black markings on the legs and feet. These dogs have the genetics for fading of the black mantle, and while they can still appear dark to the eye, will produce colour fading.
4. Black
A black is a black is a black. Some blacks may show tan hairs between the toes or on the pasterns, and some may even show a bit of grey undercoat over the neck and shoulders. Maur Ray kennels, an American show kennel specializing in blacks in the 1940's, suggested that blacks bred of blacks for several generations showed fewer and fewer light hairs, until they were absolutely pure black. Breeding to a black to improve pigmentation however, is not recommended unless its pedigree is made up of dark dogs of other patterns. It is not uncommon for pale B&Ts to throw blacks, who will in their turn throw pale B&Ts. A black will not reliably show the genetics for absence of mask, paling tan or fading mantle, and can easily hide and pass on the genes for fading colour.
5. Black & Silver, Red and faded black.
Paling pigmentation is not desirable, but its various manifestations can be rather complicated. A fading of the black mantle to little more than a smudge is decidedly unattractive, but on a tomato red dog seems less apparent and is often forgiven. The dog with the strong black mantle and mask, but with a creamy or even silvery ground colour may possess a gene for partial albinism, and is equally undesirable. Under certain circumstances, this dog may produce whites. White markings are not desirable of course, although a small white spot on the chest is common even in dark phase wolves, and may as well be ignored so long as it doesn't spread further. Pink toenails may signal the appearance of a more invasive white spotting gene. Deep black nails are an indicator of overall mantle pigmentation, as dogs with poor saddles usually have fleshy or dusky nails. White can occur as a result of several different genes, some associated with colour fading (appearing creamy, with dusky lips and nose), some not (appearing milky, with black lips and nose), but under the standard, white is white and is not acceptable. However, according to Willis, deafness is the result of a double recessive merle white which does not occur in shepherds, so white shepherd puppies are not at risk of this defect.
6. Four patterns of Blue. 7. Four patterns of Liver.
The blue and liver genes, once rare, now seem to have captured the imaginations of pet breeders, if my search of the internet is any indication. If otherwise well bred, they can be quite striking in appearance. They are not expressly forbidden, but the standard demands the nose leather be black, and these dilutions show blue and brown leather. The blue gene causes the black pigmentation in both hair and skin to turn steel grey, often very dark, while the tan ground remains much the same, or takes on a slightly silvery cast. The liver gene does much the same, turning black pigmentation brown. In both, the eyes take on a peculiar, silvery yellow colour. Both dilutions are simple recessives and can occur in all patterns, and when these recessives link, the result is the silvery fawn of the Weimaraner and Isabella Doberman Blues and fawns, according to Doberman breeders, tend to have poor hair coats, a good enough reason for culling them, but the so-called lethal gene once thought to be associated with liver appears not to exist. Blue, liver and white puppies should be placed in loving homes where they will be neutered and live as valued pets. Puppies should never be euthanized because of their colour.
8. B&T with bright points, Sable with bright points, (Willis, Malcolm B., B.Sc. Ph.D., 1977, The German Shepherd Dog: Its History, Development and Genetics. New York; Arco Publishing. p. 132.)
One oddity of colour seen occasionally is the tendency for the tan ground colour to divide into two different tones of tan. The "points" of lighter markings most obviously seen in the bicolour seem to exist genetically in all patterns. I've seen B&Ts and sables with strong mantles and deep, rich tan, but showing well defined points of cream on the feet, chest, throat and cheeks; what the Germans seem to call "bright". In one family I've observed, this trait has been remarkably tenacious, and great care should be taken to select partners who have tan which is uniformly rich.
9. Brindle B&T
Was one of the founding patterns of the breed and seems to have become extinct. The brindling gene affected the tan ground, so that B&T's and bicolours showed a dark striping or marbling (the same effect seen in brindle boxers) over the tan which was not at all unattractive. I wouldn't hazard to guess what a brindle marked sable would look like. Hopefully, if the pattern somehow reappeared, it would not be discarded as atypical.
Size/weight:
- Male dogs:
Height at the withers: 60 cm to 65 cm
Weight: 30 kg to 40 kg
- Female dogs:
Height at the withers: 55 cm to 60 cm
Weight: 22 kg to 32 kg
Testicles : Male dogs should have two obviously normally developed testicles which are completely in the scrotum.
Faults : Any deviation from the aforementioned points should be considered as a fault whose evaluation should be in exact proportion to the degree of deviation.
- Serious faults :
- Deviations from the above-described breed characteristics which impair the working capability.
- Faulty ears: ears set too low laterally, tipped ears, inward constricted ears, ears not firm
- Considerable pigment deficiencies.
- Severely impaired overall stability.
- Dental faults : All deviations from scissor bite and dental formula insofar as it does not involve eliminating faults (see the following)
- Eliminating faults :
a) Dogs with weak character and weak nerves which bite
b) Dogs with proven “severe hip dysplasia”
c) Monorchid or cryptorchid dogs as well as dogs with clearly dissimilar or atrophied testicles
d) Dogs with disfiguring ears or tail faults
e) Dogs with malformations
f) Dogs with dental faults, with lack of:
- 1 premolar 3 and another tooth, or
- 1 canine tooth, or
- 1 premolar 4, or
- 1 molar 1 or molar 2, or
- a total of 3 teeth or more
g) Dogs with jaw deficiencies:
- Overshot by 2 mm and more,
- undershot,
- level bite in the entire incisor region
h) Dogs with oversize or undersize by more than 1 cm
i) Albinism
j) White hair colour (also with dark eyes and nails)
k) Long Straight Topcoat without undercoat
l) Long-haired (long, soft guard hair without undercoat, mostly parted in the middle of the back, tufts on the ears and legs and on the tail)
~FCI+Linda Shaw+GSDCA
