To us the German Shepherd is a beautiful animal, capable of many varied tasks asked of it.

The German Shepherd as a whole is one of strength , vitality, intelligence, beauty, balance and outstanding nobility. To truly get the best of the Shepherd he ideally needs to have a one on one relationship, which allows his bond to grow and his character to develop. To us there is no better companion than a German Shepherd.

Below is the breed standard (FCI) which we follow.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

The German Shepherd Dog is medium sized, slightly lengthy, strong and well muscled. The bones are dry and the general construction is firm and well knit. Height at wither : males 60-65cm, females 55-60cm. Length of body exceeds wither height by approximately 10-17%.

TEMPERAMENT

As far as his characteristic temperament is concerned, the German shepherd must be composed, firm of nerves, self confident, absolutely relaxed and (except when deliberately antagonised) good natured alert and tractable. He must possess courage, combative drive and physical and mental resilience in order to be suitable as companion, watch-protection-service and herding dog.

HEAD

The head is wedge-shaped and in keeping with the size of the body. Its length is approximately 40% of the wither. It must not be short and cumbersome nor over long. It is clean in general appearance and moderately broad between the ears. Viewed from the front and from the side the forehead is only slightly raised and either completely free from, or with hardly a perceptible, furrow down the middle. The proportion of the forehead to the muzzle is 50% to 50%. The breadth of the forehead is approximately equal to its length. In profile, the skull runs in an evenly tapering way from the ears to the top of the nose through a gently sloping, rather than sharply accentuated, stop into the wedge shaped muzzle of the head. The upper and lower jaws are strongly developed. The bridge of the nose is straight, a dip or rise is undesirable. The lips are firm, cleanly set and dark of colour. The nose must be black.

DENTITION

The dentition must be strong, sound and complete (42 teeth in keeping with the dental formula). The German Shepherd Dog has a scissor bite i.e. the incisors of the upper jaw close over the lower jaw incisors in a scissor formation. Level, undershot or overshot bites are faulty as are large gaps between the teeth. A straight rather than curved alveolar ridge for the incisors is also faulty. The jaw bones must be strongly developed so that the teeth may be deeply and firmly embedded in the alveolar ridge.

EYES

The eyes are medium size, almond shaped, set slightly obliquely and not protruding. The eyes should be as dark as possible. Light, staring eyes are undesirable as they detract from the dog's expression.

EARS

The German Shepherd Dog has pricked ears of medium size that are erect and uniformly carried. They taper to a pointed tip with the opening of the ear facing forward. Tipped or soft, hanging ears are faulty. Ears which are laid back in movement or repose are not faulty.

NECK

The neck should be strong, well muscled and free from loose flabby skin under the throat. It is carried at an angle of 45 degrees to a horizontal line through the body.

BODY

The top line runs from the set in of the neck through the high, long wither and along the straight back to the slightly sloping croup without any visible disruption. The back is moderately long firm and well muscled. The loin is broad, short and strongly developed with good musculature. The croup should be slightly long and sloping (approximately 23 degrees to the horizontal) and joins the tail set with out any disruption to the top line.

THE CHEST

The chest should be moderately broad, the brisket as long as possible and well developed. The depth of brisket is approximately 45 degrees to 48 degrees of the wither height. The ribs should be moderately well sprung, barrel-ribbed briskets are just as faulty as the slab sided.

FOREHAND

The forelimbs are straight viewed from all sides and absolutely parallel when seen from the front. The shoulder blade and upper arm are of the same length and are laid in against the body by strong musculature. Ideally the angle between shoulder and upper arm is 90 degrees but may generally be up to 110degrees. Neither in stance nor in movement should the elbows be turned out or tied in. The pastern is approximately 1/3 of the length of the foreleg and is angled at approximately 20-22. A pastern that is too angled as well as a steeply set pastern undermines the dog's suitability for work, particularly in respect to endurance. The pads are hard but not brittle. The nails are strong and dark in colour.

HINDQUARTERS

In natural stance the German Shepherd stands with his hind legs extended slightly behind him, while his hind limbs viewed from behind stand parallel to each other. Upper thigh and lower thigh are approximately the same length and meet at an angle of 120. The thighs are strong and well-muscled. The hock joints are strongly developed and firm. The metatarsus is positioned vertically under the hock joint. The feet are well-knit and slightly arched.

TAIL

The tail should reach at least to the hock but not further than the middle of the metatarsus. It has long hair on the underside and is carried in a gentle, low hanging curve. When excited or in movement, the dog may carry it much higher but not above a horizontal line through the back. Corrective operations are forbidden.

GAIT

The German Shepherd is a trotting dog. The limbs must be related to each other in length and angulation in such a manner that enables him to thrust his hindquarters well under the body and to reach with the forehand to the same extent without any significant alteration to the backline. Any tendency to overangulate the hindquarters reduces firmness and endurance and consequently the capacity to work. With correct body proportions and angulation, a roomy gait, moving with the feet low to the ground is developed, which creates an impression of a tireless forward movement. With the head carried forward and a slightly raised tail during a balanced calm trot there is a gentle curving and unbroken backline from ear-tips through the neck to the end of the tail.

SKIN

The skin lies loosely but without forming any wrinkles.

COAT

The correct coat of the German Shepherd is a short top coat with an undercoat. The topcoat should be as dense as possible, straight, harsh and close-lying. The hair is short on the head, including inside the ears on the front side of the legs and on the feet and toes. It is somewhat longer and stronger on the neck. The hair is lengthier on the back of the legs down to the pastern and hock joint. It forms moderate "britches" on the rear of the thighs.

COLOUR

Black with red tan, fawn, and pale grey markings. Solid black, grey with darker shading, black saddle and mask. Unnoticeable, small white markings on the chest, as well as the inside leg are allowed though not desirable. In all colours the nose must be black. Lack of mask, light glaring eye colours as well as pale to white markings , pale nails and a red tail tip are to be regarded as weaknesses in pigmentation. The undercoat shows a slight grey tone. The colour white is not acceptable.

TESTICLES

Males should have two testicles of obviously normal development, which should be completely descended in to the scrotum.

SIZE/WEIGHT

Males: Height at wither 60cm to 65 cm/ Weight 30kg to 40kg

Females: Height at wither 55cm to 60cm/ Weight 22kg to 32kg

FAULTS

Every deviation from the above mentioned points should be regarded as faults, the evaluation of which depends upon the exact degree of deviation.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS

Aggressive dogs and those weak in temperament; dogs with severe HD; monorchids, cryptorchids; dogs with obvious ear and tail faults; dogs with deformities; dogs with teeth failings; dogs with jaw faults; dogs that are over size or undersize of more than 1cm, and Albinoism.