Origin: Germany FCI Classification

Use: Sheepdog with high degree of versatility and useability; police dog,guide dog, and rescue dog.

1) General Appearance
The German Shepherd is medium sized, slightly stretched, strong, dry and well muscled, with strong bones, whilst the whole body must appear compact.

2) Important Size Proportions
At the point of the wither, the measurement must be between 60-65 cm in males and 55-60 cm in females. The body lenght must surpass the wither height by between 10-17%.

3) Character
The German Shepherd must be self assured, balanced with strong nerves and absolutely impartial behaviour, whilst maintaining a good nature - until pushed to the limit. The dog must be vibrant and easy going. Furthermore, the dog must be courageous, have a strong fighting instinct and possess firm nerves. These are essential requirements since the dog is to be used as companion, guardian, protector and a working sheepdog.

4) Head
It has to be wedge shaped and it should be proportional in size to the rest of the body (the lenght of the head should be approximately 40% that of the wither height), without appearing clumsy, shapeless or course or over-long. The general appearance should be dry (no flabby, loose skin). The distance between the ears must be moderate. The forehead (whether seen from the front or the side), should not appear to be domed and have only little or no centre furrow.

The ratio between the forehead and the end of the muzzle must be almost 50/50. The forehead width must be the same as its lenght. The skull (seen from the top), from the ears to the tip of the nose must consist of smooth lines, whilst having a defined separation between the skull and the muzzle(stop).

Both the under and the upper jaw must be well developed. The muzzle must be straight, it is not desirable for it to be any other way. The lips must be tight, well-knit and of dark colour.

5) The Nose
Must be black.

6) The Mouth
Must be strong , well - developed, healthy and complete (42 teeth in total). The German Shepherd must have a scissor-like bite, in other words, the bottom theet locking with the top teeth in a scissor-like formation. Furthermore, the upper jaw must overlap the bottom jaw. The definition on the sides of the jaw, is positioned in such a way, so as the top and bottom layers of the front teeth(top and bottom) must not shut level(directly on top of the other) - the top must overlap the bottom in a scissor-like close. The bones of the jaw must be well developed so as the teeth are not prematurely worn.

7) The Eyes
Medium in size ,almond-shaped and slightly angled, whilst they must not protrude. The eye colour should be as dark as possible. Light eyes are not desirable as they spoil the expression of the dog.

8) The Ears
The German Shepherd has ears which are medium sized, firm textured, broad at the base, set high on the skull, are carried erect (almost parallel and not pulled inwards), tapers to a point and opens toward the front.
Tipped ears are faulty. Hanging ears are a very serious fault. During movement the ears may be folded back.

9) The Neck
The neck must be strong, well muscled and without excessive, loose skin at the throat. It should be at a 45° angle to the body.

10) The Body
A smooth top-line beginning from the back of the neck and continuing in a straight line over a well developed wither and sloping slightly toward the croup - without any visible disturbance. The back is firm, strong and well muscled. The loin is broad, well developed and well muscled. The croup must be long and slightly angled (about 23° to the horizantal), without any disturbance to the topline - it must continue toward the begining of the tail.

11) The Chest
Must be moderately broad and the brisket should be long and pronounced. The depth of the chest should not be more than 45-48% of the wither height.

12) The Ribs
Must show a moderate curve. It is faulty for the ribs to be either barrel shaped (too round) or slab sided (too flat).

13) The Tail
The tail is thick and bushy on the underside, and should reach at least to the hock joint. The ideal length - being to the middle of the hock bones. When at rest the tail should hang in a slight curve like a sabre. When moving it is raised and the curve is increased. Surgical corrections are not permitted.

The Limbs
14) The Forehand
The forelimbs, when seen from all sides must be absolutely straight. Viewed from the front, they must be parallel. The shoulder blade and the upper arm must have the same length, be well muscled and be tightly knit to the body. The angle of the shoulder blade to the upper arm, ideally should be 90°, but usually it is acceptable around 110°. The elbows must be close to the body - both in stance and in movement.

The pastern must be 1/3 of the length of the foreleg and an angle of about 20°-22° to the foreleg. Furthermore, the pastern should be neither too straight nor too angled (say 20°-22°), so as not to deter the dog's stamina.

15) The Feet
The feet should be rounded, toes well closed and arched. Pads should be well cushioned and durable but not brittle surfaced. Nails short, strong and dark in colour.

16) Hindquarters
The position of the hindquarter bones are rounded towards the back. When viewed from the back, they are parallel to each other. The upper and lower thigh bones are almost of the same length and create an angle of approximately 120°. The thighs must be strong and well muscled. The hock joint must be strong and tight, whilst on a vertical line to the rear feet.

17) The Gait
The German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog. To achieve this, the limbs must be in such balance to one another so that the hind quarter may be thrusted well forward to the mid-point of the body and have an equally long reach with the forefoot and without any noticeable change in the back line.

The correct proportion of height to corresponding length of limbs will produce a ground-covering stride giving the impression of effortless movement. The head thrust forward and tail slightly raised - balance and even trotting is seen with a flowing line, running from the tips of the ears over the neck, back and the tip of the tail.

18) The Skin
Tight, without any wrinkles.

19) The Coat
The consistency of the hair: The correct hair type for the German Shepherd consists of the under coat an a top coat. The top coat must be made up of dense, straight, hard and close-lying hairs. The hair on the head, ears, paws and legs must be shorter. The hair at the back of the hind legs form a moderate "trouser".

20) The Colour
The base colour should be black with markings of brown, red-brown, tan, gold and light grey. Alternatively a grey-based colour with "clouds" of black markings and a black saddle and mask. Inconspicuous white markings on the chest, and brighter shades on the under and inner sides of the dog are permitted but not desirable. The nostrils must in all cases be black. Non-existence of a mask, bright eye-colour as well as light,white nails are considered as a lack of pigmentation, the under coat is a slight grey tne. White is not permitted.

21) Height/Weight
Males: Height at withers 60-65cm Weight 30-40kg
Females: Height at withers 55-60cm Weight 22-32kg

22) The Testicles
Male animals must have two, apparently normal testicles fully developed in the scrotum.

23) 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.

24) Serious Faults
Departure from the breed standard which has been stated in this context and which affects the usefulness and appearance of the dog, is considered a serious fault. Lack of pigmentation, heavy and loose dogs, missing or faulty dentition and/or jaw formation.

25) Faults of the ears
Ears set too low on the side of the skull, soft and tipping at the top.

26) Exclusion Faults
a) Weak characters and nervous biters.
b) Proven (documented) serious hip dyspasia.
c) Monorchids, cryptorchids or deformed testicles.
d) Deformed tails and ears.
e) Dogs with deformities.
f) Dogs with missing teeth.
g) Faulty jaws (under or over - shot mouths)
h) Oversize/undersize by more than 1cm from the set standard.
i) Albinos.
j) If the colour of the hair is white (regardless if the nose/eyes are dark).
k) Longcoated dogs (where the hair is soft, long, not tight - especially noticeably long on the inside and outside of the ears, long hair behind the front and rear legs, long hair hanging from the tail).
l) Longhair with absolutely no undercoat, where the hair from the back is parted in the middle and hangs down the side of the dog.