Lines - Working or Show?


The big question for many potential German Shepherd owners is what is the difference between working lines and show lines. This page is designed in hopes to describe the basics of these lines in a reader-friendly manner.


Show Lines

There are European show lines and American show lines. The European lines are bred not only to match a physical standard but for working ability as well.

There is a lot of controversy surrounding the American show lines, as they are often bred to physical extremes and with very little working drive. That is not to say that an American show line dog cannot work nor participate in different sports; but it's to say that, if you are wanting an American dog, you should choose your breeder very carefully and make sure you know what they are trying to produce in their particular line of dog.


Working Lines

East German (also known as DDR) and Czech lines are produced with more emphasis on temperament, drive, and nerve, rather than color or appearance. They should have a strong desire to work and are typically high-energy dogs. They need a lot of training and preferably a job or a sport like Schutzhund to participate in. They can easily become "too much dog" for the average owner and any potential buyer should be informed about the needs of these dogs prior to purchasing one.

Many breeders will mix lines to obtain a specific quality in a dog that they cannot get otherwise. Be sure to ask your breeder what lines they are using and what their overall breeding goal is.
 

Further Reading


FCI Breed Standard


The German Shepherd Dog, whose planned breeding was begun in the year 1899 after the founding of the Association for German Shepherd Dogs, was originally developed on breeding from then available Central and South German herding dogs with the final aim to create a dog highly suitable for the most demanding utility work. To achieve this aim, the breed standard of the German Shepherd Dog was developed, emphasizing correct physical structure and particularly a sound temperament and good character.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

The German Shepherd Dog is of medium size, slightly elongated, strong and well muscled, with dry bone and of firm overall structure.

BEHAVIOR / TEMPERAMENT

The German Shepherd Dog must be even tempered, well balanced (with strong nerves), self assured, totally at ease (except when provoked) and good natured, as well as attentive and easy to train. He must possess courage, combativity and toughness in order to be suitable as a companion, guard, service, Herding-dog and Schutzhund.

HEAD

The head is wedge shaped and in proportion to body size (length approximately 40% of height at withers) without being coarse or too elongated. Clean and dry in general appearance, moderately broad between the ears. The forehead seen from the front and side is only slightly rounded and without any or with only a slightly indicated middle furrow.

The proportion of the cranial region to the facial region is 50% to 50%. The width of the cranial region corresponds approximately to the length. Seen from above, the skull is tapering evenly from the ears to the nasal bridge and gradually sloping into the wedge-shaped foreface, with a slanting not too abrupt stop. Upper and lower jaw are strongly developed. Bridge of nose is straight, any indentation or arch is undesirable. Lips tight, firmly fitted and dark in color.

Nose:
Must be black.

Teeth:
Must be strong and healthy; complete dentition (42 teeth according to the teeth formula).

The German Shepherd Dog has a scissor bite, i.e. the incisors must fit scissor-like to each other so that the incisors of the upper jaw overlap those of the lower jaw in scissor fashion. Level bite, over-or undershot bite are faults as well as larger spaces between the teeth (gaps). Equally faulty is straight alignment of the incisors. The jaw bones must be strongly developed so that the teeth are strongly embedded in the dental arch.

Eyes:
Of medium size, almond shaped, set slightly slanting, not protruding. The eye color should be as dark as possible. Light piercing eyes are undesirable since it affects the dog’s expression.

Ears:
The German Shepherd Dog has erect ears of medium size which are carried upright, pointing in the same parallel direction (not inwardly constricted). They taper to a point and the auricle is open toward the front. Semi-drop ears or hanging ears are faulty. Ears carried laid back in movement or in repose are not faulty.

NECK:
The neck should be strong, well muscled and not throaty (no dewlap). Its angulation towards the body (horizontally) is approximately 45°.

BODY

The upper line runs, without any visible break, from the seton of the neck over the well defined withers and over the back very slightly sloping to the horizontal line, onto the gradually slanting rump. The back is firm, strong and well muscled. The loin is broad, strongly developed and well muscled. The rump should be long, sloping slightly (about 23° to the horizontal) and, without any break in the topline, merge with the tail set-on.

CHEST

Moderately broad, lower chest as long as possible and well developed. Depth of chest should be 45 to 48% of the height at withers. Ribs should have moderate spring. Ribs which are barrel-shaped or too flat are faulty.

TAIL

Reaches at least to the hock joint, yet not further than the middle of the metatarsus. It has slightly longer hair on its underside and is carried hanging in a gentle curve. When the dog is excited or in motion, the tail is raised and carried higher, but not above the horizontal line. Corrective surgery is forbidden.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS

Seen from all sides, the forelegs are straight and, seen from the front, absolutely parallel. Shoulder blade and upper arm are equal in length, well muscled and firmly attached to the body. The angle between the shoulder-blade and the upper arm is ideally 90°, but generally up to 110°.

The elbows must turn neither in nor out, while in repose or moving. Viewed from all sides, the forearms are straight and absolutely parallel to each other, dry and firmly muscled. The pastern has a length of approximately 1/3 of the forearm; the angle between them is 20° to 22°. A weak pastern (angle more than 22°) or a steep pastern (angle less than 20°) affect the dog’s working suitability, especially his endurance.

Forefeet:
Rounded, tight with toes well arched; pads firm, but not brittle; nails strong and dark in color.

HINDQUARTERS

The hindlegs are placed slightly backwards; seen from the rear, they are parallel to each other. Upper and lower thigh are approximately of equal length and form an angle of about 120°. The thighs are strong and well muscled. The hock joints are strong and firm. The metatarsus stands vertically under the hock joint.

Hind feet:
Compact, slightly arched; the pads are hard and dark in color; the nails are strong, arched and also dark in color.

GAIT / MOVEMENT

The German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog.

The limbs must be so coordinated in length and angulation that, without noticeable alteration of the topline, the rear legs can propel to the body while the forelegs extend to an equal distance. Any tendency to overangulation of the hindquarters reduces the firmness and endurance, and consequently the working ability. Correct body proportions and angulations result in a flat over the ground, far reaching, ground covering gait giving the impression of an effortless propulsion. The head pushed forward and the tail slightly raised result in an even, effortless trot showing a gently curved, uninterrupted upper line from the tips of the ears, over neck and back to the tip of the tail.

SKIN

The skin is (loosely) fitting, but without any folds.

COAT

MAKE UP OF THE COAT

The correct coat for the German Shepherd Dog is double coat (Stockhaar) with outercoat and undercoat. The outercoat should be as dense as possible, straight, harsh and lying close to the body. On the head, inside ears, on the
front side of the legs and on feet and toes, the hair is short; it is slightly longer and more dense on the neck. On the rear side of the legs, the hair is longer extending to the pasterns and the hocks. It forms moderate « trousers » at the rear of the thighs.

COLOR

Black with reddish-brown, brown, yellow to light grey markings. Solid black or solid grey. Greys with darker shading show a black saddle and mask. Unobtrusive, small white marks on chest as well as very light color on insides permissible, but not desirable. Nose must be black in all colors. Dogs with lack of mask, light to piercing eye color, as well as with light to withish 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 color white is not accepted.


SIZE AND WEIGHT

Dogs
Height at the withers: 60 to 65 cm.
Weight: 30 to 40 kg.

Bitches
Height at the withers: 55 to 60 cm.
Weight: 22 to 32 kg.

The length of the body is approximately 10-17 % longer than the height at the withers.


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.


SERIOUS FAULTS

- Any departure from the above described breed characteristics which affects the working capability of the dog.

- Faulty ears : Laterally too low set ears, tipped ears, inward constricted ears. Ears not firm.

- Severe lack of pigmentation.

- Severe lack in general firmness.

- Dental faults : All departures from a scissor bite and the correct teeth formula, if not included in eliminating faults listed below.


ELIMINATING FAULTS

- Aggressive or overly shy.
- Weak temperament and nerves, biters.
- Dogs with deformed ears or tail.
- Dogs with malformations.
- Dogs with missing teeth as follows :
1 premolar 3 plus one additional tooth; or
1 canine, or
1 premolar 4, or
1 molar 1 or 2, or
a total of 3 or more missing teeth.

- Dogs with faulty jaws, overshot by more than 2 mm, undershot; pincer bite formed by all 12 inscisors.
- Oversized or undersized dogs by more than 1 cm.
- Albinos
- White coat color (even with dark eyes and nails).
- Long outercoat (long, soft, not flat lying top coat with undercoat, feathers on ears and legs, bushy « trousers » and bushy tail with plume underneath (Langstockhaar).
- Long coat (long, soft top coat without undercoat, mostly parted in middle of back, feathers on ears, legs and tail (Langhaar).

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioral abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

FCI-Standard n° 166 / 07. 08. 1996