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Hindquarters – The whole assembly of thigh, viewed from the side, is
broad, with both upper and lower thigh well muscled, forming as nearly as
possible a right angle. The upper thigh bone parallels the shoulder blade
while the lower thigh bone parallels the upper arm. The metatarsus (the unit
between the hock joint and the foot) is short, strong, and tightly
articulated. The dewclaws, if any, should be removed from the hind legs.
Feet as in front.
Illustration 20
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Illustration 22
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Illustration 19
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Illustration 21
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Coat
– The ideal dog has a double coat of medium length. The outer coat should be
as dense as possible, hair straight, harsh and lying close to the body. A
slightly wavy outer coat, often of wiry texture, is permissible. The head,
including the inner ear and foreface, and the legs and paws are covered with
short hair, and the neck with longer and thicker hair. The rear of the
forelegs and hind legs has somewhat longer hair extending to the pastern and
hock, respectively. Faults in coat include soft, silky, too long outer coat,
woolly, curly, and open coat.
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Color – The
German Shepherd Dog varies in color, and most colors are permissible. Strong
rich colors are preferred. Pale, washed-out colors
or blues and livers are serious faults. A white dog must be disqualified.
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Gait: A German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog, and its structure has
been developed to meet the requirements of its work.
General Impression: The gait is outreaching, elastic, seemingly
without effort, smooth and rhythmic, covering the maximum amount of ground
with the minimum number of steps. At a walk, it covers a great deal of
ground, with long stride of both hind legs and forelegs. At a trot, the dog
covers still more ground with even longer stride, and moves powerfully and
easily, with coordination and balance so the gait appears to be the steady
motion of a well-lubricated machine. The feet travel close to the ground on
both forward reach and backward push. In order to achieve ideal movement of
this kind, there must be good muscular development and ligamentation. The
hindquarters deliver, through the back, a powerful forward thrust which
slightly lifts the whole animal and drives the body forward. Reaching far
under, and passing the imprint left by the front foot, the hind foot takes
hold of the ground; then hock, stifle and upper thigh come into play and
sweep back, the stroke of the hind leg finishing with the foot still close to
the ground in a smooth follow-through. The overreach of the hindquarter
usually necessitates one hind foot passing outside and the other inside the
track of the forefeet, and such action is not faulty unless the locomotion
is crabwise with the dog's body sideways out of the normal straight line. |
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Illustration 23
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Illustration 24
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Illustration 25
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Illustration 26
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Illustration 27
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Illustration 28
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Illustration 29
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Illustration 30
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Illustration 31
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Illustration 32
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