BREED STANDARD
WHITE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG

^{GENERAL APPEARANCE:   The first impression of a good white German Shepherd Dog is that of a strong,  agile,  well-muscled animal.   It is well balanced, longer than tall, deep-bodied and presents an outline of smooth curves rather than angles.   It looks substantial and not spindly,  giving the impression, both at rest and in motion,  of muscular fitness and nimbleness without any look of clumsiness or soft living.   The ideal dog is stamped with a look of quality and nobility - difficult to define,  but unmistakable when present. Secondary sex characteristics are strongly marked,  and every animal gives a definite impression of masculinity or femininity, according to its sex.}

^{PERSONALITY:  The White German Shepherd Dog has a distinct personality marked by direct and fearless , but not hostile, expression, self confidence and a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships.   The dog must be approachable, quietly standing is grounds and showing confidence and willingness to meet overtures without itself making them.   The dog must not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler; it should not be nervous, looking about or upward with anxious expression or showing  nervous  reactions,  such  as tucking of tail, to strange sounds or sights. Lack of confidence under any surroundings is not typical of good character.  Any  deficiencies  in  character which indicate shyness must be  penalized as very serious faults and any dog exhibiting pronounced indications of these must be excused from the ring.   It must be possible for the judge to check the teeth and  to  determine  that both testicles are descended.  Disqualification:  Any dog that attempts to bite the Judge.}

^{SIZE AND PROPORTION: The  preferred  height  for  Males  -  24 to 26  inches; bitches - 22 to 24 inches at the highest point of the withers.  The length is measured from the point of the sternum or breastbone to the rear edge of the pelvis, the ischial tuberosity, with the most desirable proportion being 10 to 8.5.}

^{HEAD:  The  head  is  noble,  cleanly  chiseled,  strong,  not  Fine,  and  in proportion to the body.   The head of the male is distinctly masculine,  and that of the bitch distinctly feminine.   Seen from the front, the forehead is moderately arched, and the skull slopes (without abrupt stop) into the long, wedge-shaped muzzle.   The muzzle's topline is parallel to the topline of the skull.}

^{EYES:  Dark as possible, medium sized and not protruding.   Black eyelids are eyes (wolf eyes) are to be considered a blue eyes almond-shaped,  set a little obliquely to be preferred.   Light eyes, yellow fault. Disqualification:  Pink or blue eyes}

^{EARS:   Ears are moderately pointed, in proportion to the skull, open toward the front, and carried erect when at attention, the ideal carriage being one in which the center lines of the ears, viewed from the front, are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the ground. Disqualification:  Cropped or hanging ears.}

^{NOSE:  Total  Black is preferred.  But brown or pink streaked is acceptable. Color of nose may change with estrus, cold weather and age.  Disqualification: A nose totally lacking in any pigment}

^{TEETH:   42 in number; 20 upper and 22 lower, with complete dentition being preferred.   Strongly developed with scissors bite in which part of the inner surface of the upper incisors meet and engage part of the outer surface of the lower incisors.  An overshot jaw or level bite is undesirable.     Any missing teeth, other than the first premolars, is a serious fault.   Black lips are to be preferred. Disqualification:   Undershot jaw.}

^{NECK:  The  neck  is  strong  and  muscular,  clean-cut  and  relatively  long, proportionate in size to the head and without loose skin.  When the dog is at attention or excited, the head is raised and the neck carried high.    When in motion,  carriage of the head is forward rather than high and slightly above top of the shoulders.}

^{TOPLINE:   The withers are higher than and sloping into a level back.  The back is straight, very strongly developed without sag or roach, and relatively short.   The desirable long proportion is not derived from a long back,  but from overall length in relation to height, which is achieved by a length of forequarter and length of withers and hindquarter, viewed from the side.  The loin,  viewed from above,  is broad,  strong and short,  lacking undue  length between the last rib and the thigh.   The croup should be long with gradual sloping.}

^{CHEST:   Commencing at the pro sternum, it is well filled an carried well down between the legs.   It is deep and capacious, never shallow with ample room for lungs and heart, carried well forward with the sternum showing ahead of the shoulder profile.}

^{RIBS:  Well-sprung and long,  neither barreled,  too flat nor too round,  and carried down to a sternum which reaches to the elbows.  Correct ribbing allows the elbows to move back freely when the dog is at a trot.   Too round causes interference  and  throws  the  elbows  out;  too  flat or  short  causes  pinched elbows.  Ribbing  carried  well  back  so  that  the  loin  is  relatively  short. Abdomen firmly held and not paunchy with only moderate tuck up in the loin.}

^{TAIL:   Bushy, with the last vertebrae extended at least to the hock joint. It is set smoothly into the croup and low rather than high.  At rest, the tail may hang  in a  slight curve like a sabre.   When the dog  is excited or in motion, the curve may be accentuated and the tail raised, but it should never curl forward beyond the vertical line.   Tails too short, or with clumpy ends due to ankylosis, are serious faults. Disqualification:  Docked tail}

^{FOREQUARTERS:   The shoulder blades are long and obliquely angled,  laid on flat not placed forward.   The upper arm joins the shoulder blade at about a right angle.   Both the upper arm and the shoulder blade are well-muscled. The forelegs, viewed from all sides, are straight and the bone oval rather than round. The pasterns are strong and springy and angulated at approximately at a 25 degree angle.}

^{FEET:  The feet are short,  compact,  with toes well  arched,  pads thick and firm, nails short and preferably dark.   Slack pads are to be preferred.   Dew claws on the forelegs are normally left on but are removed from the rear legs.}

^{HINDQUARTERS:   The whole assembly of the thigh,  viewed from the side,  is brood,  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 is short, strong, tightly articulated and no dew claws should be present.}

^{COAT:  Double coat of medium length.   The outer coot should be as dense as possible with hair straight,  harsh and lying close to the body.  A slightly wavy outer coat, often of wiry texture, is permissible.  The head, ears, foreface,  legs and paws are covered with short hair.  The neck and rear of the forelegs and hind legs have somewhat longer hair extending to the pastern and hock,  respectively.   Faults in coat include soft,  silky, woolly, curly, too long and open coat.}

^{COLOR:  The White German Shepherd Dog is a herding dog.  Therefore, structure and movement should be considered of more importance than color and pigment alone.  Colors:  White or white with biscuit.}

^{GAIT:   The White German Shepherd Dog is a trotting dog with a gait that is outreaching  elastic, seemingly without effort, smooth and rhythmic, covering the maximum ground with the minimum number of steps.  The feet travel close to the ground on both forward reach and backward push. 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 back 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 foot passing inside the track of the forefoot, and such action is not faulty unless the locomotion is crabwise with the dog's body sideways out of the normal straight line.}

<sup>TRANSMISSION:  The typical  smooth,  flowing gait is maintained with great strength  and  firmness  of  back.  The  whole  effort  of  the  hindquarter  is transmitted to the forequarter through the loin, back and withers.  At a full trot, the back must remain firm and level without sway, roll, whip or roach. Unlevel topline with the withers lower than the hip is a fault.  To compensate for the forward motion impaired by the hindquarters, the shoulder should open to its full extent.  The forelegs should reach out close to the ground in a long stride in harmony with that of the hindquarters.  The dog does not track on widely separated parallel  lines,  but brings the feet  inward toward the middle line of the body when trotting, in order to maintain balance. The feet track closely but do not strike or cross over.   Viewed from the front, the front legs function from the shoulder joint to the pad in a straight line. Viewed from the rear, the hind legs function from the hip joint to the pad in a straight line.   Faults of gait, whether from front, rear or side, are to be considered very serious faults.

CONSIDERED FAULTS:   Any deviation from the standard

DISQUALIFICATIONS:   Cropped or hanging ears Undershot Bite cryptorchid or monorchid male
Docked Tail
Pink or blue eyes
Noses  lacking  pigment
Any dog unable to be examined by Judge whether too shy or too aggressive (i.e. attempting to bite the Judge)</sup>