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.
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)
