Ever since I took office, I commented in detail on this specific topic. In this respect, reference is made again to my publication in the December 2021 issue in the SV Magazine in which I focused on the male dogs I judged on the occasion of the SV BSZ Conformation Show of that year as follows.

I consequently downgraded dogs with limitations in terms of the stability of their hindquarters – regardless of their prior rankings. I was aware of the fact that this would lead to discontent among the dogs’ owners.

Those limitations do not only contribute to a poor image of our dogs in the general public but also lead to a significant reduction of the dogs ‘performance, and thus requires strict corrective action.

We may not only look at the lateral view of our dogs but also at the frontal view and the rear.

Following this principle of evaluation, we shall no longer find males suffering from these restrictions among the best of rankings.

I fully agree with Heidi Theis in terms of the length and position of the upper arms in the field of performance and trial-oriented breeding in the working line. Short and steep upper arms lead to elbows not yet closed, lacking forehand closing and to flat withers. Those restrictions limit – just as much as instability in terms of the hind legs – the dogs ‘performance in a considerable and long-term fashion.  

Her observation – probably made in the USA – that also in the working line dogs can be found with this excessive rear cannot be confirmed in the field of German breeding.

In conclusion, it needs to be repeated that the anatomy of dogs according to the breed standard shall by no means serve a beauty ideal but rather the long-term performance of the German Shepherd Dog breed.

As a result, all kinds of excessive typisation are detrimental with regard to the performance.

Bernd Weber

SV National Breed Warden