I may have done Ricoh a disservice... (breed standards)

[blackcob]

A public apology to R - I've mocked him endlessly on here for his curly plumey tail, his domed head, his flappy lips and supposed roach back but I took this photo yesterday and it made me stop and think for a bit.

As well as the shoulder check how upright D is behind! Her stifle is entirely straight. I know they're not standing precisely the same but it's a fairly accurate picture.

Poor R, I shall never call him my ugly fuzzbutt ever again and D is henceforth demoted to show dog #2.

How do everyone else's dogs measure up to their breed standard? Bet you can't beat 'overly flappy lips' as a criticism.

 

[Cyrus]

Told you getting him working correctly in harness would help ;-)
Loco is pretty good was told she was by many before I put her in the ring and when I did she went BOB against dogs I saw as being far superior to her

 

[blackcob]

He really has changed shape loads since we've had him, he was quite underweight but with no muscle, his topline has improved a lot since he's been running.

I always thought he was an ugly scuzzbutt but he got best in show last week against a couple of 'proper' sibes, hence me looking at him in a new light.

Any new pics of the Locomoot considering it was her birthday?

 

[blackcob]

For comparison, his adoption photo (when he first went into foster, slightly overweight):

And a few days after he came home:

Doesn't look too bad but it's all fur, you could feel every knob on his spine, I like a slim dog but there was just no muscle there.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Well you've all seen a million of my reprobates...

B is too tall, has a weak head, light eye and is overshot, oh and he has no sheath he is very narrow chested and slab-sided and overangulated behind.
On the plus side he has a nice high wither and his upper arm is well set and he has very strong thighs, a bit like his owner


The pup, I like a lot, he is small to medium sized (it's not meant to be a giant breed, instead of promoting smaller studs they just keep hoiking up the size on the standard *sigh*), good topline with straight back, nice lay of croup, good expression, very nice dentition, good upper arm, shoulder, wither, nicely angulated behind...but his bloody front feet!!! The loong pasterns spoil his whole outline IMO, just like his father. Doesn't have any impact on how he works though. Oh and he is a longcoat, although there are classes for them now that the SV has allowed them...

Oh edit, most importantly, character/temp...

B is insecure and nervy/defensive...not a good GSD character, bless him

Pup has no issue with confidence is a bit 'high' and hyperactive and a total prey monster...so while he is slightly more desirable, would like him to be a bit more steady/clear-headed.
He has been shot over many times and didn't bat an eyelid but jumped a foot in the air when I shook my jeans out the other night **rollseyes**

 

[blackcob]

Poor B, the willyless wonder!

A theoretical B x Dax cross could quite possibly solve both of their conformational issues or result in a litter of mutant frankenpups

Just insist that any pictures of Floofbag are taken in long grass, we'd never know. Is it common/other pups from the litter have similar/going to have any detrimental effect long term? Doesn't seem to have done his dad any harm from the pictures I've seen.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Its amazing the difference work can make to a dogs shape, I don't know the breed standard for sibes but would agree that Ricoh has the better angles, front and rear.

Evie's main faults are that she is top size (or even oversize, I have never put a measure over her), she has a slight hook in her tail and has long feet. I would also like her saddle to have remained darker as she matured, she has some colour paling. Overall her construction is good, maybe lacking a little turn of stifle, but the right handler could soon put that in.
I chose the pups dad to hopefully correct her faults, i.e. he has good feet and pigment and is of correct size.
As CC says, of course temperament is most important and I am happy with hers, she can be slightly dog reactive, but having said that allowed gawd knows how many strange dogs onto her territory for the AAD bbqs.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I've seen one full brother, one half sister and a half brother from different litters and they do not seem to have it. It hasn't done his father any harm in terms of work and it doesn't seem to effect him either, the way he slams into the ground repeatedly
His paternal grandsire seems to have it too, so it seems to be just a cosmetic thing...I do a lot of water and sand work with him to keep them as strong as possible just in case.
I saw a video of the grandfather, he seems have inherited the squeaking during the protection phase as well

 

[blackcob]

As CC says, of course temperament is most important and I am happy with hers, she can be slightly dog reactive, but having said that allowed gawd knows how many strange dogs onto her territory for the AAD bbqs.

She just looked utterly perplexed the entire time, bless her. I remember at one point a strangled bark came bursting out of her, you shouted at her and she slunk off in such a teenagerish fashion that I actually laughed out loud.

D has the better temperament of mine now she's all grown up, R is improving a lot but is a natural worrier and tends to flap/jump/whinge/mouth when out of his comfort zone. Both would invite a thief in and show them the family silver as required by the standard!

R is the more agreeable worker, he will pull and keep on pulling but is not very clever, he will never offer new behaviours, just go through a repertoire of what he knows. Teaching him anything new is like pulling teeth despite his enthusiasm for food.

D will slack off if in harness if she can get away with it and, knowing what I know now about her conformation, does have noticeably less reach than R and 'pounds' to a certain extent (I will have to watch her on hard going). She will actively problem solve and can learn new things at least 50% quicker than he can.

What's the deal with colour in GSDs then, I gather darker is better but does that mean black takes preference over other colours or is it the degree of saturation or what? I see some that are more red and others that are more gold, which is better? (Fiiiiiiiight )

Sibes can be any colour, pattern, marking, whatever but rather like horses I'm thinking an oddly marked piebald could be misleading and expression must be harder to determine when you've got dogs with blue or odd eyes in the mix. This is my favourite sibe conformation resource.

 

[MurphysMinder]

With regard to colour darker is not necessarily better in that a gold sable is not only acceptable but desirable by many, sable is used to improve colour when mated to paler black and golds. Blacks, black and tan/gold are all acceptable ,then you get whites, and the various "krazy kolours", blues, livers, champagnes and any other made up name you like to think of, which are not desirable under the standard.
When I say Evie has colour paling, I mean that lighter hairs have broken through on her black saddle and flanks as she has grown older. This is by no means a huge fault, there have been plenty of champions of similar colour, but I personally prefer a more dense black saddle.