Critique longcoat showline/workingline bitch? - Page 1

My new girl I bought a couple of weeks back. She's by far the prettiest (i.e. most expensive, haha) GSD I've ever owned! A very special girl but has a long way to go training wise. She's pretty to my eyes, but I'd like other people's opinions on her structure if you guys would be so kind. Not the best stack (she's still learning!) and I know she's only 6 months old so she has some growing up to do, but I'd love to hear some thoughts. She's a German showline/working line cross. Her long coat hasn't come all the way in yet so hopefully you'll still be able to tell me a thing or two about her structure before the coat comes and covers it all up! The fur on her head is quite fuzzy and makes her forehead appear a bit more domed than it is. Just thought I'd add that!
Thanks!

 

Although I am not a fan of longcoats, I like her. Her left hind leg is too far stretched imo and its distracting. She has a nice color coat and I'd be interested in seeing her as an adult.

Barb

Medium dark (Red) sable young female GSD of very good type, long coat, very good proportions. Good head but slightly domed forehead, good ear set, good substantial neck. Good high and long withers, good short back, good loin, slightly short croup of good lay, good tail and tail set. Good hind angulation, good hocks, good hind feet. Good underline, good chest depth, should stand more straight on its fore legs, very good forechest development, very good front angulation, very good font upper arm, both the length as well as the angle, very good shoulder lay back, good strong pasterns, slightly flat toes. Nice pigment and allover expression. A beautiful show quality young promising female.

Ibrahim

I agree with both posts already  with really nothing to add to what they have said, pretty girl have the best of fun with her.

I'd like to see a bit longer back; could be the angle of the photo.. Otherwise, ditto what Ibrahim said.

Would like to see a little longer length of back, am not sure if this COULD change with maturity??  Otherwise a very pretty girl with good potential.  Enjoy,  Nan

I can't improve on Ibrahim's critique, as I'm in agreement with all.  So I will address two other points that caught my eye:

--Keep her toenails short; when they're longer, they make her front feet look longer and flatter than they actually are. A nail grinder does a very nice job, and you can touch them up as often as every week using that tool.

--When you set a dog up to be photographed, especially when you'll be using that photo for a critique, but even when just taking pictures to show her off, you want to consider the location you're using...especially what's going to be in the background of the dog. In this photo, what I found more distracting then the over-extended left hind leg was the shadowy hanging flower pot that seemed to be growing out of her topline, as well as the metal chairback and arm that look like an arrow pointing directly to her croup.  I too have many photos of my dogs with large pine trees seemingly sprouting from between their ears, and even a few shots where there appear to be Holstein cows walking across the dog's topline; while fun to look at for laughs, these things do make it harder to really get a good assessment of the dog's structure, coat, etc.

She IS a lovely pup, and I hope you continue to share pictures of her with us as she continues to mature. I'm looking forward to seeing how she looks as an adult.

As usual, excellent post Hexe, lots of handy info
I wonder what is there to dislike in such an educating post , I hope that dislike was by mistake

Ibrahim

Thanks for the comments everyone! She is quite the pup, I have to say. Though her first owner didn't potty train her very well and then lied about it (Grr! The breeder told me everything). On the flip side, she is the sharpest dog I've met yet, so I'm sure she'll learn quick. On her back being a bit short, it kind of is. This photo doesn't help much though as her hind end was a little farther away from the camera than her front and the angle of her body exaggerates it a bit.
Great critique Ibrahim, always enjoy reading yours. So thorough.
Hexe, excellent points you make about the quality of the photo. I took some other ones in a clear grass pasture, but the grass was a bit too long and none of the stacks were very good. I am aware that her hock should be at a 90 degree angle, but best I could do for now. Compared to the others, while less distracting, she wasn't trying to run away in this one! I'll try and get some better ones after I trim the grass and post em for you guys.
Thanks again everyone! :)

I cannot add anything to what has already been said other that I think she is very pretty and I would love to see more photos as she grows.

Good Luck with her.