Need Help: Should I consider showing this male? Conformation Critiques welcomed - Page 1

I am seeking honest opinions on a 13 month old red black male that we wondered if he has show quality conformation. He's tall... he tapes at 26 inches with a level on his withers. Need honest assessments before investing time and money into training and potentially showing him. Thanks everyone who want to chime in!

It is only one photo;  so it is hard to tell anything really about this young dog's suitability for the Show ring - I assume you mean Conformation showing ?
The height:  26 in / 66 cm would normally be regarded as top size within the Standard, he can't really afford to grow any taller (having said that there are some awfully big dogs about !)  Have you read your Breed Standard ? Does the breeder of your dog have any advice for you ?
The overall look of him - this is entirely my personal opinion, and I have no experience of the USA show scene - but he does not really excite me.  He looks like a nice dog, but not with that extra presence that you need in a show-dog;  but like I say, its only a/one photo.
At over one year, he is a little late to be starting out on a show career - certainly in the UK he would have already spent half his life being trained and shown.  This may be a disadvantage; especially if you yourself are a novice.
Having said that, NO TIME SPENT TRAINING A GSD IS EVER  A WASTE OF TIME ...

 

go to a small conformation show and see that the judges comments and decide from there.

The SV measures behind the withers--so he's probably within standard for height.

I can help you with the critique, A first note about the stack is front legs should be placed a little backward and that would show a better shoulder angle and a better lay of shoulder blade. The far hock (from the viewr) should be placed a little forward, placing it this way shows his croup to be of correct angle while in fact it is a little steep.

My critique is based on current photo, A black/tan male of good type, correct proportions height to length and chest depth to total height, well balanced, large size, medium strength, good size of head, very good planes and ears, high withers of sufficient length, nice topline but back could be stronger and straighter, nice lay of croup but short (croup in correct stack is a little steep), correct tailset and good tail, very good hind angulation, good strong hocks, correct stifle angle, correct hind bones proportions, Nice chest front development, good length of front upper arm but slightly steep, shoulder blade is slightly forward placed, pasterns are weak/over angled. front feet are a little flat and toes are long, rear feet are better and tighter. His front is not very clean, he does not stand straight, some call it a little east/west.

Ibrahim, I am so impressed! .....Hey, have you ever re-measured Xaro (I think was his name?) Did he ever grow any more?

We just sent one of our horses for training. We were curious about how she would measure up in the show ring. Their first question was, " That will depend on the type of shows you plan on attending"..lol..I realized what a funny question that actually was..;)

I think your male is very handsome. Ibrahim gave a very helpful critique..:)  You should attend as a specator at some of the shows that you would like to attend with your male and see how he measures up to the competition..

Have fun...:)

beetree,

Yes I did, he did not grow anymore in height but his head and bones did a little and his coat color became darker. As a matter of fact I sold him to a friend and he's just doing fine but was neutered. Thanks for asking

Ibrahim

Ok, flurry - now that you've got Ibrahim's proper 'critique' (as would be given by the judge if your dog was entered in a Show class), sit down with that and a copy of the Breed Standard, and compare.  Then do what others have suggested, find yourself a dog show (or two ! ) you can spend time at, sit and watch the dogs (hopefully they will be GSDs but it doesn't matter too much from the point of view of getting used to showing), see if you can see what I meant by that 'something extra' and decide whether your dog has got that 'ring presence';  talk to exhibitors around the ring, get a proper idea of what is involved. 
When you have done all these things you will be best placed to decide for yourself whether it is a
good idea to put the work in to ring training and entering him in shows (and the travelling, and the money ...) at this late stage.
Whichever you decide to do in the end, I meant what I said - you can't lose in the long run by investing time in training your GSD to be steady and obedient and to allow people to touch him, look at his teeth, etc, even if he doesn't become a showdog he'll be happier and a better companion. 

Nothing in the pic that suggests a waste of time showing. Actually a handsome boy. The waste of time (and money) comes from showing a dog not ring trained.

Really, the only negative evident from the photo are the feet, as pointed out previous.

get him out and see what the judges say.

Rik