five month old, working line female - thoughts? - Page 2

In a way, Joan & Jenni are both right - Joan's description is more accurate as to
what a conformation judge would be looking for with a scissor bite versus an overbite,
but they would also want to see a good fit of the major canine teeth - which can
be thrown off by a malocclusion of the teeth/jaws, in dogs which are either over- or
under-shot.  In a GSD, you are looking for the SCISSOR bite,  not the LEVEL bite

(which would be fine for some other breeds).   That's what is in the STANDARD for

the GSD breed;  it doesn't mention the canines, but a show judge WOULD have an

eye to that.

Apart from the caveats everyone else is pointing out - still very young, not a great
photo or stance to make judgements , etc - I'd agree with what Jenni and Ibrahim
say about your pup. The only negative point, everything else being equal in the
living dog, is that I find her eyes rather light. JMO !

Like Nans, I think she is a pretty puppy, you could do a lot worse.  If she turns out

a good worker too you should have a lovely dog.

 

Hund, if the incisors form a malocclusion, it's a moot point about the canines for a show judge...however, a veterinarian would need to assess the canines in a very malformed mouth.
As for her eyes..reflection can give the appearance of light eyes when in reality they are correct...plus, the eyes can be the same shade as the coat at the ears and be correct. Structure wise, the pup looks sound and not overdone, so will not appeal to the show crowd. Jmo.

I really appreciate everyone's insights! Her registered name is Baerys vom Sequoyah Haus - you can find her on here if you're looking for the pedigree. Like I said, later on today I'll see if I can get a better picture. There's no gap in her teeth if I pull her lips up, but I'm not 100% on whether or not there's an imperfection there. Like I said, none of this really matters to me? I'd like to get her breed surveyed at some point but she's a working dog first and foremost for me, and if she's ugly but a pretty worker, I'm okay with that.

Weight wise, I know we're a tad overweight but I literally haven't changed the amount she's been eating since 13 weeks. Vet said to keep it the same and once she hits her next growth spurt, don't add any until I see that last rib.

Seriously, thanks again for the comments guys. I'm trying to learn all I can and seeing different opinions really helps.

Pedigree

 

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=2380256-baerys-vom-sequoyah-haus

Joan, I agree she is not overshot enough to have a permanent overbite. I was just wondering if she had one at this young age.

OP- you WANT to see the last 2 ribs. You should be DEcreasing until you see the last rib or two, not increasing when you see it. I don't mean they should protrude, but when she's moving you should be getting glimpses of it.

I don't know that her eyes are that light. I thought it was reflection and lack of depth in the photo colors. I didn't notice anything about her eyes right away but they don't have a very warm hue, true. They may be a *tad* light but certainly not light enough I'd make a fuss about it.

My perspective: Lovely girl with a thoroughly healthy and functional structure.....exactly what we should all be breeding dogs for, from a structural perspective. She should trim down a tad, but she's still young.

Sassinator:

You have a very nice puppy. I've successfully shown dogs for decades - Afghans and Australian Shepherds. I don't show my GSDs because concentrating on training and utilizing them for work.

This is my eval for all that it's worth.

She has a pretty head with nice expression - very feminine. She does appear snipey from the side picture but that could be the photo itself. When I was in Aussies, I had to take one of my dogs to a dentist veterinarian. He said the best way to determine if your dog will have a scissors bite is to look at the side teeth - pre molars and molars - not the front teeth as I had always done. They should fit together like a pair of pinking shears. As was noted above the bottom jaw is the last to grow.

Your puppy has a very nice neck and I LOVE her shoulder structure. I also like her topline and her rear looks good. Her tail is long but she will grow into that.

If I were you, I'd sign up for conformation classes so you learn how to show and stack her as well as the speed to move her at and learn to understand the judge's instructions..Equally as important, your puppy will learn how to behave in the ring especially when other dogs are moving past her or stacked near and sometimes next to her. Remember two things above all:
a) every judge has their own opinion and yes politics can play into it. So it's just one person's opinion on that particular day.
b) this should be fun for you and your puppy.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Cassandra

here she is at 7 months, in another bad stack lol. thanks again for everyone's thoughts!

Agree with Cassandra; your girl is a little cutie. Enjoy every moment with her... Nan

All is very good, except her croup. I see it got shorter and flatter. Maybe pasterns need to tighten up a bit too. Lovely girl