critique my 2.5yo conformation - Page 1

i find vids easier than pics so just hit pause, honest comments welcome, dog was not real cooperative.

He's not badly put together;  at least it gave me a giggle watching
you trying*  to put him in a 'stand' .

The problem with trying to give conformation critiques on a brief
video is virtually exactly  the same as the problem with doing
it on the basis of one still photo :  the 'judge' can tell nothing
about the important attributes of temperament, movement, dentition,
muscle strength etc etc without the actual dog in front of them and
hands-on.  So anything any of us say about your  dog has to be
heard with those points firmly in mind, 'Showing' really isn't just
about the overall shape of a dog and how good its coat looks.

Can't get a fully accurate feel for how tall he is ?  Looks upper-
middle size,  correct medium strength  (don't get offended, in
Conformation parlance that just means NOT overly muscle-bound
and lumpy !);  within the limitations of the video his coat looks the
correct double version and his pigment pretty solid (can't get a
look at his nails). Excellent head and expression, good ear set.
Quite a nice smooth topline, retained in motion, though he's a
shade longer in body for my own preference.  Croup sl. steep.
Feet maybe a little flat.  Angulation fore and aft looks okay.


*  PS:  Next attempt to stand him for the camera:  1)  Try to have it
closer and lower, more level with his eyeline & body, than normal
for human shots (does not matter if we lose your head ! LOL).

2)  Front end:  hand on breast between front legs, lift whole together
- and make sure feet are even, not E-W, or too far forward ('rocking
horse') when you put them on the floor.

3)  Always pose back legs by putting hand loosely ON the hock,
below the joint not above it - gives you better placement control.

4)  Train dog to Stand Still as a separate Ob exercise, it will help
stop him fidgetting as you place him in stance.

thanks for informative response. agreed, a pic can show no more than color and shape, which is what i am asking in relation to the standard.


what is "correct double version coat"

what color is my dog

i will weigh and measure height, around 42kg last time i weighed, never done height or length.

agree long body, and kinda narrow, does have a bull neck tho. long implies bloat risk?? does have great top speed long narrow body may contribute to great top speed. i would prefer more compact tho.

funny you say strong ears, i thought they would never stand up, took months and they were all flying nun, never guess that now.

agree flat but back legs/rump do hook under the body i think.

thanks hund, you know yr stuff. will try get a better pic/vid

I sure can tell you love your dog. Conformation? Not in words that mean anything. I think your dog is sable. 

come on bee, if only to keep up appearances on a gsd board you should come up with sumthin better than that, people read this stuff.

VK next time you try have the sun at your back so you can use natural light to your advantage. I also agree he is a dark sable. Like most of the working line dogs i know around here.
Your stretching his front legs too far forward. Hence "Rocking horse." You dog's elbow and pastern should be down in a almost straight line. The dog did this naturally for you. And in the rear stretch the outside leg back and bring the inside leg forward.
He looks like a german shepherd, but other than that i have no comment, because i don't follow GSD conformation. Showline or working type.
But over all the dog looks nice and appears in good health.
Fry

notes to self - front legs straight, outside rear back, inside rear forward, camera eye level, sun on back.

man this is not easy, thanks, will re-do.

I think his front end was correct before you started to move his legs, sometimes the less "messing, with them the better.  Unless they are natural "self stacker's," it is almost always a two or sometimes three person job to get a good stacked picture. You need a photographer, a handler, and an attention getter, can be quite a crowd..  Good luck, he looks like he is really having fun with you.    

he was not supposed to be having fun, it was serious a session for purposes of critique, i got owned again by my dog dammit.

I agree, it'd be better to have the sun behind the camera, or pick an overcast day to do it. Does he have a command like "wait"? I use that when I do a stack with my dog... then I can hit the remote shutter on my camera and walk off and be the distraction for her at the same time.... OR go take the pic with the camera and throw a frisbee or something right as I click the button.