Question RE Conformation - Page 2

What a CUTIE!
I don't think that's the kind of critique you were after, though it's the best I can do! 

Sunsilver, I wondered how much they change structurally from puppies to adults. That's why I was curious how early the experienced breeders can tell which of their puppies are going to be show quality and which are better suited as pets.


In three words: experience, experience, and MORE experience!

I haven't got it (yet) but I certainly know a lot more, and have a better eye than I did when I bought my first registered GSD pup 2 1/2 years ago. Even then, there were flaws that later showed up in her conformation which I'm sure NO ONE would have expected.

I can post pictures to show the changes, if anyone is interested enough.

Yes, please do post them Sunsilver.  We can all benefit from examples.  That is only one way to get experience.
Deb

Thanks Debi! That was a far more detailed critique than I could give. I appreciate the time you took to look her over. I agree about her color. She's very grayish especially in the chest. You can really tell from the outdoor pictures (which was why I ran right outside to take some lol)
I will take your advice about the treats. I am trying to keep her food drive up high, so that may work. (I made the mistake of letting my male's food drive wither away and have had a heck of a time bringing it back up!)
Roping the wind LOL... very good description. Perfect analogy :-)
Thank you again

VomMarischal
Thank you very much. For the critique and all of the advice on RAW feeding. She is thriving on it and hasn't refused anything I have offered.

Sunsilver,
I would LOVE you to share the pictures on here. I agree with Deb that it would be a great learning experience for all of us.

I plan on titling and hopefully competing with Indi, but I would later like to have her breed surveyed which is why I am curious about what everyone thinks of her.

Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate it! Stacy

Okay, here you go:

Star of Hope vom Bayou Land

8 weeks




12 Weeks - pigment is fading noticeably. This was the day I brought her home.




12 Weeks - lovely broad chest, good bone, straight legs, nice erect ears




15 Months - saddle has faded badly




18 mo. - Fred Lanting handles her at the Shiloh Shepherd Homecoming. He said she was a bit slab-sided, meaning her chest is long and narrow. Her elbows stick out, so her legs slant in towards the midline, and she flips her feet as she gaits.


.

This fall, at 2 1/2 years...

You can see how badly her pigment has faded. Since she's now finished the fall shed, she actually looks better than in this picture, as the tan portions of her coat now look a lot redder. I think she fades with the sun in the summer time! You may also notice her ear carriage isn't as good as it was at 12 weeks!





I asked a breeder with over 40 years of experience how to judge pigment in an 8 week old pup. She said if the nails look like they've been dipped in India ink, the pup will have good pigment as an adult.

Stacy
All i can say about her is that she is coming on Fine, If she turns out like her Daddy KKL1 she will do okay, But if she has the Talent and Drive of her Daddy then she will be a great little Dog I think another 3 young Dogs from her Daddy gained Titles this last week or so
Steve1

Sunsilver, what a sweet face on Star!  I agree, it would have been hard to spot the ears at that age.  The fading pigment iw wild!  Do her elbows still stick out or did the level when her chest widened with age?  I considered Echo slab sided but the judge didn't mention that and her elbows don't stick out nor does she flip when she gaits.  Star certainly doesn't look narrow in her puppy pics.  Her angulation and topline look good.  So do her feet, pasterns and hocks.  She looks to have good bone, a nice chest and looks to me to be put together well.  What did I miss?

Deb

Debi, she was sold to me as a show and breeding prospect, and I do like to think the breeder was sincere when she made that claim. Most of the faults she's developed are ones that would have been hard to spot at that age, which is why I've used her as an example. (The fading pigment would, of course, have been glaringly obvious to me if I'd been more experienced.)

Other than that, her faults are the poor earset, 'dry' coat (could use both more undercoat and topcoat) the slab-sided chest, the elbows and legs. The hind legs come in a bit too much under the body as well. She's not cowhocked, but a judge would say her hocks are set close behind, meaning they come a bit too close to each other. I didn't spot the problems with the legs, because that needed a better trained eye than mine. It was Fred who pointed it out, when he evaluated her gait at Homecoming.  He said she does have an excellent shoulder, and nice reach, though.

What REALLY put paid to her career as a potential show and breeding dog was when her OFA results came back mildly dysplastic on one hip.  :-(  Damn near broke my heart because her topline and overall body proportions are so nice!  Her ancestors all have good hips for at least 2 generations back!

BTW, that sweet face reflects what's inside. She really does have a lovely temperment, though she is a bit dominant with the other dogs.

Sunsilver,

Well, at least I didn't have the heart break of thinking I was getting a show/breeding prospect when we bought our girl.  We just wanted a pet and had planned on spaying her at 6mo.  I too would have been crushed had I been under that impression.  And there are sooooo many "IFs" involved in wanting to show or breed anyway...like you said on the OFA.  I plan on working her and trying to title her and if that's all that happens I will be pleased.  We are not set up for breeding anyway and I don't have my heart set on it.  She is so much more than I expected so we will just ride this wave and see where it takes us.  Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us so we too can live and learn!

Deb

Sunsilver,
Your girl's color did fade a lot! But she seemed to keep the nice bone structure. My German showline female has faded quite a bit, a she developed the bitch stripe which is pretty wide. But I am not real happy with her bone. Of course I am a novice so I don't know whether it is normal structure by the book, or she actually is fine-boned. In my eyes she looks to be though. I will post a few pictures of her below from a puppy to now. She lost a LOT of color. The first picture (in a horrible stack!) was when I was worried about her weak pasterns as a puppy, which she did outgrow! Now I just don't know what to think of her. We have been drive building with her and plan on starting her Schutzhund career now that she is almost two and watching my male she is getting pretty interested herself LOL
Steve,
That's great to hear about Zasko's other offspring! I am proud to own Indi! She is a real firecracker. I planned on sending you some pictures last week through the mail. I never got that ink cartridge I sais I was going to get. Money was a little short. I should be able to get it out this week. I will email you as soon as I do.


Here is Jena