Critiques Welcome - Page 1

 

Looking for strengths and weaknesses on this bitch. She is West German working line on top with Czech lines on bottom. This was also her first stack ever. Her previous owner never really did much training with her. She is high drive and ball crazy! Lol.

The picture didn't come up when I went to this thread.

First complaints: Please move your arm from her chest. You can't see the development with your hand in the way. Also, stand up straight. If you hang over the dog, I'm looking at you, not the dog. Remove your foot from behind her hock. She can stand on her own.

I know many people don't think it does, but presentation matters.

She has strong feet and pasterns. Front is straight. Could use better lay back of shoulder and longer upper arm. Head is nice in profile, but wondering if she looks doggy from the front. Rear angulation is sufficient. Could be better. Withers are flat with an obvious rise over the loin and a steep croup. Decent hock length. Could be slightly shorter, but I've seen (and have had) worse. Nice depth of chest with correct underline. Looks to have nice spring of rib, short in the loin. She is square instead of longer than tall.

If you ever go for a breed survey, she'll probably be a mid-low SG bitch.

It's her age, somewhat, I think....she will be SG imo. How old is she exactly in this shot?

Xeph isn't "wrong," but the complaints are very "here and now" whereas I am looking at what I think she WILL look like, and some of those critiques will fall by the wayside to a certain degree as she ages and fills out some. Hard to tell from this shot, but she doesn't look mature to me. Also, she's not standing naturally and that's pushing her a bit out of balance. 

My comments are here and now since that is what is presented in a picture.

I personally anticipate her mellowing out over the loin, but don't have a lot of hope for the rear quarter

Top line is superb. Large head with good muzzle length, strong correct ears, great teeth. Upright on feet implying strong ligaments. Will mature to strong build but not stocky. Croup a bit steep, age is not best for critique due to rapid growth. Good bone not too heavy but just right. Well balanced structure.

Chest/front end is spoiled by handler position.

Well sprung ribs for GSD.

I don't know what I am talking about.

I agree to a large degree with both Xeph AND Jenni;
she is too 'square' for Xeph because Xeph exhibits
ASL type. But otherwise she is spot on with all she
says, including the handling instructions ! Your girl
would do better, if exhibited, with SV shows & judges,
or IN Europe.
Jen has a huge point about judges ought to have an
eye and a regard for future potential - this is another
point of difference between the AKC 'style' (of judging
"on the day") and 'the rest'.
VK is right, he doesn't know what he is talking about,
but some fools among us regularly on here [inc. me]
told him he does often manage quite accurate critiques !
I don't agree about her head being "large", from what I can
see she has a normal & feminine head and expression.
This is the point at which I should add what I always say:
that one, still, photograph is NO way to properly critique any
dog's conformation.
Having had untrained Showline juveniles dumped with me
and tried to make ShowDOGs of them, I commiserate with
your problems keeping her still, but Xeph is still right !
JMHO !    Good luck with her.

Thanks all. She is just barely three years old and in this photograph she was concentrating on getting to play with my other female and her ball that was out in the distance, so it was not the best for evaluating her conformation. I'm still working with her on stacking, but I do agree with you all. She is lacking some muscle tone because she was strictly a kennel dog and was never really handled a lot, so we have a LOT of work to do with her, but overall I think she is very nice. My plans for her are to get her official OFA's done, take her to some shows, train her for her BH and IPO1. The potential is definitely there with this one. Thank you all for the tips. I will keep working with her and try to get better shots to evaluate with.

She looks younger than three- I noticed her teeth look mature, but maybe it is the lack of muscle tone. Regardless, she would not look so "bunched up" and "square" if she were standing naturally w/out your foot there, which is why you'll often see someone with another hand on the rear if they're spotting them with their foot. She is shorter-coupled, but she is in no way incorrect for her bloodlines. Good point from Hundmutter about what Xeph shows; Xeph is quite accomplished w/her dogs and conformation (Westminster this year!) but an ASL is a horse of a different color and to SV folks, they seem like they go on forever, where this girl to me looks strong, athletic, and compact...how a working dog should be. We are each critiquing based on our zone of experience. Well, except vk4gsd. He just doesn't know what he's talking about. :p Take your appendages off her, let her stand relaxed, and I bet her chest and hind look better ;)

You need at least 3 people to take good stacked photos unless you're blessed with a dog who is so perfect that they just stack themselves every time they stop moving. One to take the pic, one to hold the leash and one to get the dog's focus. Dog should be good and tired, panting, and relaxed for the best photos. Do as I say, not as I do. I am no expert on actually getting perfect stacked photos, LOL. That would be Xeph's department.

 

This is what you're going for in a stack.

In regards to her length, the SV standard *does* call for a shorter bodied dog than AKC does, but they should still be longer than tall.  She's square because....she's square.  You can make her look slightly longer by pulling the inside foot back just a tad.

This bitch is a train (the above two are her progeny, and shorter bodied than she is), but I can take pics of her with no help xD