Clearing some odd Questions:”Giant German Shepherd” , “sloping hind legs”
Well people this is IT. Today I got yet another call from a person who wants a “giant” GSD.
I am not going to bore you with too many details, I am just going to ask you a simple question (for those who think Giant GSD are it) here it goes:
Did you ever see a police dog, active herding GSD that is over 100 LBS?
You probably didn’t because an over 100 lbs. GSD can’t move fast, jump high and be very agile and athletic. You are forgetting that it is a working dog, in the USA its still classified in the herding group but all over the world and FCI it is classified as a working dog.
There are also health issues regarding the infamous Hip dysplesia meaning and over sized GSD is more prone to have skeletal/arthritis problems later on in life because of extra weight put on the bones.
Now granted sometime I’ll get some “mutants” that will grow over 70cm and reach 100 lbs or more but I Certainly won’t breed for that and their owners just need to keep them in a healthy weight and not obese.
General info: GSD Male Shouldn’t weigh more than 95Lbs, females about 85Lbs. it is not the end of the world if they do pass those numbers just remember they need to be athletic and show some waist line when you look at them from above.
Further more there you can have a large bone gsd without it being over sized.
“Slopping hind legs”Some people will ask me about the slopping hinds of the GSD, some will tell me that its really “unattractive” ; well the simple reason for a “correct” slopping hind or croup (in the correct breeder language) is for the gsd famous “flying trot” a CORRECT slopping croup gives the gsd the ability to trot fast or slow and cover great distance while conserving precious energy. Usually you see this “slopping hinds” when the dog is correctly stacked (sometime not in attractive way which looks grotesque). I know that some breeders for reason unknown to me think that overly angulated gsd is the correct way to breed, but an overly angulated dog will cause the gsd to not have a stable hind legs and these specimens would be on a verge of having crippling walk, not able to have Strong hind quarters or back and will wobble when walking.
Thanks for explaining the “sloped hind leg” issue. Is this a breeding trait that has come about over the last say 15-20 years? Reason I ask is my wife and I have had dogs for years (Dobermans & Golden Retreivers, yes at the same time and yes the two different personalities are a hoot) and have considered G.S. in the past (Love the smarts and personality), but wondered about the back legs. Many “older” pictures (ie WWII and before) show the G.S. standing tall (No offense), captions refer to them as G.S., but certainly could be mis-identified as G.S. when, in fact, they are Belgian Shepards with very close markings. Is the slope a newer trait?
Yeah I would also like to know about the slope back more, I considering 2 breeders this one and another.
Here the GS seem to have a more angled back
The other place seem to have larger GS with a straighter back…
Which is better? healthier?
SO confusing because one website agrees with Slope, and the other straight. This new trend the other website says it barely started and it sacrifices the GS health…. Who is correct?
Well both GSD’s with or with out slopping croup should be sound. As I mention before a correct slopping croup helps the GSD to gate more freely without tiring fast.
However overly angulated GSD or too “roached back” sometime can rendered almost “crippled” not necessary having hip problems but is so angulated that they can’t even walk properly without wobbling. As always one should always seek a breeder that hip/elbows certifies the parents (to minimize the chance of dysplastic off-springs) the rest is up to you if you like the straight look or the more sloping croup look. Again correct slopping croup doesn’t mean not sound or unhealthy.
Where does this breeder fall into the Sloped, and Flat back discussion?
Vom Blossom, I really like their GSD’s….
As I am considering to buy from 2 breeders. One has the Flat back with okay looking GSD’s the other has amazing looking GSD’s which I am most certain I want to buy from them (Vom Blossom) but the whole arch thing scared me.
psssst… this is the Blossom-Land blog
To gsddame,
Thanks for the clarification/input. Think we’ll be doing more research, but this was VERY helpful.