Page 20 - ShowSight Presents The German Shepherd Dog

JUDGING THE
GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG
The WorlD’S MoST VerSATile & GreATeST Pure breD DoG
The German Shepherd Dog Club of America (gsdca.org) is pleased to present this article for ShowSight Magazine.
There are 3 phases involved in judging the breed:
1. Temperament
2. Standing pose
3. Motion
A very specific temperament test is
required of all judges presiding at our speciality shows. The judge approaches the entry for the first contact with the dog standing on a loose leash with no double handling and the dog must not show any fear, apprehension or aggres- siveness. The same procedure is done for each entry. We must insist on sound tem- perament to continue the functionality of our breed and if not sound must be excused from the ring.
252 • SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JUNE 2015
The standing pose must exhibit what the standard implies within the specified parameters. Motion is judged as any oth- er breed coming and going and side gait. With these in mind it is important to read and understand our standard which is very detailed and should be reviewed before every assignment. We have objective parameters but some degree of subjectivity must exist in each judges hands.
History
As its name implies, the breed began in Germany with founders Herr Artur Meyer and Captain Max von Stephanitz. These men were looking to create the per- fect most versatile dog known. Its func- tions were to be service to mankind which today it has lived up many times over and is a tribute to the breed’s founders and the future generations after them.
Herding stock from different regions in Germany were combined to form the Ger- man Shepherds origin with the first regis- tered animal whose name was Horand von Grafrath. The German Shepherd Dog Club of Germany, or Verein fur Deutsche Schafer- hunde, was founded in 1899 and still today is recognized as the largest and most influ- ential club of our breed with membership worldwide and whose numbers have sur- passed 100,000 members at times.
The largest German Shepherd special- ity show in the world is held each year at various locations in Germany to determine the best from entries worldwide. In 2012, this show had 1531 entries in conforma- tion alone! The classes begin with sexes judged separately and never competing with each other. Unlike our shows only 3 classes exist: 12-18 months, 18-24 months and open 24 months and older with a
by MorTon GolDfArb