21 month old bitch - Page 2

I like her rear assembly, I do not like her shoulder or chest or her head, but do like her ear set, pasterns, and paws, Her croup is short IMO but her topline is nice. I would prefer to see her coat up close before determining what I suspect that it is fluffy soft and not a sturdy gaurd hair for sure. That is my critique, lack of muscle is not a critique on her part and nothing to do with her structure, it is lack of proper excersize on your part, and therefore not critiquing the dog. She is just not my type of dog, and no I do not mean american showlines are all bad and this is not slam against them. 

She gets plenty of exercise, thank you.  That said, she is not a dog that lives to run.  She'd just walk everywhere if she could.

she is a bit lazy, which I do not like, but you can't do a lot of forced exercise on a young dog.  The muscle will come.

Conditioning is something we are always working on.  While I would like her muscling to be a bit heavier, the tone is fine, she is just not built up.  Just because muscles aren't bulging doesn't mean the dog is not well toned 

I'm surprised you like her ear set, as it is wide.  It's a feature of hers that bugs me, lol

And no, her coat is not soft.  Soft coats drove me nuts.

Almost killed myself in a hole, but my bitch looks nice :)  Taken by a friend


Stacking in the ring

 

Disagree with the comment regarding lack of muscling/conditioning. This bitch is taut ["very toite, like a toiger"]¹ but she is also very lean--and at 21 months of age, that's a good thing--she hasn't filled out yet, and my guess is that she won't settle into her 'substance' until she's closer to three years of age. Looking now at her pedigree, she's maturing as I would expect her to with what she's got behind her... were she looking substantial now, she'd be course-looking at the age of 4 years. I also like that she's got a wide-open pedigree--you've got to dig back to the 7th generation to hit any linebreeding, and even then it's only with 4 dogs. Not your typical GSD pedigree--American lines or European lines. 









¹ credit, Johan van der Smut

GSDNewbie may not be aware that GSDs often mature later than 2 years of age.  None of mine has had a full chest before 3 years of age and this has nothing to do with physical conditioning, just with physical maturity.  OFA will not certify hips and elbows before 24 months of age, so it is not unusual that this dog is not certified at 21 months of age.  The natural assumption would be that the owner prefers OFA to PennHIP, which most people I know do.

It was stated she was out of coat because she was blowing coat.  What GSD owner has never experienced their dog's coat looking terrible twice a year when the dead hair tumbleweed storm hits?

I can't really tell anything about muscle tone from the photos.  How can you without laying hands on the dog unless the dog is obviously fat (which this one is not) or has an open coat?  Judges have examined this dog, including feeling her musculature and put her up, so they must be satisfied.  I can say the dog is not severely underweight because the hip bones would show long before ribs would under such a coat.  It's obviously some trick of light or imagination (or a combination) if you see ribs through a double coat like that but a normal flank shape and no hips.

Stay on topic guys and keep the personal stuff just that........personal!!! Thanks. mrdarcy

Xeph handles herself well, she's used to being dumped on about her dogs and is a lot more courageous than I am. I'd never post a photo of my ASL here  .

I'm looking forward to meeting Xeph and her dog at the National. "Wesson" looks to me like a nice young  bitch in good condition.

Thank you, Blitzen :). I appreciate that.