For those of you who don't know, I have two GSDs. A male and female. The female (Juno) is from not overly clear lines and she has a very "straight" back and is on the smaller end of the scale as far as GSD size goes. I wouldn't be surprised if she had some working line in her somewhere due to her incredibly strong drives, etc. However, temperamentally, she can be very reactive and nervous.
The male (Bowser) has come from WGSL all the way - generation after generation. There is no mistaking it when you look at him. He's got all the classic physical traits for a WGSL and his temperament is very very solid in comparison to Junos, even at his young age.
Out here, people tend to focus a lot on the "straight back" vs "sloped back" differences between GSDs. Obviously, it's not that cut and dried and there is more to it than that. I know that. But the general public don't.
What I want to know is that how do those of you who have dogs who would seem to have a very slight "slope" to their back respond to random strangers who approach you and point out how "banana" your dogs back is? People automatically assume that because Bowser has a very slight "sloped" look to his conformation when he's sniffing the ground (not when he's just walking or running though) that he will automatically have hip issues. The thing is, all of his lineage had great hips and elbows and all the relevant Sch testing, etc.
Then they look at Juno and think she's brilliant based solely on the fact that her back is straight. Yet she is the one who is nervous and has a huge question mark over her background regarding hips, etc. (Don't get me wrong...I still love her to pieces!)
*I just want to say that I know very little about specific conformation traits, which is probably obvious from this posting. I have a LOT to learn myself. What I do know is that Bowsers ability to turn at the drop of hat is incredible, whereas Juno's strength would be her speed, rather than turning ability. I don't know if that has anything to do with how different their shapes are, but that is my observation.
I haven't got a good stacked picture of Bowser, but here are a few of his mum and dad for reference:
