German Shepherd Dog Forums - View Single Post

AlexVonRubius · 03-08-2013, 02:00 PM

Hello everyone, I received my first German Shepherd about 4weeks ago. Her name is Sasha. The owner could no longer take care of her due to housing difficulties. She is about 18-20 months and a fluff ball. Originally an outside/garage dog. Under her coat she seems a bit underweight.

Now here's my dilemma. I've been around a few German Shepherds and German Shepherd Mixes but the differences in them are so vast. Our neighbor has an all white with a very straight back healthy 3 year old and my aunt has a standard female 7 year old who's on the hyper side. Comparing Sasha to them she seems... lanky?

I've thought maybe this may be due from lack of physical activity. So we have been taking her swimming a few times and we exercise her every morning. Her run is improving, but there is just something about her that seems off in her hind legs. It may be cause she is just a very calm down to earth dog and this is just her personality?

I've been online trying to compare her posture and gait to videos and pictures. The problem with that is 1. The angles are mostly side profile 2. Some of these "pedigree" shepherds look like an elephant sat on their back yet they are deemed "correct"

I need some clarification on what is a HEALTHY posture in these dogs and what isn't. What exactly should I be looking for? The angle of the hind legs? distance? length? strength tests?

03-08-2013, 02:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
AlexVonRubius New Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 5	Healthy posture and Unhealthy posture Hello everyone, I received my first German Shepherd about 4weeks ago. Her name is Sasha. The owner could no longer take care of her due to housing difficulties. She is about 18-20 months and a fluff ball. Originally an outside/garage dog. Under her coat she seems a bit underweight. Now here's my dilemma. I've been around a few German Shepherds and German Shepherd Mixes but the differences in them are so vast. Our neighbor has an all white with a very straight back healthy 3 year old and my aunt has a standard female 7 year old who's on the hyper side. Comparing Sasha to them she seems... lanky? I've thought maybe this may be due from lack of physical activity. So we have been taking her swimming a few times and we exercise her every morning. Her run is improving, but there is just something about her that seems off in her hind legs. It may be cause she is just a very calm down to earth dog and this is just her personality? I've been online trying to compare her posture and gait to videos and pictures. The problem with that is 1. The angles are mostly side profile 2. Some of these "pedigree" shepherds look like an elephant sat on their back yet they are deemed "correct" I need some clarification on what is a HEALTHY posture in these dogs and what isn't. What exactly should I be looking for? The angle of the hind legs? distance? length? strength tests?