Max - adult male GSD - just rescued

[WVGSD]

I would like to hear what some of the GSD fanciers have to say about Max and I ask this with all sincerity. This dog is 29 inches tall (over AKC breed standard) and 25 pounds underweight currently due to the situation that put him in a rescue setting in the first place. My involvement with competitive dog activities has been with a very different breed for the past 15 years and the structure of the two breeds is not similar. I pulled Max just before Christmas and, in spite of his light weight, I would like to begin learning about the structure of this breed. It is my hope that, with time and food, he will fill out in both weight and flesh/muscling. At this point, I am just interested in learning what his good and not so good points are when it comes to basic structure that won't change with food and weight.

Many thanks in advance,
Shannon

[GSDOWNED]

Can't critique but he certainly is a beautiful boy.

[Stevenzachsmom]

Are you sure he is 25 pounds underweight? I can't tell that he is underweight in these pictures - especially not 25 pounds worth.

[HeidiW]

He looks in good shape and gorgeous ! I am guessing West show lines?

[GSDAlphaMom]

It is hard to tell from those shots. I think I see ribs in the first pic. Can you take pics from the topping looking down so we can see his waist?

[Konotashi]

He doesn't look underweight to me in those pics.

Gorgeous boy. I don't have anything regarding his structure, though.

[Samba]

Yes, he is thin. I don't think the OP was asking about his obvious less than desirable physical condition at this point as she knows he was not in good condition when rescued. She is asking for a conformational assessment.

I am not good at writing those critiques, but I think he overall has a nice structure.

[WVGSD]

This dog is so thin that you can feel every vertebrae and his hips when you run your hands over him. He has washboard ribs and weighed just 80 pounds at my vet's office last week. He is very tall at 29 inches at the withers and needs to gain at least 20 pounds. There is no muscling in his shoulders, chest and hindquarters. You can place your hands in his chest along his sternum as there is no muscling and flesh that you would see in an otherwise normal pet or show dog. He has had a bath and his coat has some sheen to it now, so he does not look emaciated. Once you put your hands on him, it is a totally different feel. My first impression of him when I adopted him was that he has a German Shepherd head on the body of what resembles a Greyhound. He is much happier than he was two weeks ago and his expresssion is very alert.

I realize that he lacks muscling and the fleshing that an adult male GSD shoudl have, but was asking about his overall conformation as I have showed other breeds and he is my personal first GSD. I would like to learn to evaluate German Shepherds better from a conformation standpoint. He is my second rescued German Shepherd, the first having been a senior female last year.

Thanks again and, yes, he really REALLY does need to gain at least 20 pounds.

His temperament is lovely and I am enrolling him in basic obedience classes this month. He will also get an AKC PAL number so that I can look at the possibiilty of competing in obedience with him later.

[Stevenzachsmom]

I'm sorry I can't answer your confirmation questions, but he is a beautiful boy and thank you for rescuing him.

[lhczth]

Originally Posted by WVGSD

I would like to hear what some of the GSD fanciers have to say about Max and I ask this with all sincerity.

He looks like a German/American cross. In the photos he doesn't look thin, though maybe lacking a bit in muscle. The second photo shows a better side image, but he isn't stacked correctly.

High withers, good topline and croup, bit stretched. Good front angulation, excellent to extreme rear angulation. I can not see his feet, but he looks to be straight in front. He has nice length of leg and color though I would like to see a darker face/mask. I would like to see a more masculine head especially if he is a mature adult male.