WGSL owners: Do people think your dogs back looks slightly "sloped"??

[RocketDog]

I am interested in this too. I really need to get a stacked picture of Rocket for a critique. Sometimes his back looks very straight and sometimes it looks roached.

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by Rua

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:

Both look "Roachy" to me - very typical of German show lines.

The GSD standard says a "Straight" back - the angle is from shoulders to the back!

[codmaster]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

It is because the GSD is known for throwing bad hips. Then seeing the dogs at Westminster and how they gait has people assuming the hips are the reason for the extreme look.
Look at this shot of my working line, he sure can arch his back! LOL! His hips are just fine.

And OPEN his mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! very cute!

[Liesje]

The dogs Rua posted don't look roached to me (curved, yes, but roached means the wither is *not* the highest point on the back). They both look to have slightly "broken" toplines (where the back starts straight and then curves or drops off).

[shepherdmom]

My rescue is from show lines. When the rescue first got her they were very afraid she had HD. Knowing that we had once had a shepherd with HD, They asked us to look at her and see if we thought it was normal. She was wobbly in the back so we suggested having a vet look at her.

It turned out to be a good think because they found a rock in her stomach that they would not have known about, but her back end is just fine. She has that show line slope and without a tail it is even more pronounced than normal. The wobbly was her getting used to life without a tail.

So glad they called us to look cause, we couldn't pass her up. She is part of our pack now slopped back and all.

[Chicagocanine]

Only in photos, people have said that. In person I mostly had people compliment Bianca's "straight" back, even though she has a very typical WGSL type of conformation. She didn't have an especially sloped back but she had a steep croup (I've been told).
I have had people comment to me that Shepherds have a lot of hip problems, but I always just explained to them that Bianca's hips were X-rayed and OFA Good hips and normal elbows. That shut people up.

[Kayos and Havoc]

Nope, my dogs are all moderate.

Slope in back or hocks has nothing to do with HD.

[gsdlover91]

Nope, no slope here. No one has ever even asked me either.

[gsdw/me]

I agree with what Liesje said about their conformation.