Although the author’s opinions are written below the pictures, please try to assess the dogs yourself without referring to them until later, for the best possible learning experience for breeders and owners alike. Attempt to identify the virtues and critically evaluate their conformity against the FCI breed standard. The dogs will never be named to neither promote nor denigrate any dogs presented.
Dog #1, is a nicely built feminine, 59cm swarzschimmel female. She tested very well in Canada with Derby and AZP 1 with a V conformation rating. This past year in Germany she scored a VGP1, 336 points with overnight blood track as well as V1 conformation, proving her undisputable quality. An excellent head with correct ear placement, correct long strong head, with equal muzzle to skull length. It’s hard to see her excellent dark expressive eyes because they are so dark. An appropriately long neck flowing through the withers to a very good tail set. The chest is deep and well down to the elbows. Overall proportions should have the length of the body slightly longer than the height ie withers to feet. The front angulation is superb with the shoulder assembly lying flat against the ribs and the elbows well under the dog, this is confirmed by plenty of visible forechest. It should be noted the dog’s front feet are slightly lower over the edge of the track as she is pointing at a wild pheasant at a cautious distance. Correct rear angulation is visible with both rear hocks vertical or 90 degrees to the ground when standing freely. A quality bitch of form and function.
Dog # 2, is the typical mini mouse type GSP, with no bone, size or substance. Interesting to note is the black and white colouring was only AKC accepted maybe 5 years ago. The first DK of this colour were used through NAVHDA maybe 20-plus years ago and were decent dogs. The take-home message should be, that if you breed high-quality tested dogs, you still need to keep conformation in mind or you too can breed dogs just like this. The dog is fine, lacking any muzzle or flew. Eyes are an excellent dark colouring. The top line is Ok but level rather than sloping. The tail is super short and vertical, but the worst thing is the short croup ( pelvis). You can always see a short croup because from the side the rear appears almost square or a right angle with the back. Interesting the main dog that brought this colour to the US had this same problem. The first impression of the front is the complete lack of depth of the chest. Ribbing could also be a tad round or barrel-shaped because the elbow stands well off the body. This would be an unbreedable dog in the DK system, based on size alone.