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White Shepherd

History

Ever since the original standard of the German Shepherd Dog stipulated in 1933 that a white coat constituted a disqualifying fault, white German Shepherd Dogs have almost completely disappeared from the European continent. It is only thanks to the fact that they continued to be bred independently in USA and Canada that white shepherds have survived and gradually developed as a distinct breed. The first dogs of this breed were reimported into Switzerland in the early 70ies. Before white-coated German Shepherd Dogs had been eliminated from the breed standard in USA as well, the male "Lobo", whelped in USA 5th March 1966, had been registered in the Swiss Stud Book (SHSB). The descendants of that last male to be registered in the Swiss Stud Book, together with other white shepherds imported from USA and Canada, gradually multiplied. There are now several thousands White Shepherds, pure-bred over several generations, distributed throughout Europe. During the last three decades, the anatomy and character of the White Shepherd have diverged distinctly from those of his German ancestors. It is for that reason that he has been recognized in Switzerland, since 1991, as a new breed under the designation of 'White Shepherd'. (The Netherlands, Denmark and the Czech Republic have followed suit and now register the White Shepherd as a nationally recognized breed.)

General Appearance A powerful, well-muscled, medium-sized, white shepherd dog with erect ears, double coat or long double coat; rectangular shape; medium-sized bone and elegant, harmonius-flowing outline.

Important proportions

Moderately long rectangular shape.

Body length to height at withers ** 12 : 10

Behaviour/Character Lively, without nervousness, attentive and watchful; friendly to those he knows well, loyal and affectionate; easy to train and balanced; towards strangers aloof but not apprehensive or aggressive; approaches unknown environmental influences at first reserved/cautious, then inquisitive.

Head' * Strong, dry and finely chiselled, in natural proportion to the body. Seen from above and from the side, wedge-shaped to the nose tapering. Axes of skull and foreface parallel.

Cranial region* Skull **Only slightly rounded; indicated central furrow.

Stop * Distinct, but gently rising stop.

Facial region Nose * Normal shape, medium-sized; desirably black; snow nose (loss of pigment resulting in pink streak) tolerated.

Muzzle * Powerful and moderately long, nasal bridge and lower line of muzzle straight, to the nose slightly convergent.

Lips * Dry, closing tightly, black.

Teeth * Powerful and complete, scissors bite. The teeth must be set square to the jaw.

Eyes * Medium-sized, almond shaped, placed a little obliquely with well fitting black eye-rims.

Colour* dark-brown to black.

Ears * Set high, carried upright; erect ears parallel and directed forward; in the shape of an oblong, at the tip slightly rounded triangle; covered with short hair.

Neck * Medium-long and well muscled, broad set on at the body, without dewlap; the elegantly arched neckline runs, without disruption, from the moderately high carried head to the withers; the throatline should be gently sloping to the breastbone.

Body Strong, muscular, medium long.

Withers * Pronounced; merging well with the neck and back.

Back * Straight and level, strongly muscled.

Croup * Long and of medium breadth; set on approximately horizontal, then gently sloping to the rear.

Chest * Not too broad; deep, about 50 % of the height at the withers, reaching to the elbows; oval; chest and ribcage well extending to the rear. Prominent forechest.

Abdomen and Flanks * Slender, firm flanks; underline moderately tucked up.

Tail * Bushy sabre tail, tapering to the tip; set on rather deep; at least reaching to the hock joint; at rest it hangs either straight down or with a slight saber-like curve in its last third part; in movement carried higher, but never higher than the topline.

Forequarters Straight, seen from the front; only moderately broad stance; seen in profile, well angulated.

**Shoulderblade * long and well laid back; well angulated; whole shoulder strongly muscled.**

Upperarm * Straight, adequately long, strong muscles.

Forearm * Long, straight, sinewy.

Pastern * Firm and only slightly oblique.

Hindquarters Seen from the rear straight and parallel; standing not too wide; seen from the side, adequate angulation.

Upper thigh * Medium long, strongly muscled.

Lower thigh * Medium long, oblique, with solid bone and well muscled.

Hockjoint * Powerful, well angulated.

Hock * Medium long, straight, sinewy; dewclaws must be removed.

Feet * Oval, hind feet a little longer than forefeet; toes tight and well arched; firm black pads; dark nails desired.

Gait Elastic-rhythmical sequence of steps with even drive and enduring; front legs reaching out far, with strong thrust; in trot particularly ground covering, fluent and easy.

Skin * Without folds and wrinkles, lying smooth on the musculature, darkly pigmented.

Coat * Medium length, dense, close lying double coat or long double coat; abundant undercoat covered with hard, straight protection hair, muzzle, face, ears and front of legs are covered with shorter hair; at the neck and the back of the legs the coa t is slightly longer. Slightly wavy, hard hair is permitted.

Colour * White, pure white preferred.

Size and Weight Height at withers Weight * Dogs 60 - 66 cm ca. 30 - 40 kg

Bitches 55 - 61 cm ca. 25 - 35 kg

Typical dogs with slight under- or oversize should not be disqualified.

Minor faults * Slight wild coat colour (light yellowish or tawny shading) on eartips, back and upperside of the tail.

Serious faults * heavy appearance, too short build (square outline) masculinity or femininity not clearly defined ** missing any other teeth than the M3 or at the most two PM1 * blue eyes, goggling eyes ** droop (hanging) ears, semi-pricked ears, flop ears ** strongly sloping backline

tail: ring-, kinky-, hrook tail, tail carried over back ** hair texture: soft, silky outercoat; woolly, curly, open coat; distinctly long hair without undercoat

hair colour * distinct wild coat colour (distinct yellowish or tawny discolouring) on eartips, back and upperside of the tail total loss of pigment, albino deficiency in character: timidity, aggressiveness

Faults Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault an d the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note*** Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.