# 3 1/2 YR Working Line Male - Critiques (conformation or functional) Please!



## Rei

More exactly 3 years and 7 months as of the 20th of September. Primarily West German working lines with some DDR through the dam. 

And yes, he is finally shedding that extra bit of weight! 



















His dork face


















Gaiting










Thanks in advance


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## lorihd

very handsome boy, sorry i dont critique, but i love to look


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## vickip9

I am also not a critiquer, but that stack looks AWESOME!


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## doggiedad

i can't critique but i like the way your dog looks.
nice pics.


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## CeCe

What a hunk! Male GSDs don't get better than this. Love his dark eyes.


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## Sunflowers

Hubba hubba! Goodness, look at him!

If I didn't have one of my own, I would be very envious!


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## Rei

Thank you! I enjoy the compliments all the same  

Any more comments and critiques welcome. Would enjoy hearing about his structure from a functional standpoint, even if it is just speculation. Would also very much enjoy critiques on his conformation, even if it is just personal preference.


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## Xeph

You know how I feel about this dog


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## msvette2u

He seems well put together 
VERY handsome boy! :wub:


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## qbchottu

Did he blow coat recently? I don't know why I remember him with a fuller coat


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## robinhuerta

He has a very nice, balanced body structure.
More coat would even make him look better.......nice dog...congrats!


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## BlackthornGSD

He looks still a bit young in the pictures--like he could still mature a bit more, although at 3.5, he should be pretty much done growing. Nevertheless, he is a very nicely put together boy. Would love to see moving pictures of him, too.

Also--what's his pedigree?


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## Xeph

Qodiak vom HausReid - German Shepherd Dog


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## lhczth

Slightly stretched male with high withers, OK topline, good position of a croup that coule be a little bit longer. Very good angulaton in front with a nice long upper arm and very good angulation in the rear. Good bone, pasterns and feet though he looks like he toes out a bit on the near front. Good color though his tan could be a bit richer. I would like to see stronger secondary sex characteristics. My biggest criticism is that he is long (stretched). 

In movement he appears to have tremendous drive off the rear and reach in front. He also looks balanced. He does hunch up a bit during movement which explains, in my mind, what I see in his topline (and why I only gave it an OK).


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## Rei

A huge thanks for all the critiques and compliments! I had been hoping to hear from some of the experts of the board and am happy I did, and that you all took the time to share your opinions.



Xeph said:


> You know how I feel about this dog


Yes, I do, and I seriously have to thank you again for all the help you've been giving us, in your critiques and great advice :wub:



qbchottu said:


> Did he blow coat recently? I don't know why I remember him with a fuller coat


Hasn't blown his coat, but your memory isn't off. He had been groomed a week or two prior to these pictures, and I most likely went too far with the undercoat rake (first time using grooming supplies... yikes! :crazy: ).

This was the last photo of him that I had used for a critique, you might remember it - 












BlackthornGSD said:


> He looks still a bit young in the pictures--like he could still mature a bit more, although at 3.5, he should be pretty much done growing. Nevertheless, he is a very nicely put together boy. Would love to see moving pictures of him, too.
> 
> Also--what's his pedigree?


I agree, he probably will not go through any drastic changes as far as physical maturity goes. He won't ever have the dense/substantial build of many other male German Shepherds, but he's a pretty great dog so I suppose I'll just keep him anyway  

He's also drawn himself up and is at attention, completely tense, so he looses any bit of substance he really had to begin with. He thinks he's on the lookout for a cat in these shots.

I'll try to get more moving pictures or video stills. Those are the hardest! His gait is shown off best when he's playing ball with me, but then all the pictures I have are of him coming at me. I'll see about getting a helper with a video camera and trying to grab some stills.

His pedigree is the one Jackie posted, but here it is again just in case: 5 geneneration pedigree for Qodiak vom HausReid - German Shepherd Dog

Wouldn't mind it at all if anyone wanted to share thoughts on his pedigree, too! 



lhczth said:


> Slightly stretched male with high withers, OK topline, good position of a croup that coule be a little bit longer. Very good angulaton in front with a nice long upper arm and very good angulation in the rear. Good bone, pasterns and feet though he looks like he toes out a bit on the near front. Good color though his tan could be a bit richer. I would like to see stronger secondary sex characteristics. My biggest criticism is that he is long (stretched).
> 
> In movement he appears to have tremendous drive off the rear and reach in front. He also looks balanced. He does hunch up a bit during movement which explains, in my mind, what I see in his topline (and why I only gave it an OK).


Oh he is LONG and there's no ignoring that . He gets his length from his sire, but his dam has added a bit of balance throughout, where I remember his sire being noticeably front heavy. In person, it usually does not take away from his overall aesthetic appearance although it certainly shows in pictures. 

As far as secondary sex characteristics go, aside from what I posted in reply to Christine, I'll also admit to calling Trent my "bitch headed dog". A nice head for a bitch, but a bit of a bitch head nonetheless, at least from looking at his profile. Poor guy :wild:

May I ask if there anything you saw in particular in his topline that hinted at its shape in movement? Or is it something that you simply learn to see over time?


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## VonKromeHaus

I love Trent. Not going to critique him as others already have!


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## lhczth

Rei said:


> May I ask if there anything you saw in particular in his topline that hinted at its shape in movement? Or is it something that you simply learn to see over time?


The connection between his withers and back just looks off to me. Don't know how to describe it. He has a high withers, but then he drops down quite a bit into the topline. When he moves, he moves a bit more like a dog with flat withers. I don't really know how to describe what I am seeing and, of course, what I am seeing is based on a shot in time.


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## Rei

VonKromeHaus said:


> I love Trent. Not going to critique him as others already have!


Trent says 'thanks'!  You'll have to meet him in person sometime.




lhczth said:


> The connection between his withers and back just looks off to me. Don't know how to describe it. He has a high withers, but then he drops down quite a bit into the topline. When he moves, he moves a bit more like a dog with flat withers. I don't really know how to describe what I am seeing and, of course, what I am seeing is based on a shot in time.


That would probably be that insanely curly patch of fur above his withers (major case of cowlicks?). No amount of grooming is going to keep those down.

But, it is also probably something in the actual structure. You are right in that when he is in movement, he will fall forward slightly on his front. I recall you pointing that particular trait out when it comes to dogs with flat withers.


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