# barrel chested boy?



## Rescuesarebeautiful (Sep 9, 2015)

My dog's chest circumference , behind the front legs, is 33 inches.
Is this a normal number? is there anything in the breed standard about chest size?
I'm not planning to show him or anything, I'm just curious 


I have a sneaking suspicion he's West German line because of this, but he's a rescue so who knows

here's a pic


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I can't see the picture very well, too tiny. To the extent he looks actually a bit heavy in general which would make his chest larger. But with such a tiny photo, I could be mistaken.

How tall is he at the shoulder? How much does he weigh? Beautiful color and great you went the rescue route.

Not sure I knew that West German lines have more 'barrel' chests than other lines. My 3 girls are WG lines and NOT barrel chested, but they are female so maybe that would make a different.


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## gsdheeler (Apr 12, 2010)

My guy is not quite 34 inches, he's out of Am show line and 17 months old, I'm waiting for his ribs to "spring" I do think males have more chest than females.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

The late Barker the Younger the 1st was barrel chested. People would think she was fat but there were ribs easily felt under all that fur. She was one tank.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

He reminds me of Vala. Short legs and a barrel for a body.


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## Rescuesarebeautiful (Sep 9, 2015)

@MaggieRoseLee
He is at a healthy weight, but yes, he is large in frame/build. 

I didn't mean "barrel" type chests specifically, just larger/deeper chests

but by his measurements, do you think he is large for the breed?


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## Black Kali (Aug 31, 2013)

Photo of your boy is a bit small but he looks very nice 

My female had 33" girth. She was 26" tall and around 81lbs. She was very athletic and a bit wide chested but not very deep chested. She didn't seem very big when you look at her. My male is 10mo old, he is 27" tall and about 78lbs, his girth is 31". He is a bit narrow chested.

My friend make custom harnesses for dogs and most of GSDs owners buy in the range of 30-34"


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

good looking substantially built dog . Reminds me of what came out of Uwe Kirschental breeding , or , DDR breeding


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## MayzieGSD (Aug 28, 2006)

He has a similar built to my boy - shorter legs, but built like a tank



















Also a rescue so no help there!


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## hemicop (Feb 13, 2016)

An SV judge long ago put on a seminar about GSD structure complete with film from the SV showing a dog's movement in slow motion & from various angles including overhead. The thing I gleaned from the seminar is that these barrel-chested dogs, while appealing to some actually have a bit of a problem from a breeding point of view. 
As we know a GSD is a herding dog, with a "flying trot" or gait that needs to cover great distances with a minimal amount of effort. Now in order to do that they need to be efficient in movement. But the barrel-chested dogs are somewhat out of proportion, hence the barrel-chest. 
Viewed from the front, when they're moving you'll see they will throw their elbows out a bit due to their size and how their shoulders are built. This takes extra effort and/or time ( however minutely) to accomplish & is therefore less efficient than a GSD with a proportionate chest. What this may POTENTIALLY lead to is the dog becoming tired in things like an AD test, herding or anything that would require the dog to move for any length of time. For while the dog may have great shoulder strength, over time he may tire causing him to not stretch as far out in his gait, flail his paws while running or simply start gaiting in a very loose fashion overall. 
The Judge was quick to point out the necessity of being careful about breeding as from a cosmetic point of view some of these barrel chested dogs even if in proportion may not be as functional as GSD enthusiaists would like.


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