# Marcato show puppies



## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

Five of the six show puppies  Pictures taken this weekend. They are 7 months old.


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## Moriah (May 20, 2014)

How proud you must be!! They are beautiful pups


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Jackie,


Beautiful looking pups.....nice job !


SuperG


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## DonnaKay (Jan 20, 2014)

They are beautiful! Amazing how identical they look... doubt I could tell them apart.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

Thanks . If you feel comfortable critiquing, please do. While my ego likes the praise, I don't mind being reminded to try and keep my biases to a minimum.

I'm kinda hard on my own dogs when I evaluate


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## lorihd (Nov 30, 2011)

beautiful dogs!


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## Ashley_M (Feb 19, 2003)

I love these pics and others you've shared on a different forum. Gorgeous dogs!


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Congrats! You must be so proud!

I love Ouzo. :wub:


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Jackie their beautiful!What show were you at? Love their dark colors.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

Xeph said:


> Thanks . If you feel comfortable critiquing, please do. While my ego likes the praise, I don't mind being reminded to try and keep my biases to a minimum.
> 
> I'm kinda hard on my own dogs when I evaluate


Since I am in no position to judge the standard to any degree, I look at GSDs and judge them based on the appeal to my set of "standards". Your pups certainly meet and exceed my personal criterion in the aesthetic department....which means nothing in the show ring but they still are beautiful.

If I had to be super critical ( and once again, I have little if any education in conformation judging )..do you think they seem a bit "leggy" in the sense of overall proportions ( mostly the pup in the larger pic) or maybe it is a function of not enough of a deep chested appearance. And of course I have to remember they are only 7 months old which completely tempers my previous rookie critique as they tend to look so "lanky" at that age. All I know is...at their particular age...they look tremendous and I hope you post pictures of them as they develop into full maturity.

More importantly, I would appreciate hearing your critique of your pups ( even though you think it might be "hard" ). If you do give your critique, I bet I will learn something from your opinions as you have oodles more experience and knowledge regarding conformation standards. Oh, one last thought...are you pleased with how they move ?

Thanks,


SuperG


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

Which do you personally like best? I like #4.


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## gsdheeler (Apr 12, 2010)

My boy is 7 months old and he's also going thru a "leggy" period, saw his breeder at the MD shows and she said he'll be fine. It's just a growth phase, won't be entering him in anything till things come back together again.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

My favorite is the one I kept...#3. That said, I'll give critiques for you in order

Ouzo: Love his short back and the angle of his croup, which is still a bit short. He has a nice high wither, and his back is solid in motion. He is overangulated in the rear, and has more rear than front. His sire is the same way. He opens at the shoulder beautifully, just isn't as balanced in motion as I would like to see. 

Beautiful feet and pasterns. He was flat on his feet for a couple of weeks, but came back up.

He is currently "shelly" (narrow in the body) which can make him appear longer than he is. I would like to see better spring of rib and more bone, even at this age. The ribcage is from his mother. Her ribcage improved around 2.5 and then the puppies pushed it out to give her better spring. We will have to wait until maturity (4-5 years for him) to see how he finishes out. These puppies will be very slow to mature, which is just fine.

He has a beautiful head with a broad backskull, stunning earset. He needs more fill through the muzzle, though maturity should help that. Can only wait and see. Regardless, when you look at him, you see a boy. He has beautiful parallel headplanes. Strong underjaw, bite is correct, occlusion could be better. 

He is slightly loose going away from you. His father is looser ligamented than my bitch. He (Ouzo) is tighter ligamented at this age than his father was. Coming at you he is nice and tight, feet kept close to the ground. He gets lifty if he's fighting the collar. He has a nice upper arm but is a bit straight through the shoulder, though he has one of the better lays of shoulder.

Moto: This puppy is currently very leggy and is square instead of longer than tall. Strong, short back, beautiful spring of rib presently. He is still a bit underweight (I took him back from somebody and he was emaciated) but is coming along nicely. When he returned to me, his feet were flat and he was down in his pasterns. Correct nutrition brought him back up and while his feet are looser than those of his siblings, the arch has returned to his toes and they are MUCH tighter. Pasterns came back up and are beautifully firm.

The bone on this puppy is phenomenal. Absolutely love it. Not overdone, not too light.

His front is set too far forward, so he doesn't open at the shoulder as well as he could. He is more balanced in motion than Ouzo, but he is lifty in front even on a loose lead. He does have a high wither, but it is caused more by the placement of his shoulder blades than his actual wither. Upper arm is a bit short.

He has beautiful type. Strong, masculine head, beautiful heft of muzzle and fill through his cheeks. Ear set is fabulous. Correct bite, good occlusion.

He is super clean going away from you, strongly ligamented. Throws his front coming at you due to the construction of his front assembly. Back is made of iron, good extension in the follow through. Croup is short, but beautifully angled.

Mikasa: This is my keeper bitch. I love almost everything about her. Beautiful layback of shoulder and length of upper arm, balanced front and rear. Her lower thigh is slightly shorter than her upper thigh which lends to a bit of kick up in the rear if she gets moving too hard. Proportions are beautiful in length to height. Croup is slightly short but again, if good angle (thank you, Cowboy, for improving croups)

Love her forechest, depth of chest, and spring of rib. She has a lot of body, which is what I needed since her mother is narrow. Short coupled with a nice moderate tuck up.

She has a nice broad skull and good length of backskull. Ear set is a bit wide, though night as wide as her mother. Correct scissor bite, but occlusion could be better. She needs a stronger muzzle as she is a bit narrow. She is very feminine, but borders on over refined. I go back and forth on whether or not I find her too refined.

In motion she opens fully at both ends, is beautifully balanced, and *suspension* is the name of the game. You can easily catch her with all four off the floor when you pull gaiting stills from videos. She is so clean going away it blows my mind, and she tracks properly coming back at you with no crabbing/sidewinding

Wonderful bone and beautifully short hocks. Dainty, compact feet and strong pasterns. Can you tell I love this bitch? I am dying to get her on stock.

Striker: Beautifully proportioned puppy. I feel he is the least leggy of all of them. Love his lay of shoulder, though his upper arm is short. Upper and lower thigh match in the hindquarter, but I would like him to have a bit less upper thigh. He is long and a bit overangulated. I have not seen this puppy in person in a few months, so do not know how his ligamentation is.

Naturally high wither, good length of back and short loin. Croup is short and steep and I need to see him in person to see how it will affect his motion overall. His follow through will likely be limited.

He has a beautiful head as well with great expression. Correct, tight ear set, nice parallel head planes. Good fill through the muzzle and cheek, correct bite, do not know about occlusion as I haven't seen him lately.

Yet again, wonderful feet and pasterns. Looks a bit fine boned in the pictures, but we'll see how he is when I see him again.

London: She's a leggy lady, but not badly proportioned. She has the best length of croup of any of the puppies and it is well angled. Beautiful layback of shoulder and length of upper arm. I wish she had more attitude so I could see her use herself...she's lackadaisical in motion and so does not open up the way her structure says she can.

Short back and loin, beautifully coupled. You could put a glass of water on her back while she moves. Yet again strong feet and pasterns. She needs more bone for sure, and a shorter hock. 

Though she is balanced, she is lacking in rear angles right now. She's butt high, so hopefully her rear will come back in a couple of months. Wonderful moderate underline, great forechest, depth of chest, and rib spring. Great ear set, correct bite, good occlusion.

Her head is too refined for me overall. She needs more skull and more more muzzle. She is cute and very expressive which helps. Love her long neck.

Overall I am more than pleased with these puppies. Temperaments are strong, outgoing, happy. Some puppies are more aloof (correctly aloof, NOT shy) than others, but all are willing to be touched and interacted with. These puppies are all involved in a variety of performance venues in addition to conformation.

Wesson should get her ROM out of this litter


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

Thanks for typing all of that out! Very informative!


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## Ruger Monster (Jan 29, 2015)

They are gorgeous!


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

They're looking great, Xeph. I love how dark they all are! I love a dark GSD personally .. maybe not as dark as I got (solid black hehe), but yeah .. dark.


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## Xeph (Jun 19, 2005)

I also love a dark dog, but they can be hard to finish.


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