“The German Shepherd Dog must be well-balanced (with strong nerves) in terms of character, self-assured, absolutely natural and (except for a stimulated situation) good-natured as well as attentive and willing to please. He must possess instinctive behaviour, resilience and self-assurance in order to be suitable as a companion, guard, protection, service and herding dog”
Quoted from FCI standard n°166. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; UFAW — Genetic Welfare Problems of Companion Animals: German Shepherd Dog, Hip Dysplasia. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
FCI standard · German Shepherd Dog
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording.
The German Shepherd Dog is bred in the hair varieties double coat and long double coat – both with undercoat.
Double coat: The guard hair should be as dense as possible, particularly harsh and close fitting: short on the head, including the inside of the ears, short on the front side of the legs, paws and toes, some-what longer and more strongly covered in hair on the neck.
On the back side of the legs the hair extends to the carpal joint or the hock
it forms moderate ‘trousers’ on the back side of the haunches.
Long double coat: The guard hair should be long, soft and not close fitting, with tufts on the ears and legs, bushy trousers and bushy tail with downward formation of tuft.
Short on the head, including the inside of the ears, on the front side of the legs, on the paws and toes, somewhat longer and more strongly covered in hair on the neck, almost forming a mane.
On the back side of the legs the hair extends to the carpal joint or the hock and forms clear trousers on the back side of the haunches.
Colours Colours are black with reddish-brown, brown and yellow to light grey markings
single-coloured black, grey with darker shading, black saddle and mask.
Unobtrusive, small white marks on chest as well as very light colour on insides are permissible, but not desirable.
The tip of the nose must be black in all colours.
Dogs with lack of mask, light to piercing eye colour, as well as with light to whitish markings on the chest and the insides, pale nails and red tip of tail are considered to be lacking in pigmentation.
The undercoat shows a light greyish tone.
The colour white is not allowed
Shortened from FCI standard n°166 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What a judge marks the German Shepherd Dog down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
FCI divides the German Shepherd Dog into these varieties, listed in the registry's own words. Depending on the breed they separate colour, coat, size or line — they are not a full list of colours, which no registry we hold publishes. Ask a breeder which variety their line is.
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the German Shepherd Dog in general; any individual animal can differ.
Known hereditary risks for the German Shepherd Dog breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
4 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Malformation of the hip joint causing joint laxity that progresses to arthritis; UFAW rates the welfare impact as major for many affected dogs, ranging up to euthanasia in severe cases. Prevalence estimates for the breed range from about 18% to 49% depending on the population and scoring method.
What to ask for
A hip evaluation via a recognised scheme — OFA, BVA/KC or FCI — on both parents, required for the parent club's CHIC certificate.
A group of developmental abnormalities of the elbow joint that cause pain, lameness and secondary arthritis, usually appearing before two years of age.
What to ask for
An elbow evaluation via OFA (or the FCI/BVA-KC equivalent), on both parents, required for the parent club's CHIC certificate.
A slow, progressive breakdown of the spinal cord's nerve fibres that starts in the hind legs and typically appears from around 8 years old, eventually reaching the front legs. The SOD1 variant most associated with it in this breed is a risk factor with incomplete penetrance, not a diagnosis: some dogs that test homozygous for the risk allele never develop signs, and the test cannot be used to confirm the disease in a dog that already has symptoms.
What to ask for
A DNA test for the SOD1:c.118G>A variant, on both parents, from a laboratory such as the University of Missouri (via OFA), Embark or Genomia.
Destruction of the pancreas's enzyme-producing cells, usually starting before 4 years old, leaves the dog unable to digest food properly, causing progressive weight loss and a ravenous appetite despite eating; it needs daily enzyme replacement for life once diagnosed. It is dramatically more common in this breed than in the general dog population and is thought to have a polygenic, partly immune-mediated basis.
What to ask for
No validated pre-breeding DNA test exists. A risk allele in the dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) region has been identified in research but is not offered as a commercial breeding screen. A symptomatic dog is diagnosed on a serum trypsin-like immunoreactivity (TLI) blood test, not a breeding screen; ask the breeder whether the condition has occurred in the line.
Median survival 11,3 years
95% confidence interval 11,3–11,4 years, from 10.773 recorded deaths among 19.847 dogs
Mortality hazard 1.24 (1.22, 1.27) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12,0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584.734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
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No German Shepherd Dog breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.
