** Steep croup/top line from top breeders ** Is this normal? - Page 3

Put a shell on the first pic of karmen and you have a turtle. The dog's expression tells it all.

The entire "stacking" thing is way weird and unnatural .. some of the dogs are spread out and posed in a way that is a distortion of their natural anatomy.  About the only time I see one of my dogs do anything remotely like stacking is when they stretch their body and rear legs .. I don't see any of mine standing around in a stack position because it feels natural to them.

Hmmm, disagree. I don't like a stack that ISN'T natural looking.  Most of my "stack" photos were me heeling my dog, giving him the stand-in-motion command, and then snapping a pic from the side.  Plenty of photos just look horrid and aren't doing the dog or handler and favors!  There's really only so much you can attempt to disguise with a stack.  None of my shepherds have extreme angulation, broken toplines, weak rears, or steep croups but all of them do place one foot underneath when naturally standing on alert.

This is a natural pose .. no leash .. hard to get but how the dog naturally looks. If anything the camera angle makes his butt look bigger than it is.  I see dogs standing going uphill and the camera angle makes their butt look smaller.  Not to mention the color filtering for the red dog look.

 

IMO

The highest point on the topline is at the withers but these dogs have something that you call a Nick that is highly undesirable and should be excluded from the breeding stock by judges. Croup flows down at a 23" angle from horizontal but deep croups are extreamly common amoungst SL. 

 

another example of roached back and deep croup....

Honorary member Mr. IBRAHIM please shine some light.... Anxious to hear from you ..... Blitzen too.

 

agreed VkGSD . When a dog is on alert or in drive will stand in a natural stack not the way stacked in a show though. Judges should encourage to stack the dogs naturally not that extream.

 

Even worse: steep croup and broken topline:

 

Those breeders have different interpetation of "Slightly Sloping" or "gently downward sloping".

 

If one goes by the international standard, then most dog, working and show are not such great examples.
Working typically have straight backs and very short steep croups, Show have curved backs and all types of crops...long short, steep or flat or correct.

The over exaturated show stack (SV or AKC) with dog posed to show more curvature and slope does nothing to "advertise" the quality of the dog.


FCI Standard - part about topline of dog.......

Neck
The neck should be strong, well-muscled and without loose neck skin (dewlap). The angulation towards the trunk (horizontal) amounts to approx. 45 %

Body
The upper line runs from the base of the neck via the high, long withers and via the straight back towards the slightly sloping croup, without visible interruption. The back is moderately long, firm, strong and well-muscled. The loin is broad, short, strongly developed and well-muscled. The croup should be long and slightly sloping (approx 23° to the horizontal) and the upper line should merge into the base of the tail without interruption.

The chest should be moderately broad, the lower chest as long and pronounced as possible. The depth of the chest should amount to approx. 45 % to 48 % of the height at the withers.

The ribs should feature a moderate curvature; a barrel-shaped chest is just as faulty as flat ribs.

The tail extends at least to the hock, but not beyond the middle of the hind pastern. It has slightly longer hair on the underside and is carried hanging downward in a gentle curve, whereby in a state of excitement and in motion it is raised and carried higher, but not beyond the horizontal. Operative corrections are forbidden.

IMO, a better example of a dog bred in Slovakia.

Same dog standing more normally  - from video clip, sorry for the poor quality