GSD
German Shepherd Dog
Our Line / Learn
A shepherd shaped for real life.
Dewolf GSDs has a strong focus on producing family-minded, straight backed shepherds.
This page breaks down the parts of the breeding project and exactly what aspects of parent dogs are most evaluated before committing to a breed.
I’d dubbed our bloodline creation asStraight working back · 0–2% COI
Family-minded German Shepherds
The working vocabulary
Word terms breakdown
A field guide to the words and ideas behind the Dewolf breeding project.
COI
How inbred a dog is.
In dog breeding, COI stands for Coefficient of Inbreeding. It measures the probability that a dog inherits identical gene pairs from both parents due to shared ancestors. A higher COI means a higher risk for inherited diseases and lower puppy survival rates, while a lower COI promotes genetic diversity and health. 0–5% COI is ideal.
More informationWright S., 1922 · Coefficients of inbreeding and
relationship
Rainbow Litter
My mother born in ‘50 had a Doberman stud, a massive, quiet guard dog. Her stud fee for his service was “a single, red and rust female dobie pup.” That dam had. Every. Single. Breed standard. Color. (Common at the time that is.) She had a fawn, a blue and tan, some black and rust, and finally just one red and rust female. My mom called it a “rainbow litter!!” and I’m not sure how popular that term is, but this is definitely something she would have called a rainbow litter!!
Foundation
A crossing of two dogs (registered or unregistered) in an attempt to produce a registration-compatible, breed specific result that harbors the desired traits selected for.
Project
An ongoing, multi generational selection of key parents to create, improve, then maintain the established line, bettering the breed overall and providing genetic diversity to other breeders.
Straight Back
The debate over German Shepherd back types generally refers to the difference between show lines (slant back) and working lines (straight back). Slant backs are bred for specific aesthetic show standards with exaggerated rear angles, while straight backs are bred for stamina, agility, and functional work.
Form follows function
Pretty in motion.
Both straight and slanted backs are beautiful. The difference comes into focus when a shepherd moves.
Chapter 01 · The silhouette
Straight & slanted backs
Both straight and slanted backs are beautiful.
A breeder’s perspective
Von Ward German Shepherds
Summarizes the situation well:
“Supporters of the roach back hock walking and over angulated German shepherds like to defend them and say that all German shepherd’s will look sloped or over angulated if they are stacked or at an extended trot.”
“The dog on top is an over angulated show line and the one on the bottom is a fourth generation Von Ward dog. Placement of the back feet when they hit the ground at an extended trot should not be on the hocks. Show line German Shepherd dogs literally have to pick their back feet up and turn them in in order to clear the ground. I have seen show line dogs with bloody back paws because they cannot properly clear the ground. This has been a debate that has been going on for years, and I will not stop fighting against the improper breeding of this incredible breed.”
A dog needs to be pretty in motion, in real life, not just in a photograph.
-Pure Winter, Dewolf GSDs
Parent selection
Desired traits of the overall project.
The working checklist behind each pairing—from movement and temperament to coat, color, nails, and genetic diversity.
Straight Back
A firm, level topline with correct proportions and low-moderate angulation, producing a strong, athletic dog built for endurance, sound movement, and lifelong function. Dogs should be capable of athleticism.
Family-Oriented Temperament
Moderate drive, strong nerves, and a friendly, dependable disposition suited for family life without sacrificing the intelligence and versatility of the German Shepherd. Both parents must be calm and reliable around strangers’ children, and have no prey drive towards cats (post socialization, or naturally low if not socialized), with a trainable disposition towards quickly learning new small pets added to the home are not prey-motivators.
Joints and Hips
Only ‘older’ (4+ years) dogs not produced from the project are used in stud services. Paper is not enough. They must pass my own inspection as well, not showing any signs (early or otherwise) of hip dysplasia, stiff, or unusual movement.
‘Plumage’
The desired coat would be best described as ‘weather protected medium.’ Professional grooming should not be required with regular slicker brush deshedding at home, but the coat should have ‘presence’ in the silhouette which is hard to describe, but you see a severe difference in each breeder’s stock almost like a signature. I prefer BIG neck fluff and that tapered ‘triangle’ at the back of the head (wolf like), with a full tail on my shepherds- but an overall sleek, moderate coat. [This is a multi generational endeavor and a lot of luck based pairing to get established. It’s not the top of the list, but it’s on the list.]
Color
Strongly prefers dogs that carry multiple pattern and color possibilities, producing wide ranges of unique results in each litter. In the presence of ‘plain sable’, agouti ( | ) is preferred. White to White crossings are avoided, preferring them to naturally appear in litters.
06
Nails
Daily care should feel ordinary.
Quick, name the first breed vets don’t want you to bring in just for a nail trim!! Your answer was probably chihuahua or dachshund, but German Shepherd should be at the TOP of the list next to Doberman. It is pain to have long, thick, BLACK nails that your dog does not want you to ever touch. For whatever reason, my foundation litter (even the black ones) scored white nails, some marbled like mom. I’m striving to keep white nails as a core feature in the line. The pups all have their nails Dremeled in tiny bursts daily to help acclimate them to nail care. It doesn’t seem to make them less sharp (at least as pups), but I do it anyway.
07
Mixed 85%–95% Purity
A little room for ‘spice’.
Due to the age of genetic testing, we can now get the exact breed composition of our dogs sent to us over e-mail. What a time to be alive! All the best dogs I’d ever had were a mutt or part mutt. It is human nature to want to see a clean even number. Numbers are simple. 100% must be the best possible score, right? It depends on the breed, but I’m personally striving for 85%–95% GSD in the same way that if you wanted a wolf dog, you didn’t ask for a 100% wolf. You wanted it to LOOK like a wolf but be a friendly, protective dog. I’m absolutely not afraid to use mixes that can result in even higher quality, healthier offspring. Which is not easy to do unless you really, REALLY know what you’re looking for. Thus I saw a ‘mutt’ that you had to squint to see the blanket on, and went ‘Holy crap, this is a perfect-backed GOLDEN SHEPHERD’ which produced the most stunning black bicolor and white pups that looked nothing like her coat wise, but carried down her amazing athletic form, long elegant muzzle, and bell pepper temperament onto a stamped copy of a GSD.
Keeping them just a tiny TINY bit mixed improves aesthetics with little ‘my dog is truly unique’ ways like how the entire litter has Dalmatian spotted paw pads and an extra red double-spot on the ears of the bicolors. It helps improve genetic diversity, prevent/counter inbreeding within the same breed, and adds a little bit of room for ‘spice’ like how most of the nails are clear/white and easy to trim. (I’m keeping that in the line!!!) I’m not breeding police service dogs or show dogs, I’m breeding family pets. If they are blue, they are blue. Blue is beautiful! If they have an extra white spot but are still most definitely a GSD, cool! If I were breeding service animals then consistency would be top priority. But I’m not. I want your puppy to be healthy, to run with you in the woods, and be your dog.
Quiet
Parents must not be inherently noisy inside the home. They should not be inclined to bark at windows or cause unprompted, sudden and disruptive commotion. This is desired INHERITED trait, meaning training should be more of a direction and ask then something that takes extreme effort over days. Barking should only occur when asked, during play time, or proportional to perceived, real threat. Dogs under 3 years of age are not expected to present this trait fully, especially puppies, which are learning and developing their full range of sound! Dewolf GSDs never prohibits or asks young pups not to show us how well they are growing!!
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