For example Monsieur, I interpret "The withers are higher than and sloping into the level back. The back is straight, very strongly developed without sag or roach, and relatively short." to mean a dog that looks like this when stacked: http://www.fluffyrat.net/wildfyre/GSD.GIF Not a dog whose butt heads south for the winter. And I interpret "The whole assembly of the thigh, viewed from the side, is broad, with both upper and lower thigh well muscled, forming as nearly as possible a right angle." To mean NEARLY a right angle, not EXACTLY as I see so many these days, which takes away from the structure of the dog, as they now have an excessive amount of thigh/stifle bone, which takes move time to move and follow through in the rear, and thus, there goes the drive, because the dog can't extend properly The metatarsus (the unit between the hock joint and the foot) is short, strong and tightly articulated. Which I take to mean as "The dog shouldn't be able, or shouldn't HAVE to put his entire hock on the floor to support his body weight." The ideal dog in the picture does not place his whole hock on the ground, he does not have an excessive slope to his topline, and his rear does not have a bunch of right angles. This is the style of dog I wish to breed for when I finally get that far. This is where interpretations differe, and where style comes into play. In a message dated 12/17/2005 3:43:41 PM Central Standard Time, EKOLAN1@xxxxxxx writes: I would like some one to point out the places in it where you can have much of a different interpretation. - Jackie Marcato Shepherds Where it's about function, not flash ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2005. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://www.showgsd.org ============================================================================