German Shepherd Stacking..

Just the foot away from the camera is different.  A lot of people over-stretch their GSD stack, but the back foot should be perpendicular just like other breeds, the forward back foot should align with the tip of the penis.

I'm not really sure why.  I've heard that it better shows their structure, it's because they have to be ready to spring, and that it's because it's their natural stance.  Honestly, I think someone way back when just did it that way and that's the way it's been done ever since.   

i think its a bit of both personally....

i could probably google it and find out but i only feel like guessing right now.

all the shepherds i've been around all had an alert stance that put a rear leg in front of the other. my bulldogs have an alert stance as well but they're squared up. my jack is the same... all four feet under her.. same with my moms collie. but in my minds eye, every time i picture one of the shepherds in my past, my sisters, my dads, my brothers, even mine.... they all seemed to stand a certain way. like they are always ready to start moving forward to handle the situation. however i think the clubs have exaggerated it beyond the point of being stupid.. no dog should stand like that unless they are in the process of peeing... 

Liesje

Honestly, I think someone way back when just did it that way and that's the way it's been done ever since.   

That'd be my guess too. Maybe I can do the same and start Beagles stacking with their noses on the ground? Teehee

DumDog

 however i think the clubs have exaggerated it beyond the point of being stupid.. no dog should stand like that unless they are in the process of peeing... 

It's really just certain lines though, and of course those are the only dogs you will see on TV b/c most of the time the public sees GSDs it's just the top American shows.  I would say, most of the GSDs I see from ANY type/line are not so extremely angulated in the rear. 

Look at Kenya, and she is a conformation champion (old pic of her from her younger, showing days):

This is another dog from Kenya's breeder, conformation grand champion (UKC) and on her way to AKC champion.  Not too angulated, IMO:
 

I really like a lot of the EurosportK9 dogs, but they always seem to overstretch their stacks in their pics (rear leg too far back:
 

And this lovely black sable (Czech import, someone told me), doesn't appear very angulated and won ribbons at a show I was at:
 

I have also heard that it shows all the correct angles. Judges are used to seeing them this way, so... I didn't know their front foot was supposed to be ... there. Thanks!

My dogs stack like this naturally. I've only had a camera in my hands a few times, but...

Jaia at about 5 months (Never been stacked by me).

I can understand..it shows off the angulation better i guess..im not getting at the EXTREME angulation seen in some of the top AKC dogs..thats another topic all together!  I just dont get why the GSD is practically the ONLY dog that is stacked without the feet parallel to each other.  Why is their angulation so different?  It just confuses me I guess..Seems like there would be some other breed that would have different angulation or soemthing besides just ONE.  Anyways, thanks for all the guesses and opinions..very interesting.

IMO I think if a dog does it naturally, it is to balance itself....GSD's have a narrower pelvis to shoulder/chest width ratio...than say my breed it seems...which is very four square and wider/equal across the butt and chest both...they have a good space between their back legs. Many GSD's I see do not have this space...and putting the leg like this seems to make sense in order to balance.

Do your dogs taper from front to back? IOW are they wider across the chest then taper back towards the back viewed from the top?

rwbeagles

IOW are they wider across the chest then taper back towards the back viewed from the top?

Yes. Mine are. Jaia more so than B'asia, but she'll probably fill out more as she matures. They're very large-chested dogs. That makes sense to me! LOL

Kenya doesn't really taper, if seen from the top.  She tapers in at the waist, but a lean, toned GSD is supposed to have a nicely defined waist and tuckup.  So then she goes back out a bit for the rear.  I suppose the shoulders ARE wider than the rear, but it's not a smooth taper.  It would probably depend on the dog's coat and the lines of breeding.  Kenya's got a really tight short stock coat so she looks leaner and rib-ier than dogs with a fuller coat.  She's also west German working lines so she is smaller and has finer bone.  Many GSD people (myself included) prefer a heavier bone.  All GSDs should have a deep chest, but I don't think that translates to wide at the shoulder (top view).  Kenya does have a deep enough chest relative to the rest of her proportions, and thus a nice tuckup to her waist behind her rib cage.

Like you said, the GSD is NOT a square dog, so it could be a balance thing, at least them stacking naturally.  I don't totally buy that a GSD stack is to show off angulation.  You're looking at the leg towards the camera, which is the one stacked perpendicular to the ground, so why would it matter if the outside leg is also stacked that way like other dog breeds? 

This is the best top view I can find:

Here is what I mean.  This is Blacky vom Gleisdreieck.  See how he is stacked like other dogs?  His front feet are not quite properly placed, but the back is nice and perpendicular.  You can still see the angulation without that outside leg tucked under. 

My dogs really don't taper back to the hips. Viewed from the side, they have deep chests with a tuck up at the abdomen, but they have substantial booties too, lol! I've seen then step into a perfect stack position and pause there, but never when I had a camera handy. I pictures of them standing normally, and they're pretty flat backed.

I took some pictures looking down on them from above.

Dena

Keefer

Here's a side view of Keefer standing normally, taken in December.

And Dena - you can see her tuck better than his because she'd had her spay surgery a few months prior and her belly hair hadn't grown back yet. This pic is from October 2005, so she was a little over a year old.

Kaiser tapers. I realize that everyone else has show quality shepherds, and Kaiser isn't so i don't know if that counts. These are the only pics i could find that might show his taper-ness.

oh, and here is kaiser's natural stance...notice how close together his back feet are!