The American Tundra Shepherd Dog

Official Breed Standard

 

 

  1. General Appearance: The American Tundra Shepherd Dog is a shepherd type dog.  The ATSD is a large, strong and well muscled dog, being slightly longer then he is tall.  His carriage reflects his proud and regal bearing.  His overall symmetry denotes an animal that is powerful, and well balanced.  Despite its large size, the ATSD is extremely agile.  He is built for great endurance.  The ATSD has a wide variety of colors from Blk & Tan and varieties to a more grizzled sable and or (augoti) variations, along with solid black & white.  Males are decidedly larger than females with sex characteristics being clearly defined.  The masculinity of the male ATSD and the femininity of the female ATSD are readily apparent. 

 

  1. Character:  Alert, extremely intelligent, the ATSD is a keen observer of his surroundings.  He has a memory retention unsurpassed in the K-9 world making him a very tractable animal capable of learning numerous commands.  The ATSD is foremost a loyal and devoted companion.  He bonds extremely close to his family (pack) when raised from a puppy.  The ATSD will become a member of your family.  The ATSD has a standoffish personality toward unknown persons.  This is marked by an openness and friendly demeanor to his extended family.  Totally confident in his own environment the ATSD still possess a high degree of self-preservation  lacking in many of  today’s modern breeds.  The ATSD should be approachable by unknown persons when correct body language is used and his master (friend) is present.  A brief acknowledgment is all that should be expected.  The ATSD has shown capacity as companion, therapy, watchdog, guardian, search & rescue, herding, agility and other working functions.  The ATSD has a great nose, his scenting abilities make him the perfect candidate for tracking and air scenting.  He is a ferocious hunter of varmints and even larger prey, yet somewhat reserved around strangers not leading himself to immediate or indiscriminate friendships.

 

  1. Head:  The head should be proportionate in size to the body.  Males should show masculinity without coarseness; bitches should shoe femininity without being over-refined.  The skull is wedge-shaped clean cut and strong, with the top line of the skull being parallel to that of the top of the muzzle, with a moderate stop.  The muzzle is usually longer than a GSD but not to snippy.  The lips should be tight fitting and not exhibit pronounced sagging. 

 

 

  1. Teeth & Dentition:  The jaws must be strongly developed and the teeth healthy, strong, and complete.  There should be 42 teeth in number, 20 in the upper jaw, 6 incisors, 8 premolars, 4 molars, 2 canines, and 22 in the lower jaw, 6 incisors, 8 premolars, 6 molars, 2 canines.  The ATSD has a scissor bite, ie. the incisors must meet each other with the outer surface of the incisors of the lower jaw engaging in next to the inner surface of the incisors of the upper jaw.  Canine’s should be larger then most dogs.  An undershot or overshot bite is faulty, as are large gaps between the teeth, teeth should be spaced evenly.  The jaws must be strongly developed so that the teeth may be deeply rooted.  Broken or worn teeth due to old age will not be a disqualifying fault.  Teeth should be white not discolored. 

 

  1. Ears:  The ears are medium size in length.  The ears are wide at the base and set high.  Ears should be erect, slightly angled out or up.  They taper to a point and are carried facing forward (the tips not inclined toward eachother).  Some dogs may draw their ears back during motion or at a rest period.

 

  1. Eyes:  Eyes are almond shaped set obliquely they are of medium size and not protruding.  Eyes are generally dark brown but vary to bronze and in some instances yellow, orange and gold.  The expression should be lively, intelligent and self-assured.

 

  1. Neck:  Neck should be somewhat long, muscular with some looseness of neck skin without pronounced throat skin.  Head and neck are raised high when at attention. Lower when trotting and horizontal or somewhat down when loping.

 

  1. Body:  The body length should naturally exceed the height at the withers. 

 

  1. Chest:  The Chest should be deep but not to wide.  The underchest should be long and  pronounced. 

 

  1. Ribs:  They should be well formed and long, neither barrel shaped or to flat.  A correct formed rib cage allows the elbows freedom of movement when the dog is trotting.  A round or flat rib cage will cause the elbows to turn in or out.

 

  1. Abdomen: This should be firm and moderately tucked up.

 

  1. Topline:  With the withers higher than the backline, they mark the departure of a straight back without much slpoe.  The croup is slightly angled without being steep or flat.  The stomach area should not protrude or hang and the loins well developed.

 

  1. Height & Weight:  Males minimum weight 90lbs, With an avg. weight of 110lbs.
    Males minimum height 27'inches at the withers some have been known to reach heights of up to 34' inches at the withers with 29-31' inches being the norm,
    Females avg. weight of 85lbs.  Females minimum height 25'in at the withers.

 

  1. Tail:  The tail set low, bushy and must reach to the point of the hock usually behind the hock or rear pasterns but not touching the ground.  At rest the tail is carried in a downward curve, but when excited or in motion, it is curved more and carried higher, sometimes nearly erect, signaling size and dominance.

 

  1. Hindquarters & Forequarters:  The assemblage of the hind quarters denotes strength both upper and lower thigh should be amply muscled.  There should be little to no angulation and should roughly correspond to the forequarters.  Endurance is a strong point of the ATSD and will be strongly tested.  The hock joints should be strong and firm.  The forelegs from the pastern to the elbow, should be straight when viewed from any angle.  The pasterns should be strong but not to steep. 

 

  1. Gait:  The ATSD has a gait very similar to that of a GSD.  The gait is outreaching, elastic, seemingly tireless without effort; smooth, and rhythmic.  When trotting, it moves with a long, efficient stride that is driven by a powerful forward thrust from the hindquarters.  As the rear leg moves backward, the body is propelled forward.  The front and rear feet remain close to the ground throughout.  When trotting, the back remains firm and level. 

 

  1. Feet:  Large in proportion to the overall body size, thickly padded, and webbed.  Dew claws should not appear on the rear legs. 

 

  1. Coat:  The ATSD has a weather resistant double coat.  The outer coat is ideally of medium length, straight, and as dense as possible.  The under coat is very dense and has a texture of fur or wool, denseness varies with seasonal changes.  The ATSD develops a heavy undercoat in the winter and blows or molts this pelage as the weather becomes warmer.  Guard hairs through the shoulder and neck region are long and stand erect when the dog becomes agitated.  A thicker longer hair is present around the neck and forms a mane or ruff.  Some ATSD’s have a longer coat that is not always straight and definitely not lying close to the body.  This coat is longer inside and behind the ears and feathering from elbow to pastern.

 

  1. Color: The ATSD color ranges vary.  Grizzled coats predominate in some aspect in most dogs.  All phases of black and tan are present from tan with a black saddle to Black with tan legs or feet or toes.  The tan varies from cinnamon buff to platinum.  Also with solid colors to agouti in color.  The nose must be black with all color phases.  A grizzled coat is not a “washed out” coat.  The undercoat is grey except in black dogs.  Good pigmentation should be present in skin lips and gums.  Mottled gums are permissible.  Final coat should be apparent at 6 months of age.

 

  1. Faults:  Anything that may hamper or impair overall appearance, working versatility, strength and endurance, and working competency should be considered faulty, expecting that these are traits to be further developed in the ATSD.  ATSD that are overly aggressive or timid are to be considered serious faults.  Undershot and level bites are faulty, any missing teeth not mentioned including wry mouth.  Hanging or droopy ears, faulty ear carriage or cropped ears.  Monorchid or cryptorchid dogs, or under developed testicles.  A ringed, curled or generally faulty tail set, or short tail, or tail touching the ground.  Broken pasterns, cowhocked, or bowhocked are not acceptable.  Lack of pigmentation e.g pink noses (albinism).  Height less then the minimum average.  Gait faults are anything that diminishs the ATSDs ability to move efficiency and fluently.

 

 

 

Serious faults:  Overshot or undershot teeth, missing teeth other than first premolars, temperament, albino traits.

 

Minor faults:  Tails to short or to long, Broken pasterns, cowhocked, bowhocked, ears bent over or leaning to far out to the side, roachback or swayback.

 

Disqualifying faults:  Monorchid or Cryptorchid dogs, Neutered or Spayed dogs.