The Central Technical Committee (CTC), as a result of the recognition by the FCI variety of "long-haired" in the breed German shepherd (circular ENCI 6.4.2011 prot. No. 12418), set out the procedures for confirmation of the variety . The Executive Council, acknowledged the signs of the CTC, decided that the subject of long-haired German shepherd breed, in order to play litters in the stud book, must pass a confirmation for the quality of the coat in the con text of meetings or special exhibitions in a class of the event or in class out of competition. The confirmation will be made byanexperienced judge who has participated in the training course / update dall'ENCI organized. The confirmation for the quality of

the coat, and then the above procedure does not apply to dogs that are already in possession of ENCI pedigree certificate showing the variety "longhaired". The experienced judge, as part of the verification, check the identification code for each subject and will sign the form prepared by the Central Office of the Book that will be made available by the Organizing Committee.It is the responsibility of the latter to provide the transmission of ENCI schedules established and accepted. The Central Office will verify the registration of the subject in the event and update the data of the dog in the Herd Book, accessible through the studbook online. The confirmation of the hair is not repeatable.

The procedures described above, come intoforce with effect January 1, 2013.

Infact the breed standard (as well as latest revision of 1991, however, remained unchanged on the subject)

considers a defect the long hair and the reason is that the bones of longhaired , although larger than normal hair, have encountered several cases excessive porosity, in short, it is believed that the longhaired have a skeleton spongy and therefore more fragile. In addition, the longhaired sometimes lacks undercoat and also this is still considered a defect as such,so even if you want a longhaired you should make sure that the person in question is provided with undercoat as required by the standard. I think it is appropriate to attach the explanations listed right here an intere

sting article by Dr. Mauro De Cillis which explains why it has developed this variation of the genetic makeup of the race and how it is used within selective.

-While not being allowed by the standard, the longhair is still being seen with some frequency (statistically around 20-25%). Why, after more than a hundred years of selection we were still able to delete it? TheGerman Shepherd originated from the meeting of various strains of sheepdogs, mainly those of Thuringia of mole contained, short-haired and with erect ears, and those of Wüttemberg, larger and massive, long-haired and with semi-erect ears. From this fusion is born from an individual intermediate characteristics that, through a thorough process of selection, has become the current German Shepherd. Some of theoriginal recessive traits however, have not been eliminated in the genotype but simply "masked" and ready

to appear whenever they are omozigosi.È in the caseof long hair, the legacy of the great mountain dogs ofWüttemberg, whose presence at origins of the breedhas been confirmed by a recent American study onmitochondrial DNA. In addition to the type of coat,subjects longhaired have inherited other characteristicsof mountain dog which more massive skeleton, a morerustic and massive and growing faster than the average of their brothers litter shorthair.

WHY IS BORN:
We anticipated that the character "long-haired" appears when it is flush in the homozygous genotype. Although the mode of transmission of most of the characters are very complex as they depend on the interaction of various genes (eg. Hip dysplasia) not less some of them, as in the case of long hair, follow the normal Mendel's laws. To understand the issue better, we distinguish first between genotype (sum of genes present in each individual) and phenotype (physical appearance due to the interaction of its genetic makeup with the environment). The dog has 39 pairs of chromosomes, and each gene is in a fixed position in the chromosome itself. Inheriting half of chromosomes from the father and half from the mother, every individual has genetic traits in pairs. It is said the dominant character that tends to prevail over his correspondent. It is said recessive character that tends to be hidden by its correspondent. When an individual has two corresponding genes equal is called homozygous for that character. When a person has two genes corresponding number is called heterozygous for that character. In German shepherd character shorthair it is dominant over the long-haired character, so much so that two subjects shorthaired are born more frequently to long hair.

This can only happen if both individuals are hetero

zygous for that character, according to the scheme:

AA +AA = Aa Aa Aa aa

Or, statistically 25% short-haired homozygote (AA)- 50% shorthair heterozygous (Aa) - 25% long-haired homozygote (AA).

But if things are so simple, why the long hair has not yet been eliminated? To identify individuals

homozygous for the short hair (AA) would be enough to test them and combining them with a partner in long hair (aa) according to the scheme: AA + AA = Aa Aa Aa Aa or if born from the coupling 100% of short hairs, you would have the CERTAINTY that the subject in question is necessarily a AA!

At this point it would be enough to identify another AA (obviously of the opposite sex!) To kick off in aselection that would eliminate forever the unwanted character!

THE PARTIAL DOMINANCE:
 

In reality, things are not so simple. The coat of the German Shepherd
current consists of a compact andabundant woolly undercoat and the hair
itself, consistency or vitreous semivitrea. The presence of a thick

undercoat which is matched by a cloak supported and not too close
to the body contributes greatly aesthetic appearance of the subject.
To obtain and maintain a cloak ideal, breeders, without being aware of

it, they resort to "partial dominance". In fact, while behaving in principle
by the dominant, the short-hairedheterozygote (Aa) can not completely
mask its corre sponding character "long hair" that shines in the

phenotype as through a pane of glass opaque. For this reason, almost all
subjects appreciated in exposure (and consequently used in reproduction),
are of Aa,ie of shorthair heterozygous. Conversely, using playing

exclusively subjects homozygous for the short hair (AA), you would get,
within a few generations, a coat and satin too tight, similar to the
Doberman, the boxer or the pointer that would harm not just to ' general

aesthetics of the breed. The appearance more or less frequent
(sometimes to unfortunate statistical oddity- probabilistic, rather than
statistical, Ed - evenup to 90% of the litter) of subjects to long hair and
above all by pairs the most prestigious is the inevitable price to pay to
maintain the richness and texture of the coat ideal of our dog!
Yet, understanding that you can not have "your cake and eat it too",
we can containthe "hangover" of the latter to a tolerable level by us

ing some 'cunning ...
 

HOLD OFF THE " LONGHAIRED "
 

To avoid or at least drastically reduce the appearance of long hair without
sacrificing a rich mantle and supported, just use the following technique
of breeding:

a) Identify a subject certainly homozygous for the short coat (preferably female) AA.

b) Pair it with another short-haired heterozygote Aa.

From this union we will get statistically: AA Aa AA Aa

That is all subject to short hair, 50% homozygotes (AA) and the other 50% heterozygous (Aa). The latter will present the coat length and texture desired while the top there will be useful especially in reproduction,allowing us to continue to breed for decades without that in our litters

appear even one hair long! Of course it is not always easy to identify in advance a person AA especially in the case of a stallion whose genotype is unknown and whose owner does not admit of course, even under torture, I've given a long nap.Nevertheless it is quite easy for a trained eye, in fer from the observation of its phenotype. If it shows a thick coat and abundant will most likely be an AA and as a result we should avoid to pair with our broodmare Aa, provided that the game is not worth the candle. From my experience practice I have noticed that, in principle, the percentage of long hairs obtained by a coupling between two heterozygotes Aa is directly proportional to the wealth of their coat,as the "barrier" constituted by the degree of expressiveness of the dominant resulting graduallymore weakened up to let through an increasing amount

of "invaders" (with peaks up to 90%!).

Finally it should be noted that, in some cases, the difference between a subject to short hair, but with thick undercoat and coat very supported and another longhaired in full suit and maybe wisely "stripped" at key points (ear and inner margins of arts) is infinitesimal and detectable only by judges and breeders of proven experience that integrate with that of the hair fur ther parameters such as expression, bone and body

proportions. As illustrates Master De Cillis the German Shepherd possesses the gene longhaired and this must be judiciously controlled by careful selective in scope, I think it is implicit that the couplings between longhaired and normal hair and are thus prohibited and will result in the inability of the litter registration ENCI and consequently, the non-possession of the pedigree.