Difference between West German and East German: East German Shepherds, also called DDR (Democratic German acronym) dogs or working line German Shepherds, tend to have darker pigmentation, a short, sturdy head structure and excellent bone structure. The East German Shepherd is bred to focus on the inheritance of working ability and the way to keep the East German Shepherd in good spirits is to give them an adequate workload. The major difference between the West German Shepherd and the East German Shepherd is that the West German Shepherd focuses primarily on the dog’s appearance and does not consider the inheritance of courage and working, athletic instincts. For many people, references to the West German Shepherd are to the show line German Shepherd, while references to the East German Shepherd are to the working line German Shepherd.
