I must admit I think I'm somewhat clueless on this Euro compared to American topic.
In my mind, I think of conformation Dobe compared to working Dobe (as in Schutzhund). We all know what a good conformation Dobe looks like. Most of the working Dobes I see are, frankly, too spindly looking, many of them with a certain look to the elbow region – not necessarily turned in or turned out – maybe you just notice the pointy elbow because it's not tucked up against a big, full deep chest. Or maybe it's not as far back under the body as it should be ("layback of shoulder??")
Of course I realize working Dobes are usually faster and quicker and more capable of tasks that require agility.
In my life I've only had three Dobes (and the current one is a young pup). Hey, when they live to 8+ years, there are only so many you can own. So my first was a backyard-bred, and was pretty far off the standard. My second was from working lines and had some of those qualities I mentioned, but not too much – especially as he matured and filled out. He was cow-hocked too. But I think he did just happened to be a bigger, studlier boy with a nice big head etc. so he looked pretty good to me.
My current pup, well, I'm concerned he may not match the big, rugged (yet refined) look of my last boy. We'll have to see!
Not trying to muddy the waters of this discussion, but does any of this make sense to any of you?
Help me understand how conformation vs. working factor into American vs. Euro.