The standard writes that the back is short, strong, and straight with a slight rise from the root of the tail to the withers. Here we’d like to interject with some clarification.  A dog’s topline isn’t the same thing as the dog’s back, nor are they interchangeable.  The topline is formed by the dog’s withers, back, loin and croup, the area from the base of the dog’s neck to the base of her tail.  The back is one component of the topline.