The clinical findings in German shepherd dogs with hereditary multifocal renal cystadenocarcinomas and nodular dermatofibrosis are presented. Between 1978 and 1996, 51 cases were examined. Eight cases were detected after being offered a clinical examination because the disease was present in a parent. The remaining 43 dogs were diagnosed after an unsolicited visit to a clinic because of a specific problem. Skin lesions were the main reason (37 per cent) the owners presented their dog for examination. The mean age at diagnosis of renal cystadenocarcinomas and nodular dermatofibrosis was 8.2 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1.1, while the corresponding figure for a reference population was 1.25. Enlarged and abnormally shaped kidneys were palpated in 60 per cent of the dogs and were detected by radiography in 86 per cent of cases. The renal lesions, including metastases, were the main reason for euthanasia and death. The mean age at death was 9.3 years, and the mean age at the first detection of nodular dermatofibrosis was 6.4 years.