Toplines - Page 9

Now, can we see some photos of truly roached backed dogs for comparison?

Here is the stacked photo of a 6 month old W. German working line young dog.  I believe this topline is more condusive to endurance.  This topline is also more in line with the toplines of of VA dogs prior to the black and tan preference.

Kyle

Silbersee, I think the Harras dog looks georgeous.  Do you own this male stallion?  My view is that no GSD is perfect and even the top rated V or VA GSDs can have some weak points. I'll bet this dog has few weak points.  

Overall Harras looks to be very nice.  I find his natural pose quite revealing.  It shows his excellent front angulation and layback and very correct rear angulation and croup.  Sure, maybe his wither could be a tiny bit better but that is a minor point.  I would have to see him moving from the side front and rear loose or off lead to evaluate his movement.  But he shows excellent physical structure and pigment, and great male type. 

I would expect that Harras is a very valuable dog which would bring a high selling price if he moves good and has good temperament.  If he does have a mild roach, that is a non issue if he ends up with the proper angle of croup while moving and moves good.  Whoever owns this stallion male is very fortunate indeed.

Thank you Preston ( from Harras too ), Harras movement is correct like his anatomie, he is not easy, he has to much temperament for the showring (he wants to catch EVERY ball and toy from the double handlers, not only his own).

He was hurt bad, his left ellbow was dislocated with 5 month and it took him near 2 years to heal and become straight in the front again. Now he is back, he moves wonderful, straight in front and rear and waits for the ladies to visit him!

His first litter 2 weeks old:

Preston,

I have never seen Harras personally. So no, I do not own him. He is owned by Uwe (Jeckl8) and lives in Germany. If I have time enough in September when I fly over to the Sieger Show I might swing by and visit Uwe and Harras. The reason I started this thread was because I wanted to show how different a dog can look when stacked. When Uwe started the thread of the "legend of the downhill dog" on our German language board, I asked his permission to post Harras here. That is all. And you are right: Without seeing Harras personally, I have to say that I really like his front, regardless of topline and rear angulation. Especially since there has been an ongoing breed advisory out for correct fronts. It is nice that somebody else recognizes this attribute and not get lost in certain details (like a roached back). In the early 90s, we (my husband and I) spent a lot of time with some really knowledgable people in Germany and one of them was Mr. Dexel Senior. He is the one who told me never to get "lost and stuck" on details. It is more important that everything is harmonouis and fits the overall picture of that particular dog. This is something I never forgot!

Zahnburg,

I really do not know why Marc does not look like that (and who cares), he was a dog of the late 80s. Looking at him, he had nice angulations, but "normal" withers and a short croup. If you read this thread, we have talked about the different way of stacking. If you put his front feet under a bit more, that brings out the withers, while stacking his inward leg under his chest you would also have a more rounded back. I thought that I explained that before. This kind of stack was simply not done in the late 80s or early 90s. Before we start arguing now, I never said that I like this unnatural stack which is popular now. I really don't, but I am trying to explain why dogs look like that. If you don't believe me, please take a look at some workingline dogs: www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/446448.html Here is Veus, one of my favorites, who unfortunately was euthanized last year but before that he was very popular. Also, please take a good look at his father Buster or grandfather Wito, all excellent dogs. What do you think of their toplines? For me, this is what a correct topline looks like. And looking at Veus, I bet that he would look even more "roached" if his inward leg was stacked under him more due to his "normal" rear angulation. What I am trying to convey here is that people have to learn to look "past" the unnatural or awful stack to see the true dog. That is what makes a good judge.

Chris

P.S....i dont know how to post the above dogs picture to make it easier--------could anyone help?

thanks *******DEE********

Trafalgar,

this thread is about a physical characteristic. Sorry but if that is not for you, just ignore it. If you want to start discussing anything else, just open a different thread. That is how a discussion board works.

Besides, any breed working or not, has a standard and part of a standard is conformation. Form follows function!!!

So what rubs you the wrong way here? De que vie parlez-vous ?