Hock walker? - Page 3

The stardard which is on this site..........

1) Angulation and Movement

The German Shepherd Dog is a trotter. His gait exhibits diagonal movement, i.e., the hind foot and the forefoot on opposite sides move simultaneously. The limbs, therefore, must be so similarly proportioned to one another, i.e. angulated, that the action of the rear as it carries through to the middle of the body and is matched by an equally far-reaching forehand causes no essential change in the topline. Every tendency toward overangulation of the rear quarters diminishes soundess and endurance. The correct proportions of height to length and corresponding length of the leg bones results in a ground-eating gait that is low to the ground and imparts an impression of effortless progression. With his head thrust forward and a slightly raised tail, a balanced and even trotter will have a topline that falls in moderate curves from the tip of the ears over the neck and level back through the tip of the tail.

 

That's pretty much exactly what I posted. I copied it from a translation of the FCI standard I have stored on my computer.

And the dog in the picture still does not meet the standard.

The limbs, therefore, must be so similarly proportioned to one another, i.e. angulated, that the action of the rear as it carries through to the middle of the body and is matched by an equally far-reaching forehand causes no essential change in the topline

     One would have to see a stacked photo to see if angulation is proportioned front and back. What I do see is equally far-reaching front and back.

Every tendency toward overangulation of the rear quarters diminishes soundess and endurance.

    One wold have to see this dog in action to see this dog has endurance and is sound.

The correct proportions of height to length and corresponding length of the leg bones results in a ground-eating gait that is low to the ground and imparts an impression of effortless progression.

     This dog does have a ground covering gait...... but once again one would have to see the dog to see how effortless it looks in real life. From the expression of the dog, I cannot see that its putting much effort into gaiting. His eyes and ears are quite relaxed.

With his head thrust forward and a slightly raised tail, a balanced and even trotter will have a topline that falls in moderate curves from the tip of the ears over the neck and level back through the tip of the tail.

     The photo shows the head thrust forward and tail slightly raised... the topline falls in moderate curves.. more or less....if the head was a slight bit lower the moderate curves would be easier to see.



Sorry you don't like the breed standard, but it is what it is.......

Just goes to show how the Standard can be so misconstrued.
 

Ground eating, the standard says, NOT  ground covering ( literally as some seem take it).
Low to the ground apparently has also taken on new meaning,  as has the word moderate.  Holy cow.

We'll just ignore the over angulation part of the Standard (Every tendency toward over angulation of the rear quarters diminishes soundess and endurance)

i am a  German show line girl  and i must say i dont like  that roach back over angulation , it looks sick, i like the straight backs and movement like back before all of these changes took place. and if you see my dogs they are not like  the show lines of today,i have a show line female that has  the body style of the older herding types, but i guess each  likes something else.

ground eating and ground covering is the same thing.....

“He walked with great, ground-eating strides, and every step he took past the boundaries of Chelm, it felt like his chest was expanding, every breath greater than the last.”
The Man Who Left Chelm

“With that, he left Vetch at the door to Kashet's pen, stalking off with his long, ground-eating strides.”
Joust

need more examples? http://www.wordnik.com/words/ground-eating you'll find them here.



overangulated hind legs - didn't ignore it - one would have to see this dog in action..
the harder the dog pulls on the lead and the more of a ground-eating stride it has. in the photo, the dog wall pulling quite hard, yet by its expression, it was at ease.

sorry you don't like the breed standard.

I'd love to see a stack photo of this dog and also photos of it working.

Everyone knows they cant work.  I mean you may find one or two that can.  So if all they can do is walk in this certain way then I am certain that they will be the best at it.  From what I have seen they usually only compete with others of like line.  On a lower level.  They make great pets.

 
 
 



nope, they can't
but don't tell them that.......!
they might believe y'all - i know i don't.

the issue is that many show people prefer the show ring to tracking, obedience and protection and their dogs are trained just enough to get titles and get past the breed test every year.

the same can be said of working dogs who cannot gait....thier owners prefer tracking, obedience and protection and won't even train gaiting and end up at back of the line in the show ring..

i know of several working dogs that have done very well in the show ring because thier owner took the time to actually train to gait and to develope the correct muscles so that they could do that ground covering (or ground eating) gait. the judges were delighted!

as far as washouts - ive seen many - both working lines and show lines - unfortunately what i've also seen are clubs and helpers that intentionally washout showlines just to prove a point.

"sorry you don't like the breed standard."

 Funny stuff.

 

Has anyone considered the depth of the grass? See how far the pasterns are covered, the hock may be five inches above the ground and not resting on the ground as the photo appears. without commenting on the rest of the dog's structure I think we should be careful about slamming a dog based on one picture.