provide some examples of any endurance based animal (dog or not) that is shaped like a gsd. - Page 2

OK I'll disregard that part and I probably can't produce any examples that will fulfill your request. The closest thing I can think of on the top of my head would be a wolf but that would be a poor example. Images can be produced of wolves appearing to have structure similar to some West German Conformation Lines but wolf toplime and rear angulation vary. One thing that does stand out to me in most of the images/footage of wolves is that they seem to have fronts very similar to modern SV show lines. The GSD is supposed to be a trotting animal and when I observe dogs I look to see if their structure benefits or hinders that particular individual. I look to see no matter what the amount of angulation the dog has if it can move harmoniously. I also see structure as a range with my own view of extremes and what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. I do not view structure as a one size fits all cookie-cutter approach but everything must be within the standard. I observe the structures of different lines of GSDs when I am at the club or attending seminars or trials or shows and I have seen good structure in working lines, SV conformation lines and even a few ASL's have surprised me. I have also seen dogs running around with a jerking motion because it's structure does not compliment that individual and it is proclaimed to have good working structure. No doubt there are people who know good working structure from working with dogs who have to prove their structure. Trotting ability should not be dissmissed, dogs that are balanced and are more angulated do cover more ground than their less angulated counterparts and dogs that are balanced waste less energy than dogs that are not. Whether angulation has been taken to an extreme I am not going to disagree with you but I am going to disagree if you think they all come from the same cookie-cutter structure. I have always enjoyed your posts vk4gsds and am glad you took my last post in good humor.

Hyenas are scavengers same as any opportunistic animal, including dogs and lions, when it's convenient. They can wear down any prey they are after, such as cape buffalo, traveling miles, tirelessly. The winded prey is eaten alive by disemboweling.

Domestic animals, sorry, I can't think of any who's base of tail is at same level as the elbow.

Four great standardbreds in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F66kjaPda8

SS, vk was asking for endurance animals that resemble structure of the show ring gsd.

marko no offence but all i read in yr long post was blah, blah, blah....

just some simple examples, the purpose of the thread was to avoid all the generic blah blah thrown up by experts and just use analogy and example to support the theory that the shape of the modern gsd is specifically to enable/facilitate a trotting action of prolonged duration.

was not meant to be complicated. if it was meant to be that way then nature would have already made it or man (and woman) would have converged on the same idea in a variety of breeds and contexts where the application is the same but development was initially in geographically isolated parts of the world, the convergence thru phenotype would still be apparent.
 

What is a showring GSD?

Rounded back, angled shoulder, high wither, angled hind legs, sloping back........

guessing a gsd bred specifically for performance in the conformation show ring, show ring/circus ring whatever.

hey no big thank you to the person who provided the link to youtube, i stumbled across the Tennessee walking horse and the physical abuse they suffer to achieve their gait, disgusting and disturbing, all show/circus animal breeding and training is a low point of the human race.

@ markobytes, Guess. I'm not doing that dance.

Joan, I chose to emphasize what sort of anatomy makes for good trotting ability: "just use analogy and example to support the theory that the shape of the modern gsd is specifically to enable/facilitate a trotting action of prolonged duration."

A racehorse doesn't trot for long distances, but many horses ARE capable of doing so. It's their best gait for covering distance. And the mechanics of the trot are pretty much the same, regardless of the animal's size.


SM, but if he were stacked properly...