Oops. Pacing vs. troting - Page 1

Sorry about that. what causes a dog pace instead of trot? I have a dog here that when tired or distracted paces. After working on her attention heel, she always trots released and alowed to look around. At any other time it seems it is 50/50 whether she will trot or pace. Anybody have any idea where this comes from?

Pacing is a resting gait, it's normal for a tired dog to revert to pacing. Out-of-condition dogs will also pace. There are lots of "tricks" to breaking a pace, but I think the real issues are either the dog is tired, he's moving too slowly in too small an area, the handler is not moving fast enough or the dog is not in good condition.

ok I don't want to sound stupid. but could you explain what you mean by paceing? It sounds like she may be doing the "paceing" because of stress, if it is at new places.

Pacing is when a 4 legged animal moves both of the legs on one side of his body in the same direction at the same time. For example both legs on the right side of a dog's body are moving forward at the same time. If you can get hold of a good book on dog movement I'm sure there will be illustrations of a pacing dog for you to look at.

oh ok I know what you are talking about.

At all W. German SV shows the dogs pace most of the time until their forward spped increases allowing them to gait. Blitzen has correctly defined pacing. Gaiting is when the legs on each side of the dog move in opposite directions, rather the same the direction we find in pacing. The question is why do N.American bloodlines tend to never pace (usually always gait) and W. German bloodlines often pace? First, pacing in the W. German dog is an absolutely normal and correct occurence. It is due to low speed movement in a short bodied (correct length) dog (excessive roach backing can increase the tendency to pace as can a strongly muscled dog held back on a tight lead). American dogs tend to be very long bodied and have long lower thigh bones in the rear coupled to long, steep croups. This tends to result in a tendency to gait. American AKC GSD judges have tended to identify [pacing in the show ring as a serious fault. It is not and this just shows the judges' lack of understanding of correct structure and movement in the GSD.

Ah, Preston, thanks for that information, I've been thinking that most GSD's are never going to pace in the ring, but I'm accustomed to watching AKC shows (and please don't anyone torpedo me for saying that, I've already been beat up over that more than once on this list). I've been in another working breed for 35 years, AKC and a very tough, strong breed that is moderately angulation per the breed standard. I've only ever had one dog that gave me a fit by pacing in the ring, a very tall 27", short coupled male. I am just over 5 foot and never could move out fast enough to keep him from pacing, so he was only shown one time. He paced in the ring and the judge withheld the ribbons. For those who don't know, that's not a very heppy event at an AKC show. Pacing is considered a serious fault in the AKC show ring with any breed I think. Thanks for the great information, I always learn something of value from every message you post. I assume you've been around the dog world about as long as I have, most of you life. Oh, that makes me feel so old.....LOL.

Thank you everyone. When she first got here last year all she did was pace, but as she conditioned up she started troting more. I didn't realize that pacing is normal in W. German dogs. I am going to start watching for it in the other dogs at the club.

Most shepherds pace - it is a fact. However, most handlers are able to break them into a trot, by sudden changes of pace. While pacing is easy to observe from ring side, it is not always easy for a novice to figure out while handling in a crowded class.

Blitzen, Vice-versa, I often learn from your posts.Most of what I have learned is from the school of hard knocks. I got involved with GSDs back in around 1969-1970, about 35 years ago. I have seen many good ones come and go. And yes there have even been some American bloodline GSDs that were very nice with great temperament. I have seen many fantastic W.German imports and a great deal of super bad culls from W. Germany, too. My conclusion is that it is very hard to breed a top dog even by the top breeders in West Germany, who have been the clear leaders in the world. And they have perpetuated many horrible genetic faults by their typical 4-5 linebreeding, a practice probably necessary to get what they prefer. I do think they could be more careful on certifying hips and elbows at two years and use better more descriptive criteria like the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (based in the USA). And they could do a better job displaying their dogs (for example empahsize gaiting on a loose lead).