Show line question - hind leg during gaiting - Page 1

During the fast gait is it possible for the hind leg to have too long a forward reach and thereby both the paw & hock touch the ground at the same time?

And if so is this classed as a fault?

Some dogs are so over angulated that they are aptly named "hock walkers".  If a dog's hocks are touching the ground when the dog is gaiting, that's a problem.  I don't know if it's considered a "fault" in the show ring, but it's poor structure in my book (such that it is worth).  I feel sorry for the poor dogs who have been bred for "looks" to the point that they can't move naturally anymore.

Yvette

BTW I’m talking German showline here & not American which do seem to have, how can we say… ‘extreme’ rear angulation and I agree with Yvette that these hock walkers’ have a really poor structure which is very easy to see.

Top german dogs with what would be considered to have excellent rear angulation will not display this trait when walking but may, however, show this during the fast gait.

Again is this faulty?

AandA part of the problem you might encounter is that a lot of people think the top German dogs are overangulated as well. I'm beginning to see their point. I have an imported two year old out of two V rated dogs, she is much more angulated than my other, and and she doesn't move like that when trotting. I've seen a good many German highlines and that hasn't been something I've observed personally.

Are you talking about showing AKC? Maybe you could check the website for whichever governing agency you want to show under so you would be reassured that the information you get is factual.

Good luck with it,

Dawgs

Dawgs,

I don't show, or even plan to, I'm just interested in the breed & have gone to a number of shows here in the UK. I'm still on the steep learning curve of observing & mentally critiquing dogs so it may well be that i'm seeing things that aren't there. Which is entirely possible when a dog is in the flying trot!

When I say both the paw & hock touch the ground at the same time I don't mean the dog looks like it's flapping around like a circus clown with big shoes on, but rather a momentary touch during the very fast gait. And I mean a very fast gait.

AandA

Could it be that the German roach-back (meant for runners like all greyhounds) is causing that?

IMO it's causing ridiculous gait in Germans just as the over-long legs in Americans causes silly gaits.  Neither of them look natural and effortLESS to me.  German roach-backs looks like they're working hard when trotting, and pushing too fast.

My own dog has what I think is the most beautiful trot I've seen (which isn't saying much), as it was meant to be.  Not exaggerated or given to smoke&mirrors hard-working overreaching as all these dogs do.  She is mostly German show line, but has hardly any roach and springs along effortlessly.