Do cow hocks prevent a dog from gettting a kkl rating? - Page 1

Yes, you are right, I have a cow hock male got SG 1,by Mr.Dux.Does cow hock mean bad hip?I heard some judges said it can improved by training,is it correct and how?

 A dog who is cow-hocked, and slightly so, may well get a V rating or a KKL1. It is the TOTAL dog that is examined. While not particularly desirable, there are dogs whose only and slight fault is that they are a bit cow-hocked. This does not mean the other good points should not be recognized. Given two excellent dogs, both having the same good qualities except for one being cow-hocked might result in the one that was cow-hocked being placed behind the other. But remember, it is what the judge is seeing and on any given day, in any show, there might be a dog with cow-hocks who otherwise meets the standard perfectly. There is no perfect dog......it is all relative. 

As some pups grow, they will show less cow hock. But if it is pronounced as a pup, it is unlikely to go away as they age.

Thanks Hodie, as always your information is very helpful!

aristianM,

a dog being cowhocked is just one among many of his shortcomings and/or attributes. Why should it prevent the dog from getting breed surveyed or receiving a V-rating? If you look at a breed survey report, you will see the summary of a dog on page 2 (II.). This is what everybody looks at. If any of the attributes and/or shortcomings are especially worthy or severe, they get mentioned in the summary. But if you truly are interested in a dog, you will start reading further. On page 3, you will find a detailed description from a) to y) A dog being cowhocked would have a note to that fact under o).

A now long retired judge and famous breeder once told me to never get lost in a detail, but rather look at the overall picture. Every puzzle should fit to creat a harmonious picture. This stuck with me and I try to always keep that in mind. Details are of interest to breeders who need to compensate for certain shortcomings.  If my female is already cowhocked, I might not want to go to a male with the same problem. Another thing to always keep in mind is that you can never compensate for one extreme with the opposite shortcoming.

Thanks for the information Silbersee. I really appreciate it! Suppose if a cow hocked male is mated with a feamle that has normal hocks, will the pups have good hocks or cow hocks?

One of the most influential dogs in the breed was cow hocked and V: Canto vd Weinerau.

Some said this kept him from a VA rating, but he then went on to breed as much as any VA.

Genetics are funny. They can all have good hocks, or half will and the other half will not, or all have cowhocks.

But are you sure that you have so many cowhocks in your country? Or is it just a perception of such, due to angulations? I have seen many dogs looking a bit cowhocked if they walk slowly, but as soon as they fast gait that awkwardness is gone and they are straight.

Canto: http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/141.html

You can see in the breed survey that they thought at the time of the V1 that the hinterhand was not as problematic as it once was.