[ SHOWGSD-L ] Amazing shoulders & 'forechests'

  • From: "Carolyn Martello" <marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <Pinehillgsds@xxxxxxx>, <lindenhillgsd@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:24:24 -0800

NO shoulder blade or humerous meets the prosternum!
It is literally impossible.
The "forechest" .... "breastbone"  or "prosternum"  or "sternum is merely the 
'breastplate'  that carries...or
protrudes  up and forward from the central structure of the ribcage where it 
meets and joins in the CENTER.   
This plate of bone or cartilage-like bone is for the protection of the heart 
and lungs.    It also protects  the actual
shoulder joints as the animal moves forward through brush and weeds.   That is 
why it 'should' protrude to the 
forefront of the actual shoulder assembly.   
Ligature and muscle and flesh criss cross the front of the chest or 
breastplate......but it is not attached by any
bone or joint to the  shoulder assembly.    Muscle and ligaments and flesh 
criss cross the entire structure of 
any skeletal structure.  There is no joint in the shoulder that attaches it to 
the body per se.........it is literally 
"laid on"  with ligaments and muscle unlike the pelvis and hip joints.
The shoulder is a "moveable" part and is "set on" on the OUTSIDE of the ribbing 
and therefore cannot 
be attached to the sternum in the center by any joint or formation of a joint.  
   Stroke the front of your dog's
throat...and it is the "prosternum"  that your hand hits as it strokes 
downward...IN THE CENTER.....no matter 
what the position or 'lay on' of the shoulders.   
It has absolutely nothing to do with the angle of the shoulder or the extension 
or movement of the shoulder
as it is does not move.    It CAN however give the "appearance" of a nice 
shoulder angle......by sticking out in 
front of a straight shoulder.....and thus the old term.... "false front".
If you look at many photos of many dogs  ( as in the Selects )  you will see 
every type of shoulder angulation
imagineable and the same with the degree of forechests.......one having nothing 
to do with the other.

As Mike says..... a dog overloaded with way too much forechest can be almost 
clumsy or 'cobby'....but typically
that 'issue'  goes with a dog that is very low on leg as with the Daschund or 
the Corgi......but has nothing to do 
with any of the many variations of shoulder angulation or movement that we see 
in our Breed.

It also is not the "center of gravity" of any moving animal.    The center of 
gravity remains the same at all 
times......central to the extension and length of the animal.  

( by the way.......prosternum does not get past spell check )  <G>

Carolyn    marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.Marhaven.com
.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Pinehillgsds@xxxxxxx To: lindenhillgsd@xxxxxxxxxxx ; 
marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cc: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 1:28 PMSubject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Simply 
Amazing forechests....


  Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh....have to disagree Carolyn.  The point on that  forechest 
"thing" (actually called a 
  "breastbone" in our illustrated standard)  is actually made where the 
shoulder blade and humerus meet.
   
  (Only if it were that easy...but to complicate matters, the whole area is  
overlaid w/ a lot of muscle...or
   it "should" be.)    If the shoulder is "laid on wrong" (sorry, horse term), 
that is, if it is  too straight and/or
   too short, and/or if there isn't the correct angle between  the shoulder 
blade and humerus (aka upper arm),
   you will notice an "absence" of  the prominence of the breastbone and you 
will see that movement is  "off".  
   
  Now, movement can be off in several ways depending on just "why" and  how 
"wrong" the fore is....for 
  instance is the blade too short??? too  straight???  Is the upper arm too 
short??  too straight???? 
  ate the  bones in the wrong proportions???.....a dog can be "quick-stepping", 
a dog can  lift, or as 
  we see an awful lot today, even in pictures that folks use for ads  
(EEEEAAAAKKK!) a dog can move
   from the elbow...sort of like waving to the  crowd.    
  I don't know what caused Mike to post his inquiry, I privately mailed  
e-mailed him a photo of a dog w/ an 
  obvious "breastbone" after <G>, but I  will say in out PC publication and on 
various lists, I've seen folks
   post pics  and go on and on about "fronts" as I scratch my head and say 
"WHAT front???"  
  b-cause if you were to drop a string from the top of their shoulder to the  
floor, there would be far greater 
  than the 90 degree angle that is supposed to  be created by the shoulder 
blade and upper arm and you 
  can't find a fore chest  w/ a search warrant! Kathy, member GSDCA, DVGSDC
  Celebrating generations of Dual Titled TC'd  Champions
  visit _http://www.pinehillgsds.com/_ (http://www.pinehillgsds.com/)   

   
  In a message dated 2/22/2010 3:45:55 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
lindenhillgsd@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:

  Thanks  Carolyn, a great post to build on So this is where I differ from that 
 opinion, I do feel that if the 
  shoulder is too far forward, exhibiting little  or no forechest(forchest, 
fourchest, 4chest - ;-) ) it will affect the  
  balance, since the center of gravity is now moved backwards in relation to 
the  leg and shoulder changing the 
  cantilever point and perhaps resulting in a  lifting of the forehand 
particularly if coupled with a straight shoulder.  

  regards, and would love to get you feedback 

  M 

  -----From: "Carolyn Martello"  <marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: 
lindenhillgsd@xxxxxxxxxxx, 
   showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 2:19:00 PM GMT  
-06:00 US/Canada Central 
  Subject: Re: Simply Amazing forechests....  

  Hi Mike; 
  I meant to respond to your post........but got lost  in the flurry of other 
responses over the weekend 
  and ended up deleting  all the posts.......therefore depending on a pretty 
pitiful memory!! 

  I can  tell you that I like things "simplified"......so I refer to it as  
"forechest"......<G>....and since it has 
  absolutely nothing to do  with the movement of the dog there is no 
'specified' measurement of it  that I 
  know of.....other than "showing ahead of the shoulder in profile" and  it 
should be deep and capacious....... 
  As Goldbecker explained it  ......the "purpose" of the forechest is for the 
herding dog gaiting through  
  weeds and small low brush to catch the brunt of the constant  
chafing.......and simply for the beautiful 
  balanced outline and appearance  of our Breed, as I understand it. Beautiful 
forechest is a nice addition  
  in beautiful type in it's "appearance" on our GSD....but especially on a  
nice 'stallion' male. 
  Too much and a dog can appear and be "overloaded' and  clumsy. In my opinion 
it has absolutely nothing 
  to do with the angle of  the shoulder nor the front extension of a correct 
shoulder.  

  Thanks for trying to actually open up a discussion about THE  DOGS!!! Hang in 
there......... 

  Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx  
  www.Marhaven.com 

  ----- Original Message -----  
  From: Lindenhill German Shepherds To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Monday, 
February 22, 2010 11:02 AM 
  Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Simply Amazing  

  As I often do, I recently posted a subject on the list to instigate a  
discussion on certain aspects of structure
   of our beloved breed. Expecting a  lively educational and informative 
discussion(some of which I got)
   I was not  disappointed., unfortunately the object of that discussion turned 
into a who's  resource for a 
  given term was correct or not. I tried to steer the discussion  back to the 
topic but what was quite surprised 
  by the pasion displayed by  those list members focused on the correct 
spelling debate. My  disappointment is 
  that many of those who engaged in that debate, I had held in  high regard, I 
say to you - please do some self examination(as will I) on your  motives and 
attitude as well as your communication style. It is very easy to  
  get out of hand on a limitted communication medium such as this and does  
little to suggest how your mentoring is beneficial to others. 

  If the  list has truly devolved to that level, it offers both me as an 
  experienced  breeder nor the new comer little if any hope of learning 
anything 
  of value  here. 

  I suggest that If you have a suggestion or a correction for  someones post, 
  please, as a matter of etiquette I suggest you address it  privately and 
  allow them to make(or not) a correction. 

  My days here  are numbered, 

  Regards, 

  M  






============================================================================
POST is Copyrighted 2009.  All material remains the property of the original 
author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind 
are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the 
Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY 
MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS 
PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY 
FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE 
PROSECUTED. 

For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx

VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org
NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/
============================================================================

Other related posts: