[ SHOWGSD-L ] Type vs movement
- From: Barbara Galasso <uwish@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 13:10:25 -0500
If I read the original post correctly, I believe it asked us which we
PREFERRED, type or movement. I don't believe it meant to the degree of
type or movement. i.e.: it didn't mean if you preferred movement, the
dog must have to be ugly, or if you preferred type, the dog didn't know
how to move. Both type and movement can be measured in degrees. Beauty
is in the eye of the beholder. What one recognizes as beautiful,
another might find very ordinary. Maybe one likes a pretty plush coat,
and another a hard dry dog. Pigment would play a factor here as well.
The standard calls for a "look of eagles". Secondary sex
characteristics should be strong......males looking like males, bitches
looking like a bitch. Nothing more gorgeous than a dog that walks into
a stance and sets himself up. LaMar was a pro at letting a dog do this
on his own and all eyes were on that dog.
Now onto movement. Our breed is a herding dog.....one who should be
able to work. There is nothing in my opinion more ugly than a GSD that
pitter patters in the front and doesn't drive in the rear and has an
ugly topline. I don't care how pretty he is, if he can't move, than to
me, he's not that attractive anymore. Oh yes, standing next to you, he
may be a gorgeous animal, but put him out in the ring and if he can't
move, than he can't do what he was bred to do. So IMO, you have a
pretty pet.
I don't know how many of you had the opportunity to go upstairs and look
at the photography that Miguel (I think that was his name) was
showcasing. He had taken the photography of the classes and the winners
from each of them. I went up there and looked on his computer at the
pretty dogs and the moving dogs. (Now ideally, we all want both and we
as breeders should strive for this in our breeding program). But may I
say that SOME of the pretty class winners when shown in motion were
doing what I truly find unattractive in the breed. They were not
reaching in the front or driving in the rear. They looked boxy in
motion instead of long striding with an easy flowing gait. Pretty
standing, yes. Pretty in motion, a big NO!
If you can order the DVD's that were taken at this years National and
use your remote control and slow each dog down and watch them step by
step, judge for yourself the motion of the dogs. Ask yourself if a
pretty standing dog that moves like a square box who pitter patters
along still is pretty? Oh and another thing which I heard a lot of
applause for was when a dog held his head up high while in motion. This
is not the way a shepherd should move with his head held high. I always
thought his head dropped out in front of him to accomadate the shoulder
opening and thrust from the rear drive through an iron back and
topline. Isn't the wither suppose to be higher................not the
head held up high while in motion? For all those who clapped for that,
was it because it looked pretty to you?
As I mentioned in another e-mail, I was overall pleased with the type I
saw at the National, but movement leaves a lot to be desired. And as
someone else posted, movement isn't everything. Nor is type! We
shouldn't be breeding for one over the other, but instead breeding to
combine the best of our breed which is type AND movement. It shouldn't
be an either or! Genetics is anyone's guess as to what to expect from a
litter, and we all do the best we can. However, I do not think we
should be trying to concentrate on just one aspect of the dog and
sacrificing the one for the other. TEMPERAMENT, number one of course,
but that wasn't part of this question. Certain bloodlines have given us
back the pretty breed type, but sorry to say, at what sacrifice to the
movement of the dog? And an excellent moving dog, is poetry in motion
and is beautiful. We as breeders can sometimes get so caught up in
just the one aspect of the dog. ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL MY OPINON
ONLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! Barbara Galasso
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