[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Our Breed and needed improvements
- From: "Carolyn Martello" <marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pmick12@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:27:48 -0800
In my assessment about "anyone can spot a front"......I'm talking about the
method
today of going for any kind of front as long as it is in front of the nose.
Lifty...lack of
follow through on the front....none of it matters as long as it is "OUT THERE"
and
there is not enough concern about what is following behind that front that
managed
to get past the nose........<G>
Some literally are lifting up and way out there to compensate for the timing
that is off.
The front merely "catches" and absorbs the rear propelling the dog forward.
Same with follow through from the rear.
We are seeing more and more kick up in the rear instead of the long low powerful
follow through that comes off a powerful rear drive.
Same reason........timing is off.......front is lifting......rear has to go
somewhere to
compensate for that split second of being "off".
If many of the dogs were shown occasionally on a loose leash........it is
amazing how
many have way too much kick up in the rear.....not much rear drive.....and not
such a
good back after all....and the front is not quite as good as we
"thought"...........<G>
These dogs are presenting a lovely picture on a tight leash.......but left to
their own
they are literally not covering ground with any efficiency.
Like a car with rear drive.......the motion of the dog is only as good as what
it drives
off of. It starts there........and moves forward from there.......
Can't argue with any of the comments from anyone..........
Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.Marhaven.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Peggy To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 8:53
AM
Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Our Breed and needed improvements
Well...while I agree that it is the rear that propels the dog, and the back
must be strong to transmit that propulsion, without a front, all that
strength has no where to go...which is why we have so many bad fronts. I
disagree that anyone can spot a front...obviously that's not true.
I remember reading for over a year, right here on this list, about a
wonderful animal who won here and won there...and looking forward with great
anticipation to seeing that animal at the St. Louis National, and boy, was I
disappointed! Talk about a flailing front.....it was so bad I never got to
the other end. How did that one ever finish, I wondered (and still do).
Morton gave a better, if quick diagnosis of problems we all see...I don't
disagree with any of them. I complained a couple of years ago about the
lack of secondary sex characteristics....it has always seemed to me that a
German Shepherd male should look like a male and a bitch like a bitch...and
I'm told "they don't run on their heads." Guess what, folks...some of the
dogs out there don't run at all....they have other jobs to do. Basically, I
want to know the dog's sex when I see it...without bending over to look
underneath. I believe this was, at some far distant past, important. Not
so much now.
People carry on all the time about bad rears...and most people talk about
them, all the while promoting dogs with the most awful
fronts............yes, I've given wins to a dog or two with a bad back, when
the rest of the entry couldn't compare any other way.......but I continue to
think the biggest problem we have in the breed today is really horrible
fronts.
It is well known that fronts are the hardest thing to learn about canine
structure...and so long as we keep seeing Champions, even Select Champions,
with badly made fronts, we'll never lose them. We'll become like a certain
Sporting breed, where a correct front exists in less than 1 per cent of the
show dogs...it exists in the field dogs, but the show folks won't breed to
those dogs...........do we want to go down that road?
Peggy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Martello" <marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>I agree fronts are a problem.....but we have become so obsessed with fronts
>that> we are losing the rear drive that propels the dog forward and the
strength
> of back> that holds it all together.
> We see dogs winning with all kinds of extreme fronts, yet have soft backs,
> low withers,
> lack rear drive....are not balanced..... and males lacking
> masculinity..... as long as they
> have a super extreme front.......of any type......correct or incorrect.
> Remember......it is not the front that drives the dog forward......nor is
> it the strength for
> turning and twisting and stopping and acceleration of the dog as it gaits
> and herds the
> sheep ....or leaps over tall buildings. <G>
> Anyone can spot a front.......but that is not what this breed should be
> built on. To be a
> working breed they need athlecism, power, rear drive, excellent backs,
> strong hocks
> and ligamentation and the capability to gather itself up off it's rear
> with strength of back,
> and accelerate into a longer stride, or a powerful gallop or jump or even
> navigate stairs.
> Long "floaty" front extension with no powerful balanced rear drive and
> strong back
> will literally get them nowhere........especially our males.
>
> Carolyn marhaven@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> www.Marhaven.com
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