<<I've been told that when the dog is stacked, it should appear that if a drop of water fell on its head, it would roll smoothly down the head, body and off the tip of the tail. >> ------------------------------------- Unfortunately, that drop of water would keep on rolling down a back that is too long, a croup that is too steep or too short, a dead tail ... wait ... a proper saber shaped tail carried out as it should be, just might catch that drop of water. <G> I put no faith in descriptions such as the drop of water theory. They always remind me of "watching how far the rear foot passes the front foot" to judge reach in the rear. The truth is, it should be how far the rear foot passes the imprint left by the front foot, and believing that is all there is to rear action (some judges seem to) is a killer for this breed. A steep croup can set a rear under far enough to make that rear foot pass where the front foot leaves off, and that type of croup is a fault. That dog cannot drive or follow through correctly. A dog with a ridiculously steep topline in motion will fit the drop of water theory just fine, but where in the standard is that exaggerated topline called for? Sure, it's exciting to see ... if you want something other than what the standard asks for. I had a dog that moved pretty darn well with his head forward and a level topline in motion. I also had one heck of a time trying to persuade handlers not to string him up on a tight lead, (they wanted a high head carriage and an exaggerated topline in motion). He won like crazy on a loose lead, and never on a tight lead. Now it is true that some folks will not even look at a dog unless it shows a lot of topline in motion. I didn't care then, and I wouldn't care now, because the dog fit what the standard asks for and he was rewarded because of that under some very knowledgeable judges. I invite everyone to look at the standard, and show us where an exaggerated topline in motion is correct. I'm not talking about topline when the dog is standing. That can change according to how the dog is stacked. Even my level backed dog could be set up to look very extreme. I honestly believe that this is an important topic to discuss, because in order to achieve that extreme topline in motion, other parts of the dog need to be contrary to what the standard asks for. Just one more note ... My level backed dog also fit the drop of water theory just fine. His wither was higher than that level back, and the topline continued downward with his long correctly shaped and angled croup. His head carriage in motion was at about 45 degrees, which is correct, but also happens to be about 45 degrees lower than the exciting dogs we seem to want these days. True, when a dog is excited he tends to lift his head, but can that dog move correctly with his head forward? Tom Langlitz ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. 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 - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues ============================================================================