In a message dated 4/23/2006 6:09:18 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, MarcatoGSD@xxxxxxx writes: I keep looking for comments that are offensive and see none. Seen her illustrations and don't see anything offensive about those. They are, IMO, just true depictions of what she sees. And, if I were to say she were biased at all towards German dogs, it would be the German working lines, not the highlines. -------------------------------------- She has cleaned up her act, but here below are her comments on American specialty dogs. (Click on Images for larger Pictures) Dog C is the extreme type of animal that can win top awards in the American specialty show ring. His proportions are 10:8, which donâ??t sound unreasonable, but in actuality creates a dog of unacceptable length. He represents an evolution of the breed away from a body type that is athletic and strong, towards one that shows an optically dramatic gait. The emphasis on gait has resulted in a lack of attention to other problems and a noticeable loss of breed type. This dogâ??s head is small and weak, lacks good depth of stop, is too long in foreface, and the skull lacks depth and jaw strength. The head has a collie like quality which is atypical and weak. He has a straight front assembly and associated short upper arm, and carries his head vertically because of the steepness of the withers and backline. This neck also lacks breadth of attachment, and is too long. The large prosternum and filled forechest can give the illusion of a broad, well set shoulder. His lower arm is a bit short, which contributes to his low station and low, sweeping gait, but it is less efficient for galloping and jumping. The pasterns are down and will probably collapse into a plantar position under the pressure of landing off a high jump. The feet are flat. His withers are high, but more because his hindquarters are low than because of their structure. The chest is very deep, because it has been squashed flat, and is slab sided and narrow when seen from the front. A tremendously long body means a very long spine. Itâ??s strong enough to give the dog an elegant topline, but is too long for agility and jumping, and slopes unnaturally even when the dog is standing informally. He has an underline and abdominal cavity which is long and drooping, giving the abdominal organs far more space than they need. The croup and tail are long and beautiful. Angulation in the stifle is unbalanced with the angulation of the shoulder, being considerably more acute: a full right angle. The lower hind leg has lengthened proportionately much longer than the lower arm, pushing the hock downward and forming an acute angle at the hock joint, known as sickle hocks. These are accompanied by long, loose Achilles tendons which cannot snap the hock open for a sharp, strong, propulsive follow-through. In movement, Dog C gives the illusion of impressive stride and power. He does show fine reach, because he is so loosely ligamented. Some show an exaggerated reach, with the foreleg actually achieving an horizontal position. A normally muscled front with good bone relationships can't do this, at least not at a trot. The exaggerated rear angulation ostensibly increases power and drive. What it actually does is produce an overextended length of stride, which requires an excessively long back to absorb it. It also gives the associated floppy, sickle (and probably cow) hocks that are unable to completely snap open on follow-through, and that waste a great deal of energy. The rear is lowered as a result, sloping not just the topline, but the spine as well. An opened hock is achieved by speed, with the hock thrown back and flipped open of its own momentum, but providing no power. Hence the over fast gaiting at so many specialty shows. Loose, excessive angles also prevent the dog from showing any period of suspension, even at faster speeds. The hind leg has landed almost up to the hock (plantar) before the forefoot is anywhere near leaving the ground. The dog canâ??t generate sufficient power to lift and suspend the body. Needless to say, this conformation is incapable of providing the power or coordination necessary for fast galloping or athletic jumping. The overall effect is of a very dramatic, even elegant, moving dog (especially if it's in good condition), with a racy topline, huge stride and great speed. The speed at which he is gaited makes the details inside the silhouette difficult to see, and an extreme dog can appear very impressive. He can even make a correct dog seem lacking, and will initially cover more ground, faster and with more flash, leaving the correct dog behind. It would take some time, longer than a few hours in a show ring, before the correct dog's effortless, floating gait ran the extreme dog into the ground. Also, the correct dog will show a normal walk, wonâ??t stand on its hocks, can gallop well and will have good jumping and turning ability, things that will be more of a problem for this extreme dog. ============================================================================ 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. 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