Page 135 - ShowSight - September 2019

Form Follows Function: Part 9 BY STEPHANIE HEDGEPATH continued
Figure 2. German Shepherd Dog’s Stride
Figure 3. High Stepping Wasted Motion
Figure 4. Padding/Flipping of Front Feet
Is the foot moving close to the ground? Is the movement smooth or is there some jerky motion to the foot? Think of a swim- mer reaching out in front of their body and head with the hand skimming the water before plunging in and pulling underneath the body through the water. In most breeds, the reach of the front foot out in front of the dog should move smoothly and fairly close to the ground (often called ‘daisy clipping’ as such a movement of the scythe would surely clip the heads of the blooms off of the stem). (See Figure 2)
Does the front foot sweep up near the end of the arc before being placed on the ground, giving too much lift to the foot? The same photo of the beautiful moving German Shepherd depicted in motion in Figure 1 but altered so that the front and hind paws are quite a distance from the ground. This dog has full front reach and rear extension but is shown wasting motion by having the front feet in the air so far
above the ground. This often happens when a handler insists on racing the dog instead of letting the dog move in a relaxed man- ner. Gaiting a dog in the show ring is not a race to see who can run the fastest. To be honest, by making a dog run faster than it really should in order to extend itself at the trot, you are usually exacerbating the dog’s faults—actually pointing them out to the judge. Take a look at the topline of the dog being moved too fast—see the bounce up and down over the withers (and often along the entire back? If you slow them down, it is still there, but it is not waving to the judge “Look at me!” (See Figure 3)
Does the foot flip up a bit (or a lot) from the level of the pastern before being placed on the ground? This is called “pad- ding” because you can see the pads of the feet when the dog is coming toward you. Padding is one of many wasted motions that can be made to put the movement of the dog in some semblance of balance.
By flipping the front foot up before placing it on the ground, it allows the dog which is better angled in the rear than in the front to keep the front foot off of the ground long enough for the rear foot to complete its full swing of motion. By flipping the foot up, it prevents the front foot from hitting the ground before the rear has expended all of the energy from the striking rear foot as it moves the dog forward over the front assem- bly. (See Figure 4)
Like the follow through in the swing of a golf pro, the rear assembly is not finished with its thrust until the rear foot has ‘fol- lowed through’ behind. If the front foot were to strike the ground prior to the rear foot completing its follow through, all of that energy expended by the rear would essentially push the front assembly into the ground, much as a pile driver pounds tim- ber or pilings into the ground at a construc- tion site. This dog would eventually break down in front.
ShowSight Magazine, SepteMber 2019 • 133