Page 160 - ShowSight - December 2019

Form Follows Function: Part 13 BY STEPHANIE HEDGEPATH continued Figure 5. Swinging or Winging the Front Foot Coming.
same approximate distance from the center- line as the right foot. This dog is swinging the leg inward and is called paddling because of the similarity in motion of a canoer with the stroke of their paddle - first in toward the canoe and then away from the canoe in a circular motion in order to propel the canoe forward.
SWINGING OR WINGING
I have also seen dogs that swing the leg outwards instead of under the body. Same circular motion as done when paddling, but when it goes to the outside it is most often referred to as “swinging” or “winging”. See Figure 5.
This little fellow had a very upright shoulder and a correctly angulated rear assembly. He got a little better as he matured, but he is the perfect example of ‘winging’. In my DVD on the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, I actually stacked these pho- tos and ran through them like a film clip so that the action could be seen in motion. You can easily see the progression of his left foot as he picks it up from the ground in #2 and swings it out to the side in a circular motion breaking the bone column of sup- port at the pastern before placing it back on the ground. He also is shown padding as he
flips his front paw up before he strikes the ground with it, showing his pads. In num- ber 1, you can see him starting to swing his right front foot out to the side as well. In both winging and paddling there can be anywhere from a slight variance from the normal to a pronounced variance, such as with this puppy.
PADDING
Padding is when a dog flips the front foot up prior to placing it on the ground. This can be caused by a number of things includ- ing an upright shoulder or a shortened upper arm. Figure 6 shows another young pup in a trot with the front foot lifted and flipped up so that the pads clearly show, breaking the column of support at the pastern.
WIDE COMING
Some breeds call for a dog that tracks parallel such as the Schipperke. In some other breeds the correct movement is com- ing wide in front with the rear legs tracking closer to the centerline as with the unique
Figure 6. German Shepherd Pup Padding
gait of the Bulldog due to the wide barrel- shaped chest and well sprung ribs with the brisket well let down, below the elbows. All of this combines to give the Bulldog a wide chest and with a deep brisket thus keeping the legs apart. The legs are not placed under the body, but are tacked on to the side of the dog as the elbows stand away from the body due to the barrel shaped chest thus allowing for the correct movement of the legs.
In the average dog, it is expected that the dog will move forward at a trot with the legs inclining toward the center line. The faster the dog trots, the closer to the cen- ter line the feet land up to the point that they land on the center line which is called single tracking. Most of the time when a dog moves wide coming toward you it is due to a shortness in the upper arm. The upper arm must be long enough to allow the legs to be set back underneath the body of >
Figure 7. Correct Bulldog Front
“IN THE AVERAGE DOG, IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE DOG WILL MOVE FORWARD AT A TROT WITH THE LEGS INCLINING TOWARD THE CENTER LINE. THE FASTER THE DOG TROTS,
THE CLOSER TO THE CENTER LINE THE FEET LAND UP TO THE POINT THAT THEY LAND ON THE CENTER LINE WHICH IS CALLED SINGLE TRACKING.”
158 • ShowSight Magazine, DeceMber 2019