Conformation Critique

[GoingNowhere]

Interesting stuff! A potentially ignorant question - exactly which "angle" is being measured when you talk about angulation?

It's kind of cool - obviously we don't know what Boo's made up of and chow was definitely the obvious guess, but looking at the structures makes it seem even more plausible that it may be a large portion.

[CharlieDog]

I'm pretty sure the angle of the knee is being discussed, as well as the angle of the shoulder and how much layback the shoulder has.

I'm off to find some pictures of Ozzy and Enzo stacked. I don't think I have any of Indy, and the ones I have of Knox are old, so I'll have to remedy this.

[CharlieDog]

She was around three in the first picture, and nine months old in the second.

You can see her knee has a good angle on it, and her shoulders are nicely angled. It would be better if she'd let me position her feet correctly, but she kept moving them. Her croup I like, and her tail is set on correctly, she carries it straight out behind her when in motion.

(Of course, if anyone else would like to critque her structure, please feel free. I know these aren't the best pictures, but she's on level ground, and the picture is taken on her level.)



Here's another picture of her free stacking, but in this one you can see her front end is a bit posted up, and she's leaning forward slightly, which detracts from her chest. She has a nice chest, not too broad, but broad enough to break brush and plow through water. Her ribs are well sprung, and she's not slab sided. I love the amount of tuck up she has, and with her over all build, she's a very fast dog that can really drive through undergrowth and brush with ease. She's also MUCH faster than any of the other dogs here, and can leave them all in the dust.

Ozzy is next.

[CharlieDog]

These aren't as good as pictures taken straight on the side, but you can clearly see how straight his legs are. In my opinion, they're entirely too straight, and he does not have a good turn of the stifle. In addition, I think he's got his hocks set wrong, but I can't remember the term for that. His shoulders are very upright, and his croup is high, with his tail set on very high as well.

If he was a horse, he would probably have an excruciatingly bouncy trot. His gallop would have good suspension (I think that's what it's called) but he would jolt you all over the place. He is a fast dog, and jumps really high, but I worry about his landings with his knees. I also worry he's likely to blow one of his cruciates or his ACL if he keeps going the way he's going with his bouncing all over the place.

Of course, this is all my opinion, and as such, it's possible I'm completely wrong

[Keechak]

Here is a stack I did of Hawkeye. I wetted him down to be able to better see his structure and then I pt sructure lines on him that make his angulation easier to see

Aussies are supposed to be a very moderate natural breed. There should be nothing about an aussie that appears over or under done. He has fairly correct angulation for the breed. His croup is a little steeper than it should be tho.

[Aleron]

Originally Posted by CharlieDog

These aren't as good as pictures taken straight on the side, but you can clearly see how straight his legs are. In my opinion, they're entirely too straight, and he does not have a good turn of the stifle. In addition, I think he's got his hocks set wrong, but I can't remember the term for that. His shoulders are very upright, and his croup is high, with his tail set on very high as well.

I don't think I have ever seen what Ozzy looks like build wise. Very surprising LOL he has a very Chow-like build!

Are you thinking of slipped hocks? That is really a ligamentation issue and I think it's probably most common in dogs with straight rears.

It's hard to tell exactly with the camera angles and the 3/4 view in the one shot but Enzo's topline has a dip and a rise and she seems to like to stand with her rear legs under her.

[Taqroy]

Originally Posted by Kilter

http://www.workingpitbull.com/soundness.htm

I learned a lot from that site, it explains a lot of details. Pitties, but it applies to other breeds too.

Thank you for this link! That was by far the clearest and most informative (without being overwhelmingly informative) read I've seen on structure.

[SaraB]

Oh wow! I wouldn't have ever guessed Ozzy was as straight as he is! Very interesting.

[Sekah]

I'd love some input on Cohen's structure.







I feel like she has decent angulation but she's high in the rear with a pretty steep croup. Thoughts?

[Shai]

Originally Posted by GoingNowhere

Interesting stuff! A potentially ignorant question - exactly which "angle" is being measured when you talk about angulation?

A lot of angles can be referred to but unless otherwise specified, normally people are talking about the upper arm and shoulder (front) and the femur and lower leg (rear).

Or, for photographic explanation, the blue lines: