Evaluating Movement
Evaluating Movement |
I would sing a serenade to the wondrous beauty of canine locomotion. Over the years I have observed quite a number of people in the dog fancy, be they judges, breeders or other experts, go through the process of evaluating Saint Bernards in action. Some people seem to have an eye for analyzing the moving dog, and some people must work very hard do develop this talent. Unfortunately, it seems that there are quite a few other people that can't (or won') learn. This population has a problem for which I have no solution. But those people who would like to be exposed to some strange neoteric thoughts on this subject should read on.
Since my purpose here is to convince you that you should be very concerned with movement, I will take on this project in two pieces. The first piece is about the importance of judging movement whenever anyone is evaluating an animal. The second piece is about the best approaches used to evaluate canine locomotion.
Let,s start with the question, “Why is it so important to appraise the movement of a dog whose worth we want to determine. Do you suppose it is because we consider the dog,s movement to be some sort of artistic expression? I think not! Some people like to see a hackney gait; they think it is stylish. Others like a standard (correct) reach in front because they think it is beautiful. Beautiful because they feel that such a gait is efficient, and because it is the gait usually associated with correctly constructed and athletically fit dogs.
I really want the readers to think about the logic here. How can an observer evaluate all of the parts of a dog? By all of the parts I mean the literal thousands upon thousands of individual components that go into the formation of a dog! Of course, such a task is impossible – unless we look at how all the parts function together. The reason that judges and breeders must make a thorough evaluation of movement when judging dogs is that one cannot fully understand the proper conformation of all the parts nor the correct assembly of all those parts except to observe how the entire package functions as a unit.
In observing how a dog uses himself, how a dog moves we can judge the total dog as a unit. Does not your innate reasoning tell you that this is so? I must argue that this is the only reason we look at dogs while they are in action.
If I could be forgiven for departing from the main topic here for a moment; it is this idea of judging the total dog as a unit that seems to me to be missing from the judging of many European judges of my breed. While not true of every European Saint Bernard Judge, the most common procedure is to look at the dog standing still and then move the dog down and back. The evaluation procedure is usually completed without the judge having touched the dog nor having evaluated the side gait. This is a great procedure for evaluating certain pieces of the dog, but it is a procedure that is totally inadequate for evaluating the entire dog. And that is the impression I have of much of the European judging fraternity – that they do a good job of evaluating pieces, but fail miserably when it comes to evaluating the total dog.
Having finished my short digression on judging the total dog, and having no more to say on why evaluating a dog’s gait is essential to the judging process, I want to now talk about the correct approach to evaluating canine locomotion.
So, let us talk about just where one should place his or her emphasis? It is my opinion that seventy percent of the evaluation weight should be placed on the side gait with fifteen percent given to each of the other two gaits -- coming and going. The rest of this article will try to convince you that my position is the one that should be more universally accepted.
Now let us contemplate the mechanics of evaluating movement. There are three views used in evaluating a dog's gait; ·the side view, which is used to evaluate the side gait, ·the front view, which is used to evaluate the coming gait, and ·the rear view, which is used to evaluate the going gait.
From the rear and from the front, you are looking basically at two features; does the dog single track or not, and does each leg operate exclusively in the canted plane it shares with the other leg on the same side? It is these deviations from the plane of action that denotes a form of weakness that we want to insure is not present in the dog under scrutiny. Most of these deviations from the planes of action have been given names.
·crabbing ·winging ·paddling ·toeing-in ·weaving-legs ·out-at-the-elbows ·tied-at-the-elbows ·running-wide
From the rear we see: ·crabbing ·cow-hocks ·moving close ·popping-hocks ·barrel-hocks ·running-wide ·Weaving-legs
I would advise the reader to forget all these terms and just remember what was already stated about what the evaluator should be trying to evaluate when the dog is coming and going. We want to know whether or not the dog single tracks and whether or not each leg operates exclusively in the canted plane it shares with the other leg on the same side.
From the side you look to find an athlete in action! This is the view in which you must assess ·Stride length (Does the dog have an adequate reach and drive; that is, does it have a good length of stride and is the front stride balanced with the rear stride?), ·Foot timing (Do you see the rear foot set down in the just vacated track left by the front foot on the same side?), ·Suspension (Do you see a moment of suspension with each stride?), ·Stability (Does the body function without rolling or bouncing?), ·Strength (Does the dog show a strong firm top line? Do the feet, pasterns, hocks and legs provide firm support without buckling whenever the dog's weight is imposed?), ·Joint articulation (Do the primary joints open and close during each stride, or do they seem frozen in place, especially the hock and elbow joints?), ·Head carriage (Does the dog run with its head level or above level? Or does the dog run down hill all the time in an effort to relieve the weight on the rear assembly?), ·Tail carriage (Is the tail carried correctly, or is it carried over the back, or in a tight curl, or tucked between the legs?), ·Grace (Does the dog move effortlessly? Do the feet lift off of the ground cleanly, or do they simply slide along the surface? Do the feet set down firmly without a sudden thud? Do the feet travel in an efficient path or do they go on some energy-wasting journey of their own design? Do you see poetry in motion? Do you see a dog able to perform its historic task?),
Let me summarize the points made here. Whenever we evaluate dogs we must assess movement to see how all the parts function as a total unit. It should be obvious to anybody considering this subject that an incomplete evaluation of the dog in action cannot result in a competent evaluation of the dog. A correct approach to evaluating gait uses all views, and looks closely at each aspect of movement. However, when we assess movement we must put much more weight on side gait than on the information gathered while simply viewing the dog coming and going.
Given my druthers, I would have everybody love the breathtaking beauty of the Saint Bernard in action. I hope these words will convert those of you who are unbelievers.
Stan Zielinski |
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