Hindquarters – The whole assembly of thigh, viewed from the side . . . . forming as nearly as possible a right angle. The upper thigh bone parallels the shoulder blade while the lower thigh bone parallels the upper arm. . . .

Dave,

What is asked for here is *balanced* angulation of front & rear (the 90 degree angle thing is just an "ideal"). If the front and rear angulation are different you have gaiting problems. For example, if the front angulation is less than the rear (straighter shoulder & more angulated rear), you have a dog that can't do an extended trot because the rear stride is greater than the front stride and as the trot gets more and more extended the dog is pushed by the greater rear extension into either a pace or a run to compensate for the structural imbalance -- but it can not an hold a very extended trot. OTOH if the front angulation is greater than the rear (good shoulder angulation & straighter rear angulation), you have a dog that does not have enough rear drive to balance the greater front extension & the gait will look choppy and have no power.

IMO the *amount* of angulation the dog has is not as important as the requirement that *both* front and rear angulation be *in balance* (be the same). Once you start fiddling around with rear angulation to get that "lovely" extended flying trot (side gait) you have to balance your "fiddles" in other areas of leg bones to compensate -- and that was not always possible. "You can't fool Mother Nature."

my american line bitch is not overangulated, She has a straight back when she isn't stacked. Stacking can be VERY deceaving. When a dog is stacked, the handler will often push the dog into its stack giving the impression of more topline and greater angulation. (Either gently behind the hip, or on the last rib) My dog also has a very level topline when gaiting. That is what the standard calls for. And just for the record, all my dogs have great temperments <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

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You can't defend the show lines by making comments that are just not true. The ASS lines have overly angulated backlines and are weak of bone and muscle in comparison to the working lines. They also move funny, not at all like a GSD should move. The flying trot is a joke.

And forget about good temperament. The necessary working temperament is not there- drive/aggression, sharpness, nerve . . . just to name a few.

Van Camp you can take a look at Sable_Lvr's dogs here: http://www.members.shaw.ca/skyegsd

Ok... I know we've beaten this to death... but this picture CLEARLY shows that the upper thigh does NOT parallel the shoulder and lower thigh does NOT parallel the upper arm.

http://www.gsdca.org/Noframes/standard/ISIllos/illo2.gif

I guess its fairly close... but in most Amer. Show Shepherds the LOWER thigh actually parallels the ground... forms a 90 degree with the hock.

VanCamp:

Easy killer. Please keep your comments general and not towards a particular dog.

My bad, my bad. Nuff said . . .

But, in my defence, if YOU put your dog up as an example, then you otta be ready for a little bit of scrutiny.

Nice link Big L. Where do you get this stuff. You're like a double agent, that kicks ASS. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I knew you could not resist! I caught the edit.

VanCamp, you don't know the half of it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> .

Mr. Moderator <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Hey Lauren why don't you mail me the story, it sounds like a good one?