A look at conformation & movement of 2014 VAs - Page 7

lineage, it's easy to see the dog you post has a lot of rear "angle", especially for a dog from that era. Nothing about the pic suggests sicle hock although as mentioned it would be impossible to tell without seeing the dog in motion.

If you bend your arm at the elbow and then swing it back and forth from the shoulder, this would approximate sicle hock. the hock is locked and does not open. A dog with this condition has very little drive from the rear. I'm sure it has happened, but I've personally never seen a German judge give high placing to a dog really lacking rear drive.

Djambo is not sicle hocked.

Sickle-hocked: viewed from the side, an over-angulated joint between the lower thigh and hock; an inability to straighten this joint when moving.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RljoHJYnNQ0#t=66

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RljoHJYnNQ0#t=74

Blitzen:  On Dj movement in front paws and the not smooth presentation  but the video was short ...I see what I was told was another description...not sickle hocked but another word was used..been tooooooooo long ago...

YR

I noticed the front feet worse than I noticed the rear...for some reason..the video is short and people in the way...but his front hock movement and the paws are sloppy ...I see what you see..

But Dj would be my first choice so far...have not watched others..but last year I was not very happy with what I saw as I watched it live..as a lot of us did..

Blitzen   look at the back hock movement on this VA   2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxec0CSnCM8

YR

None of these recent VA dogs are that bad, but when a dog can't hold the hock perpendicular to the ground while stacked and always has the toes in front of the hocks no mater how far the leg is taken backwards, you have sickle hocks, and it is quite noticable from a stacked photo.

Even the really angulated ones can look good once going at a fast enough speed.

Excellent piece of info GSD Lineage

I think the problem with trying to judge sickle hocks from a show photo is that the photographers are smart enough to snap the photo while the dog is still holding its outside hock perpendicular to the ground. IMO the older dog GSD lineage posted here IS in fact sickle hocked. Today a skilled handler and photographer would have set that dog up so it didn't appear to be sickle hocked and taken the photo at that time. Back then, they probably didn't think about that.

I think many of the videos of GSD's on both sides of the pond are "sped up" to make the dogs' movement mistakes harder to see.  This one of Djambo looks to me like the second half of the film is running at a faster than normal speed when I watch the handler, not the dog. Perception is reality in the dog show world. How much importance does the SV place on correct movement in a breed survey? I don't read much German, but I don't remember any mention of a specific dog's movement either pro or con in a breed survey. Maybe I missed it? All the emphasis on movement might be an ASL thing? An ASL that doesn't fully open its shoulder and follow through behind isn't going to go far. That alone eliminates sickle hocked GSD's from doing much in the AKC ring. They will finish, but will probably never make a big mark on the breed.  Moving on their hocks is generally allowed as long as they have a big, ground covering side gait with a lot of "kick/ showing of pads". That is almost all there is for those dogs. An ASL can be one of the most beautiful dogs in the world, but if it doesn't have a big flying trot, it's done for.

At any rate, Djambo is certainly a very beautiful dog and eye candy for the spectators (as was Zamp, another absolutely breath taking dog). Who could overlook the beauty of this dog in lieu of a perfect gait? Not me

YR, I love that slow motion look at Yankee's side gait. Compare the rear thrust on this dog to him and it's easy to see the difference between a dog that can open it hock joint and one that can't.