Bax son in USA - Page 3

You are confusing back with the total length of the topline. The topline will slope down (have a roached look) more pronounced in the loin area and the croup, depending how well muscled up the dog is AND how it is stacked. The back is only the part starting behind a high, long withers which consists of boney protrusions which get shorter towards its end, giving it a natural sloped look though it has a level portion of the spine "inside", and ends before the loin, which if well muscled up will have a natural bend to it, not because the spine is "bent" but because of the muscles surrounding it are built up that way. Just like a beefed up human bodybuilder will have huge packs of muscles on their backs that look like to big sausages next to the spine, where a normally built person just has a flat back in that area. Then it is followed by a croup that the standard asks for a 23 degree angle. If you see such a dog stacked with all 4 feet under it, then you would get a totally different picture of the same dog that is stacked the shepherds way with one foot positioned under the pelvic bone and the body put into that slope during the stack. A dog with a true roached back is a dog that has a back portion that is not level, the spin portion of the back bends (roaches) upward. Then the roach is apparent right behind the withers as a hump in that area. If you have a long smooth topline that slopes at the loin and croup area in a dog stacked the shepherds way, you do NOT have a roached back. But you have a dog that conforms to the standard. Learn the standard! The SV standard that is.

DH, are you talking about the dog that looks like the head and neck of one dog has been screwed on the body of another? I don't want to site a specific dog, they look as if there is a distinct break where the neck should blend into the area in front of the withers. From that point, the backline is shaped like a comma. Sorry can't explain it any better.

the issue brought up in this topic was Bax and his progeny. So lets use the dog Wick mentioned above as an example. His name has already been put out there. It is claimed that he has a roached back. IMO he does not have a "roach back". As to the neck not blending in with the rest of the body, that could just be the way the dog was photographed and positioned. People pay too much attention to a single instant in a dogs life that represents 500th of a second! A poorly placed collar can create the optical illusion of such a break that you mention. A dogs head held artificially high, when the body is stretched and positioned so that the dog would usually not lift its head above a certain point, but then still does, will create a false image. Etc. And what does neck to body position have to do with a "roached back"? Those are two different issues.

I don't think I said the neck to body position had anything to do with a roach back. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear on that. I was just asking if that was what you were referring to is all. Thanks for your explanation.