The Evolution of the Back of the German Shepherd Dog - Page 1

http://www.louisdonald.com/new--june-2014--the-evolution-of-the-back-of-the-gsd.html

Very interesting article, and well worth reading.

Spot on., Brilliant.

There was recently an article, forwarded to Jemima Harrison, who produced Pedigree Dogs Exposed, about the extreme hind angulation in GSDs. By SV judge and Kormeister. You can see it here http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/ (scroll down to German Shepherds - have they seen the light?).  It seems though that the brain can see it but the eye can't!  Incredible.

What really got me about the second article was the dog Schweikert thought was ideal was a typical show line of today, with the (slightly) curved topline, lowered pelvis more angulated rear legs, and large head.

The dog he showed in motion was a 1960's era dog (it was a black and white diagram, not a photo) which had a very strong resemblance to a picture I've seen of Bodo von Lierberg!

Apples and oranges...

Movement is the thing that has been most affected by the changes in the spine and pelvis. For the article to be relevant, he should have shown how the changes have affected it!

Donald show it quite clearly in his article!   http://www.louisdonald.com/new--june-2014--the-evolution-of-the-back-of-the-gsd.html

I can't copy and paste the pictures, but scroll down to where it says "Opposite Ends of the Spectrum"  To increase the contrast, he show an American showline dog next to a German showline.  Both dogs are on a tight leash, and you can see what I've often pointed out (and sometimes been soundly blasted for pointing out!). The curvature of the spine causes the  hips to lower, and the front end to lift, so the front feet don't travel as close to the ground as they should. It's simple mechanics: the force is no longer directed as much towards the rear as it would be if the pelvis weren't lowered.

All GSD's, other than most of the Czech and other workinglines, have a lot more angulation today than they had back in the day. It's not only the ASL's.

Blizen, both articles address the German dogs. The American dogs get a pass on this one....

Oh, and my statement above about the curve in the back, was, of course, referring to the German dog, not the American, which in this case, has the better gait. It shows both better front extension and rear follow-through. 

Yeah, I know, just making an observation .

Blitzen, look up the Czech dogs in some of the well known Czech kennels...in silhouette they are not unlike the sl dogs. Hump back and all.

In the article, ASL's were mentioned......as having weak backs and hocks at least once in the ariticle.

The trot of an ASL and Euro GSD are different because the standard is differnt....
FCI standard, Ibrahim highlighted the differences on a nother thread....

Basically the Euro trot is supposed to be long and EFFECIENT, the ALS trot is just supposed to be long.

Abby.
Here is a more indepth translation of the article you linked to.

http://www.louisdonald.com/blog    scrool down a bit.

overangulated hind legs..........photos..

http://www.louisdonald.com/hindquarter.html

I am in completel agreement of this.