An exert from the book
"The total German Shepherd Dog"
by Fred Lanting
The Front
Variously called the front assembly, forequarters, or shoulder, the whole
combination made by the shoulder blade (scapula), upper arm (humerus), breastbone
(sternum), and their related soft tissues is at the heart of much poor movement
in German Shepherd Dogs the world over.
Shoulder assembly — The least understood and most controversial
portions of the Standard as well as of the dog relate to the angles proscribed
for the forequarters and hindquarters. I disagree with the angles commonly
reported to be ideal in the shoulder area, though much of the discrepancy
may be a matter of how that angle is usually measured. To specify angles
is useless unless exact points of reference are not only agreed upon but
also easily determined. Since the bones forming these angles are curved,
such "landmarks" as the highest point of the scapula, the foremost point
of the upper arm where it meets the shoulder, and the topmost point of the
elbow should be used as well as a detailed illustration decided upon. None
of the German Shepherd Dog Standard editions or versions has been so explicit,
nor have any in other breeds. Some years ago I radiographed standing dogs
and found that what I had been reading in books and seeing in artists' drawings
was not so. The call for a 45-degree shoulder layback plus another supposed
45-degree angle to the "line" of the upper arm, equalling a 90-degree shoulder
angle, is inaccurate and misleading. If lines are drawn along the scapular
spine and down the centre of the humerus, as they usually are, a 90-degree
angle in the real, live dog standing there before you will never be realized.
Since the time I started challenging this notion, there have been noted authorities
who have corroborated my claims with independent research, but it will be
a long time before the old books are all revised and longer still before
writers do their own investigative work instead of copying sketches from
each other.
Probably the best drawing of the ideal German Shepherd Dog ever published
in this country is Lloyd Fanning's which appeared in the Review and in a
small booklet on the breed published by the German Shepherd Dog Club of America.
Strange that so many have used incorrect representations instead of this
accurate sketch.
Sketches in this chapter represent the typical German Shepherd with a good
shoulder. Dogs with better reach and a floating gait have close to the same
angles and layback. I suspect much more credit for such gait lies in the
muscles and ligaments than has been imagined, measured, or hinted at in the
past.
In actuality, the ideal shoulder with a 90-degree (approximate) angle from
point of elbow to point of shoulder to highest point on scapula has about
a 35-degree layback, not 45 degrees (see page 62). Additionally, factors such
as the relative lengths of scapula and humerus, and the angle at which the
humerus inclines, play parts in the standing appearance and in the reach in
motion. While they didn't have all the answers, Humphrey and Warner had most
of them, and they determined that 102 degrees was ideal for the working German
Shepherd Dog.
The scapula does not articulate with any bones at its top, but is attached
by four muscles to the spinal column at a number of places from the first
cervical to the ninth thoracic vertebra and to the first seven or eight
ribs. This is the case whether the dog is steep-shouldered or well-laid
back, so differences between the two types must be due to differences in
scapula and humerus lengths and ratios; perhaps the lengths of the vertebrae;
and the tightness and condition of the ligaments and muscles which hold
the bones in their positions.
In examining the standing dog, the good layback of 35 or 30 degrees can
be determined either by feeling the slope of the scapular spine or by palpating
the highest point of the scapula and the most forward point of the upper
arm and imagining a line between these points. The two lines will be essentially
parallel, so take your choice; in either case, you will have approached
the question scientifically. By observing the facts for yourself you will
be able to arrive at a conclusion or hypothesis. The sooner we understand
what is as opposed to what we imagine, the sooner we'll understand how to
get the most out of our dogs.
Another problem in reporting a 45-degree or greater layback is that it
doesn't occur in the standing dog. Possibly you might exclude achondroplastic
dwarf breeds such as the Corgi, although a noted Dachshund breeder once
told me that my statement about “no such shoulder angle as 45 degrees” was
true for his breed as well. It does happen when the dog is trotting, running,
deeply crouching, or lying. The reason for this is that the scapula is not
fixed or stationary; its lower end is pulled back by the trapezius and forward
by the omotransversarius and serratus, with many other muscles being involved
to a lesser extent.
These angles can be visualized by watching slow motion movies or the frames
taken from those, and superimposing (technically, infra-imposing) the skeleton
or lines representing the bones. Examining many dogs of varying qualities,
hopefully with the guidance of a knowledgeable veteran, will enable you
to see these proper angles in motion and in standing.
Hindquarters The thigh — what is meant by "the whole assembly of the thigh" in
the wording of the AKC Standard? Viewed from the side, it includes the croup,
upper thigh (femur and associated soft tissues), and lower thigh (tibia
and fibula). If these three skeletal sections are too "vertical" or steep,
the hindquarters will not present the broad picture called for by the Standard.
Obviously, if the croup and lower thigh are slanted downward toward the
rear, the femur will not also be so. Nor is it angled forward when the dog
stands in a normal pose, in spite of the Standard's inaccurate statement about
it paralleling the scapula.
Many books on many other breeds have made the same error; even some written
by well known judges who should have known better than to report on something
they did not experience in real life.
From experience both in radiographing live, standing dogs and in feeling
for the bones in the hindquarters, I have found that the femur is vertical
when the metatarsus (hock) is vertical. The natural stance for German Shepherd
Dogs is with one rear leg placed a little under the torso for added support
of a long, substantial body. In this leg, the femur is not vertical, but
neither is the hock. Lift the dog's rear leg while you feel with your fingers
for the acetabular (hip) joint capsule, and make a chalk mark there.
Then feel the depression between the upper and lower leg bones. This is
some distance below the patella, which is too hidden in cartilage to be accurately
palpated. You can now see that the femur is quite straight and vertical
between these two easily located points.
The slant of the lower thigh roughly approximates that of both the croup
and the humerus, and although there is considerable variation, it probably
comes closest when the metatarsus is vertical, but even then not in all dogs.
The angle the lower thigh bones make with the femur in a natural stance is
not a right angle. Here again I am forced to contradict a poorly worded line
in the Standard which is more fancy than fact, and probably harks back to
the days before radiography was used much.
Even von Stephanitz may have understated conditions a little when he said
this angle should be "90 to 100 degrees, sometimes even a bit more." He
was talking about the angle made between the pelvis (croup) and femur, which
I have shown is not possible. But one of the axioms of geometry indicates
that if the croup is parallel with the tibia, the angle between the femur
and tibia equals that between the femur and croup. Remembering that this
premise of parallel lines is approximate at best, consider the fact that
most excellent, moderately, or even over-angulated dogs have 120 degrees
or more between lower thigh and femur, however one measures it.
The angle between pelvis and femur is not a right angle. With a slope of
35 degrees to the croup, and a nearly vertical femur, that angle will be
around 125 degrees in the ideal dog (90 + 35). To have a right angle would
necessitate a horizontal croup or a forward- slanting femur, neither of which
are found. The angle between a vertical line running through the stifle and
approximating the femur and the line from stifle to point of hock varies
from 95 degrees in an extreme dog to about 130 or 140 degrees in a less-angulated,
straighter stifled dog. This means the angle of the lower thigh from the
horizontal varies from 5 to 50 degrees in various breeds.
