Seven Generations of Breeder-Owner
Handled Champion Dobermans
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The following article was
written for Doberman judges, breeders, and exhibitors to have a Doberman on the Move© The
Doberman was originally bred for protection and accompaniment during
Herr Doberman’s rounds as tax collector.
Through the history, the Doberman has been used for many tasks
including delivering messages during war, patrolling military
objectives, police work, search and rescue, guide dogs for disabled, and
in ring sports including conformation, obedience, agility, tracking, and
schutzhund. These varied tasks require that the Doberman use many gaits,
depending on the task at hand. Some
breeds have natural gaits that are specific to them.
Examples include the hackney gait of the Minpin, the flying trot
of the German Shepherd, or the amble of the Old English Sheepdog.
These gaits are characteristic of the breed. The
Doberman has been said to be a galloping breed, and it is most
comfortable at that gait. However,
upon observation of many Dobermans in a natural environment, you will
find that the breed is comfortable in several gaits, including the walk,
trot, canter, and double suspended gallop.
The breed uses any and all of these gaits depending on the need. For
practical purposes, the Doberman is evaluated at the trot in the show
ring (as are most other breeds). For
this reason, this discussion will be limited to that gait. Overview The
most efficient working dogs are those that can work the longest at their
appointed duties with the least amount of effort.
The efficiently moving dog travels in a straight line with the
minimum amount of energy. It
requires that there be no bouncing, rolling, or yaw (twisting on the
vertical axis). Length
of stride of the dog is an important consideration.
For a given dog, the fewer steps required to cover a given
distance, the less energy is required. In
most dogs, the rear provides the major propulsive force for moving.
The back and loin provide the rigidity to transmit the force from
the rear to the front. The
front carries about 60% of the weight and provides some additional
propulsion. The
Doberman Standard describes the gait as “Free, balanced and vigorous
with good reach in the forequarters and good driving power in the
hindquarters. When trotting,
there is strong rear action drive. Each
rear leg moves in line with the foreleg on the same side.
Rear and front legs are thrown neither in nor out. Back remains
strong and firm. When moving
at the fast trot, a properly built dog will single track.” Evaluating
the side gait Pictured
below is a side view of the Doberman at a trot.
The graphic was taken from The Doberman Pinscher Illustrated1
issued in 2006 a booklet prepared by the Doberman Pinscher Club of
America (DPCA). We
will begin the discussion with the first line of the movement
description “Free, balanced and vigorous with good reach in the
forequarters and good driving power in the hindquarters.” Note the
front reach and the rear extension in Figure 1 below
Using
the same graphic we can draw a triangle over the dog as seen in Figure 2
below to visualize proper leg position. The
front reach of the dog should result in a front extension approximately
below the nose. The rear
extension should balance the front with an equal kickback.
As you can see, the triangle’s apex is just above the point at
which the front foot and rear foot exchange positions (about the center
of the dog’s topline). The
angle that forms the front reach is about equal to the angle that forms
the rear extension. This is
balanced movement and illustrates correct Doberman side gait. When
evaluating gait, it is important to consider the elevation of the feet.
If a dog lifts front or rear feet excessively above the ground,
he is wasting energy. The
closer the feet remain to the ground, the less energy is required.
There is an old dog term called “daisy cutting” that
describes an efficiently moving dog as one whose feet are raised just
enough to cover the rough ground, just cutting the tops of the daisies
as he moves. To
study the side gait, follow the footsteps as the dog moves. At
the trot, the dog is continuously moving over the legs.
The front foot strikes the ground slightly behind the nose and
immediately moves rearward. As
it moves it passes under the front assembly to the point at which it
lifts from the ground to move forward again.
The leg in the rear on the opposite side is simultaneously
following the reverse path. It
is leaving its extended position and moving forward under the rear
assembly, and extending to about the midpoint of the dog’s body.
Just
under the center of the topline, the front foot lifts to move forward
for the next step. The
rear foot steps into nearly the same track that the front foot vacates.
There is a very slight forward motion of the entire dog’s body
when both front and rear feet are off the ground simultaneously. This
allows the rear foot to assume the same position as the vacating front
foot. (Otherwise the rear
foot would interfere with the front foot.)
This slight forward motion is what Rachel Page Elliot2
describes as the “spring” in the gait.
It contributes to the look of “free and balanced” motion as
described in the standard. Some characterize it as gliding or floating.
This slight time “in flight” is not visible to the naked eye,
but it has been demonstrated in Elliot’s scientific studies2 and
it can be seen in the smoothness of the gait. Since
the rear provides for most of the propelling motion, it is important to
note its action. The rear
leg motion can be thought of as a 3-phase action.
In the first phase the leg reaches under the dog to strike the
ground at about the same point that the front foot is vacating.
The upper leg and hip muscles are doing most of the work.
In the second phase, the leg swings backward under the dog’s
hip assembly and uses mostly the upper leg assembly for its power. In
the third phase, the rear leg continues from under the hip assembly
rearward. A combination of
the upper leg and the extension of the rear pastern provide the
propelling force. Near the
end of this phase, the rear pastern kicks back to provide most of the
final propulsion. The
end of the last phase tells us why the rear pastern (a seemingly small
part of the leg) is so important in the overall movement of the dog.
Comparing a dog’s anatomy to a human’s is hardly exact, but
the human’s upper and lower thigh is analogous to the dog’s upper
and lower thigh. The ankle
is analogous to the dog’s hock, and the human foot is used similarly
to the dog’s rear pastern. Toward
the end of the step, the human pushes off with the foot. The same is
true for the dog with the rear pastern.
You can imagine how you would move if your feet were confined by
tape such that you could not flex your foot.
You couldn’t provide that final push for your forward
propulsion. The same is true
of the dog. This
illustrates the importance of the rear pastern power at a trot
… human or canine. The
standard states “Back remains strong and firm.”
This simply requires that the dog’s back be reasonably rigid
and strong, and not bounce due to looseness, length, or incorrect
proportions or angulation. The
topline of the Doberman should remain level and straight. A
Doberman that bounces over the withers has a serious handicap.
Let’s try to quantify the affects of a bouncing front due to a
combination of structural deviations. If
a male Doberman has a stride of 28 inches at the trot (2263 steps per
mile), and the withers move up and down 1/2 inch with each step, then
the dog’s front will expend the energy equivalent of lifting it 94
feet while traveling that mile. Since
the dog’s front is about 60 % of the dog’s total weight, then the
dog would have expended 60 % of the energy to raise his entire body the
94 feet. In other words,
after trotting for a mile, the dog will have also expended the energy
equivalent to climbing a 6-story building (60% of the 94 feet). The
extra work expended in an hour of trotting (typically at 5 miles per
hour) would be the equivalent of climbing 30 stories.
After a days work, this dog will be far more exhausted than one
that moves without bounce over the withers. Moving
on with side gait, the head carriage should be extended somewhat above
the horizontal as shown in figure 1.
This is a natural head carriage for the Doberman at the trot. The
Doberman should not move with its head extended straight ahead as if it
were a draft animal or with the head up and back as is typical in a
Poodle. Evaluating
the down-and-back gait The
down-and-back gait is described in the standard as “Each rear leg
moves in line with the foreleg on the same side.
Rear and front legs are thrown neither in nor out. …
When moving at the fast trot, a properly built dog will single
track.” Figure
3 below shows the correct movement down and back for a Doberman.
Figure 4 has lines added to emphasize that the leg forms a
straight-line column and moves in the same plane as the opposite leg on
the same side and converge toward a centerline under the dog.
The
legs should be straight throughout their travel, not just at the
beginning and end of the step. The
standard calls for the legs to “ not be thrown in or out.”
This precludes certain deviations of structure that are discussed
in the next section. Notice
in Figures 3 and 4 that the rear legs cannot be seen when the dog is
approaching, because the front legs are moving in line with the rear and
covering them. Similarly,
when viewed from the rear, the rear legs cover the front legs. The
importance of moving with straight legs can be appreciated if we compare
the dog’s legs with human legs. It
is truly a rare human endurance athlete that does not have very straight
legs. Knock-knees or bowed
legs do not allow the forces to travel directly though the joints.
Rather, they cause a lateral force in the joints that will damage
the joints over a period of time, and cause the athlete to move
inefficiently. The same
reasoning applies to dogs that do not maintain straight legs throughout
the travel. The
standard calls for the dog to single track at a fast trot.
The purpose of the single track is for balance and conservation
of energy. Consider a dog
that doesn’t single track at the trot.
Such a dog would have a tendency to have a body roll.
This can be illustrated by Figure 5 below:
The
legs are on the corners of the dog.
If the dog moves without converging, there will be a tendency to
have a body roll. This
occurs because only one leg of a pair (front or rear) is on the ground
at the same time. When one
rear foot is on the ground, the other rear foot is moving for the next
step. The same is true of
the front pair. When only
the left leg is supporting the dog, there will be a tendency for the
dog’s rear to roll to the right. When
only the right leg is supporting the dog, there will be a tendency to
roll to the left. The
dog’s front and rear legs move opposite of each other.
This would cause a rolling of one direction in the front and a
rolling in the other direction in the rear.
This rolling gait is well illustrated on wide set dogs, such as
the Bulldog. Although
some Dobermans fail to converge properly, they do not have an
exaggerated rolling or twisting of the body that is seen on the wide set
dogs. However, the tendency
is still there for the dog to move similarly to the Bulldog.
It is not an efficient gait for a working dog.
When judging the Doberman, convergence is an important point. The
dog must also move in a straight line with a straight body to be an
efficient mover. Some
structural faults will cause a dog to move with a yaw or in a
“side-winding” or “crabbing” gait.
This takes away from our desire to have the dog move in a
straight line, with minimum bounce, roll, or yaw.
Although the dog will appear to move in a straight line, it will
not move with its body (spine) in line with the direction of motion. How
structure affects movement At
a show, the judge does a static evaluation to consider head, color,
coat, condition, temperament, structure, etc..
The structural considerations in this evaluation can often
predict how a dog will move, but there are reasons why the conclusions
reached from the static structural evaluation do not match how the dog
really moves. The
structure and the musculature of the dog control the movement of the
dog. If the dog is in proper
physical condition (weight, muscle tone, and ligament and tendon
strength), then its musculature is not a consideration.
The dog will then move as well as the structure will allow. However,
lack of proper musculature and conditioning can make an otherwise
correctly structured dog move poorly.
This is particularly noticeable in front movement. The shoulders
are not connected to the rest of the structure through joints, but
rather they are connected through soft tissue (muscles, tendons, etc.).
It is entirely possible for a dog to move incorrectly through
lack of conditioning rather than through fault of structure. Most
judges agree that observing the movement of the dog is ultimately the
best way to determine if the static evaluation is correct. To
move correctly the dog must be structured correctly.
The correct Doberman structure taken from The Doberman
Pinscher Illustrated1 is illustrated in Figure 6 below:
This
structure exhibits the proportions and angles that define a correct
Doberman Pinscher. Deviations from this structure will cause deviations
from the ideal movement. The
following highlights how certain structural deviations affect movement
of the Doberman. The
first structural issue is the very important requisite that the Doberman
be square. Two
variations can occur. The
dog is too long in body, or the dog is too short in body.
Unlike
breeds whose bodies are longer than tall, a square dog must really
be built to the correct proportions and angles if it is to move
correctly. There is
simply no extra room to accommodate any interference between front and
rear legs on a square dog. Consider
a square dog with an over-angulated rear relative to the front.
The excess rear angulation causes an over-reach in the rear so
that his rear feet interfere with the front feet.
A square dog must find a way to compensate for the imbalance so
that his legs do not interfere under his body.
He can compensate by moving with his rear feet to one side of the
front feet, or he can move wide in the rear so his rear feet don’t
strike the front feet. A
longer bodied dog offers more room under his body, so his feet will not
interfere. The extra room forgives faults that would be readily apparent
in a square dog. The longer
bodied unbalanced dog may appear to move correctly, but he has two
faults, imbalance from front to rear and too long in body.
A
Doberman with leg length longer than body depth will have the same
problem with interference under the body.
There will not be enough room under the dog to place his feet
without interference, because the long legs “overstep” what his body
length can accommodate. His
back feet strike the front feet before the front foot can get out of the
way. His compensation is
similar to the dog that is overangulated in rear relative to front. Typical
movement for both of these deviations in structure is a dog that
“side-winds” or “crabs” when he moves.
He moves with his rear to one side of his front, so that his rear
feet strike the ground to one side of his front feet.
This gives him the appearance of moving sideways or moving like a
crab. Another
means to compensate for this structural deviation is the dog that moves
wider in the rear than in the front.
This occurs in Dobermans occasionally, but the breed is much more
likely to side-wind than to move wide in rear. Continuing
with the subject of front structural deviations, consider shoulder
angulation. The
standard calls for the shoulder to be at 45 degrees from the vertical.
There is an old adage that says that a dog “can’t reach past
his shoulders”. This
means that when the dog extends his leg for the step forward, the angle
of the leg will be controlled by the angle of the shoulder. A
dog with a steeper shoulder than in Figure 6, say 35 degrees from the
vertical rather than 45 degrees, cannot reach as far forward.
One result is a dog that takes shorter steps both front and rear.
Think about a person whose normal stride is shortened by 10%.
That person suddenly has to take 10% more steps to cover the same
distance … an uncomfortable gait.
The same applies to the dog.
For a given dog, the longer the natural stride, the more
efficient the gait. Although
the front and rear move at the same speed with the same number of steps,
it’s possible that the stride lengths are not equal.
This can happen if the dog is unbalanced with more rear
angulation than front angulation (a common occurrence in Dobermans).
In
this case his front stride is shorter than his rear stride.
To compensate, he must lift his front higher than normal to keep
it in the air longer, while his rear takes longer strides.
The front is taking shorter strides, but is airborne for a short
time. This structure causes
the dog’s front to bounce up and down and is a very inefficient gait
as was quantified earlier. The
correct Doberman front as viewed from the front is shown in Figure 7.
In
the correct front, the legs are in a straight line from the shoulder
through the elbow, pastern and feet.
They are parallel to each other and stand under the dog’s
shoulder. Typical
deviations of front are shown in Figure 8 and include, elbow out,
pinched front, toeing-out, and toeing-in.
We
will not speak to each one of these faults individually, because they
all share a common trait. Plainly,
none of these front structures will allow the dog to move with the legs
in a straight column simply because the legs are not structured in a
columnar manner in the standing position.
The forces of movement will transmit through the joints, but
because the legs are not straight, the joints will flex laterally and
absorb some of the energy. This
stresses the joints and tires the dog. In
addition, the pinched-front deviation will cause the dog to throw the
front legs from side-to-side, wasting even more energy. The dog that
elbows out will typically throw the front legs outwards as he moves …
another inefficient gait. Before leaving the front, it is important to consider the feet and pasterns. The standard describes them as “Pasterns firm and almost perpendicular to the ground. Dewclaws may be removed. Feet well arched, compact, and catlike, turning neither in nor out.” Figure
9 illustrates the correct pastern and foot.
The slight slope in the pastern provides a spring in the front to
absorb shock, while the tight feet provide a firm base to support the
dog. Figure
10 shows a weak pastern and a foot that is not “cat-like”.
The weak pastern flexes excessively each time the foot strikes
the ground, absorbing energy that should be used to propel the dog.
Similarly, the weak foot absorbs too much energy and it is an
area prone to injury. Both
of these can lead to inefficient movement and early injury. Having
completed the front structural deviations, now consider the rear.
Rear movement is easier to judge than front movement because the
legs are joined to the rest of the structure through joints, not through
soft tissue alone. Rear
movement is more influenced by structure, and not as greatly influenced
by conditioning. Also
the movement of the rear is less complex than that of the front, because
the shoulder moves up and down and rotates through its normal movement.
The rear does not have this complexity. The
standard describes the rear as follows: “The
angulation of the hindquarters balances that of the forequarters.
Hip Bone- falls away from spinal column at an angle of about 30
degrees, producing a slightly rounded, well filled-out croup.
The
standard describes the rear structure well when viewed with the
illustration in figure 11. The
only aspect needing clarity is the hock (rear pastern) length, since it
is so vital to the correct movement of the dog.
The
illustrated standard establishes the correct length of hock, even though
the standard does not describe it in words.
Since
the Doberman is described in the standard under General Characteristics
as “Compactly built, muscular and powerful, for great endurance and
speed.” one would expect to see a hock that is moderate in length to
achieve the desired balance of endurance and speed.
A long rear pastern is normally associated with sprint type
animals such as rabbits or antelopes … good for short bursts of high
speed, but not endurance. A
short rear pastern is normally associated with a draft animal … slow
but powerful and enduring, but not capable of great speed.
Since the Doberman is neither of these we must reach a balance,
so a moderate length of hock-to-foot is desired. One
good way to understand correct rear structure is to study typical
deviations. Some deviations
are shown in Figure 12 and represent from left to right an overangulated
rear, a straight rear with a flat croup, and an overangulated rear with
sickle hocks and a steep croup. .
The
overangulated rear seldom matches an overangulated front.
Therefore, most dogs with this fault are also unbalanced.
The over-angulation causes the rear to over reach the front as
explained previously. The
dog typically compensates by moving wide in the rear or moving the rear
to one side of the front (crabbing). The
middle graphic is straight in rear with a flat croup.
The expected result is a restricted rear motion.
The dog can’t reach under far enough.
His straight stifle and flat croup won’t allow the rear to
extend (similar to a straight front not allowing correct reach).
The straight hock joint doesn’t provide enough power to follow
through for the rear pastern “push-off” The
overangulated rear and sickle hocks are particularly troubling.
The same problems occur as the overangulated dog above, but with
the sickle hocks the rear pastern can’t straighten.
A dog with these faults will normally move with his rear under
him, never extending with power. The
steep croup will also limit rear extension. A
combination of faults that are seen from time to time in Dobermans is an
overangulated rear with a flat croup.
This dog will appear to move correctly because the flat croup
compensates for the overangulated rear and allows it to reach back.
It appears to be correct, when in fact there are two deviations
in the dog, rather than none. The
standard also states “Viewed from the rear, the legs are straight,
parallel to each other, and wide enough apart to fit in with a properly
built body. Dewclaws, if any, are generally removed. Cat feet- as on
front legs, turning neither in nor out.” Again,
the standard and the Illustrated Standard graphics do an excellent job
of describing the desired structure of the rear when viewed from behind.
The
standard emphasizes the need for the legs to be straight.
This will allow the dog to move with straight legs as shown in
Figures 3 and 4. Other
typical deviations are shown in Figure 14 below and have the same common
problem that we saw in the front deviations.
These legs are not straight as required even when standing in the
normal position (the left being cow-hocked and the right being open
hocked).
When
the dog moves the forces of movement will cause the joints to flex
laterally, absorbing energy and causing undue stress on the joints.
This will wear the joints and tire the dog. ` In
the beginning, this article explained the correct side gait and the
correct out-and-back movement for the Doberman Pinscher. The intent was
to instill a vision of the correct movement of the Doberman in the
reader’s mind. Later,
the article describes the mechanics of gait and discussed how certain
structural traits affect it. Structural
faults were used to describe incorrect movement.
Using faults helps to understand how the dog should not
move. Although
it is important to understand faults and how they affect gait, the
reader must be careful not to fall into “fault judging” as the
primary means of evaluating movement. Good judges first recognize
merits, and then evaluate the dog’s movement based on balancing the
virtues against faults. To
emphasize the importance of positive judging, below you will find a
repeat of the illustrations of correct movement along with a repeat of a
description of correct gait as described in the standard.
Hopefully the reader will focus on these as the most important
element of this paper. From
the Doberman Pinscher Standard “Free,
balanced, and vigorous, with good reach in the forequarters and good
driving power in the hindquarters. When trotting, there is strong
rear-action drive. Each rear leg moves in line with the foreleg on the
same side. Rear and front legs are thrown neither in nor out. Back
remains strong and firm. When moving at a fast trot, a properly built
dog will single-track.” PROPER DOBERMAN MOVEMENT
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