Sheer self-indulgence

Well, we can't all be stunning all the time. lol

This is going to be a purely self-indulgent post. I know no one else is going to be interested in the different ways the Ts move, but I find it endlessly fascinating. It's one of my favorite things about having a digital camera with continuous shoot. Now if I could just get the darn thing aimed right more often!

Okay, no, he's not moving here, but he needs to get his dignity back. (*snerk*)

This first one is Taenzer. Yup, just one front foot. I like this because you can see how she taps the ball with her forefeet to move it when her poor little schnozzy gets tired.

Another single foot shot. I was reading up about GSD mechanics and movement, and read how when a well-built dog is trotting, the extended back leg should "snap back" almost straight at its greatest extension, because that's what's powering the forward impulsion. This is pretty close, I think, complete with a nice point to the toe.

In contrast, you can see below how Timber's trailing back leg is not "reaching" back. To be fair, I think he's not going as fast as Taenzer is here, but you can also get an idea of the lack of forward reach with the other back foot. Again, what I read indicated that the forward-reaching back foot in a trot should reach at least to the center of the dog's length. It's that lever thing--you get more power more efficiently from a long reach and a long follow-through than from short-and-choppy. Poor boy is very short-striding in back, and I'd give a lot to be able to afford to get him x-rayed and see what's going on back there with his hips and pelvis.

However, you can see that he's nicely-balanced--the diagonal legs are moving in nice sync and his body is absolutley vertical--what power he's generating with that short stride is going completely into driving him forward; there's no sway or wobble.




This one I haven't quite figured out yet. Taenzer's back legs are completely crossed. My guess is that she's starting a turn: her body is straight, but her head, ears, and tail are all ever-so-slightly left of center. But you'd think from the angle of that planted right foot that it would push her off to the right, not the left. So I need to study this a bit more.

One thing I've noticed in stills of the two dogs is that Timber keeps his feet low to the ground when he moves, and Taenzer prances like a Hackney pony. Look how high her forefoot is here:
(also note that the ball is completely off the ground!) (Sorry it's so dark--it was overcast this afternoon.)

and how tucked up her right forefoot is here, and how high the left hock is:





Now look at Timber:
(don't you love the way his feathers sweep around in this picture?)
Again, notice how the reaching back foot fails to reach the center of his body. Also, I just noticed that he's pacing here (both right feet reaching forward at the same time).




I love pictures of Taenzer jumping! She tucks her forefeet so neatly. I'm hoping to catch her in mid-leap--neither taking off nor landing--some day. You know how you sometimes see photos of horses jumping who have both their fore and hind feet tucked up beheath them at the height of the arc over the jump? I'd love to see if she does something similar.




I think this photo is interesting because of the transitioning that's going on: she's been moving at a fair clip, as you can see in her forehand, but you can see her applying the brakes as she nears the fence. See how "weightless" her outstretched front foot is, how her back is arching and tail is coming up as her weight moves back, how she's shortened her stride in back, and how her weight has all moved back onto that planted right back foot?




This is why I took the camera out in the first place. Of course, I missed the picture I really wanted--he was watching something in the street and had taken up the classic GSD stance, with his head and ears up. This is a pale version of that, but you can see he still has one rear foot advanced slightly. He's got such a nice topline--a nice gently swooping slope from ears to tail. Taenzer's very flat in the back from withers to the root of her tail, but Timber's neck flows into his shoulders, which flow into his back and gently down to the tail--but without the extremely pronounced slope of American show lines, or the West German banana back (which I believe has been corrected now). His proportions are good too. I haven't measured them, but I'm guessing somewhere around 10:8.5. Taenzer's very leggy and very close to square--she's just slightly longer than she is tall, probably 10:9.5. Timber's got much more the classic GSD body shape.




So how cute is this? "You called?" *lol*




And after going at top speed for an entire hour, my little energizer bunny zonks out in a well-deserved nap.