I think for the next month I will do some posts to help with clarification about things pertaining to the breed, the standard, shows, and the ABKC. Today I will give a brief explanation of movement and how it should be looked at in the shows. This is from the ABKC American Bully standard: Gait: • The American Bully moves with a confident and proud attitude, while keenly alive and alert to its surroundings. • Gait should be effortless and powerful. The action must, be unrestrained, free and vigorous with powerful drive off the rear. Front reach and rear drive should be in balance with one another. • Legs turn neither in nor out, nor ever cross or interfere with each other. • Dog moving on the same plane – Each leg moving in the same plane shared with the other leg on the same side with minimal convergence. • Back line should remain level, with flexing to be very slight. Faults: Rolling; pacing; side winding; hackney action; paddling or pounding. Not moving on the same plane; legs over reaching; legs crossing over in front or rear; rear legs moving too close or touching. Gait basically means the movement of the dog. The first sentence combines the attitude/temperament with the movement. The movement of the dog should be of confidence and alertness. Your dogs shouldn’t be slouching, dragging, timidly walking, or any type of movement that doesn’t display confidence. The dog should be able to move in pace and be alert and in tune with the handler, judge, and ring. The rest of this pertains solely to the movement and is often misunderstood. I have heard many people refer to a dog’s movement as being beautiful and comments like look how well the dog moves, only to look for myself and see a dog moving like a different breed? There is elegance to a movement breed I must admit, and these dogs that reach way out in front them gliding across the ring with their high paced gait and high convergence can be beautiful; but it is not true nor correct for this breed. Ive seen other breeds that are heavy built and look very powerful and when they move they roll their shoulders, feet pound on the ground, moving with a bulky and lumbering pace; and to some this may look powerful, but this is also not true or correct for this breed. Our breed should have powerful drive off the rear; this is a trait that stems back from the original ancestry of the breed. The rear is very important in our breed, many people focus on the front end of this breed; but this is a balanced breed and the rear is equally important. Movement in our breed begins with the rear, so these dogs should have powerful drive off the rear. This is why it is important for a judge to view your dog’s movement from the rear, especially when the dog goes from a stack to a gait. When you watch our breed move it should look effortless and unrestrained but still very powerful. This does not mean legs reaching way out in front of them; nor does it mean rolling or pounding with a heavy foot. This breed is a balanced breed and everything should be in balance as it moves. If you think of its build and how the dog is put together then all aspects of its movement should match and be in balance with its build. Our breed has broad, deep, and well filled in chests so when moving convergence will be at a minimal. Convergence basically means when a dog gaits the faster it moves the closer the legs come together. Our breed will converge as its gait increases in speed, but not like a movement breed or the more Terrier style “Pit Bulls”, it is minimal in our breed because of its build. Our breed does not have long legs or narrow or shallow chests, so it will not converge like breeds that posses those traits. The legs are balanced to the body’s height and length so again every way this breed moves is in balance with its build. Legs neither turn in or out or cross each other, this breed is a square breed with straight feet, both legs and feet should not turn or cross in movement. Again everything should be straight, in balance, and look effortless and powerful. It is important for a judge to also view your dog from the front and watch it as it moves towards them. Dogs should move on the same plane with each leg moving in the same plane shared with the other leg on the same side, the back-line should remain level, with flexing to be very slight. A judge needs to see your dog’s movement from the side as it reaches its full gait. This breed has a unique gait; it is not a high paced gait. This is not a racing breed like a Greyhound, nor a Sight Hound or movement breed like a Saluki. This is also not a toy breed or one of the overly short breeds that need a walking pace or even brisk walking pace. The correct pace to view the gait of this breed is a slow jog. If we move too slowly then the breed will not get into its gait, if we move too fast then the breed gets out of its gait into a sprint. To view the proper movement it is a more of a slow jog or trot. Ive seen people especially handlers of other breeds try and move this breed way too fast and you cannot get a good view of proper movement at that pace. Ive also seen others move too slow at a walking pace, and again the breed doesnt get into its gait when just walking. Ive seen where dogs are asked to move at a fast pace in the ring and asked to go around multiple times at a fast pace? We are wanting these dogs to have endurance and be in good condition, but this is a conformation event not an endurance competition, and you cannot judge movement and gait at a high pace. Yes the dogs should be alert, they should be in good physical condition, they should not be panting and breathing hard, they should not be over weight, they should be able to stay alert and keep up with the competition, they should be able to move around the ring, and multiple times if further viewing is needed; but this is not a race, this is to view structure and movement. I also know these fun shows, stack offs, and all these things are fun; but conformation events have their own purpose and that is to judge dogs and teach what proper structure and movement is and why. A dog must be built correct to move correct, good structure and movement are essential to the health and vitality of a dog and they both run hand in hand, if a dog is built correct for its breed than it should move correct as well, this is a balanced breed. I hope this post gives a little clarity and insight on the breed, remember this is NOT the Terrier type of “Pit Bull” you see in the UKC conformation shows. This is NOT the Terrier type of Am. Staff we see in recent years in the AKC shows. The American Bully is a heavier, shorter, broader breed that will move different. This is also not an English Bulldog, or Mastiff, so this breed will have very different movement than those breeds as well. I didn’t go in as much detail as I could, and I’m not as eloquent or descriptive with my words as maybe a judge would be, but I hope this gives a little more input into movement and showing. Thank you for your time, all Respect…
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:18:17 +0000
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