Another in a series of continuing reports by 
Tina Barber
Shiloh Shepherd Breed Founder

From the ISSR Breed Standard:

 "THE GAIT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A VERY CRITICAL PART OF THE OVERALL PERFECTION OF THIS BREED. This breed must be observed while the dog is on a loose lead so that the natural gait is evident. The gait is outreaching, elastic, seemingly tireless without effort; smooth, and rhythmic, covering the maximum amount of ground with the minimum amount of steps. At a walk, it covers a great deal of ground with long strides of both hind legs and forelegs. At a trot, it covers still more ground with even longer stride, and moves powerfully but easily with coordination and balance, so that the gait appears to be as the steady motion of a well-lubricated machine. The feet travel close to the ground on both forward reach and backward push. In order to achieve ideal movement of this kind, there must be good muscular development and ligamentation. The hindquarters deliver, through the back, a powerful thrust, which slightly lifts the whole animal and drives the body forward. Reaching far under, and passing the imprint left by the front foot, the hind foot takes hold of the ground; then hock, stifle, and upper thigh come into play and sweep back, the stroke of the hind leg finishing with the foot still close to the ground in a smooth follow through. The overreach of the hindquarter usually necessitates one hind foot passing outside and the other hind foot passing inside the track of the forefeet, and such action is not faulty unless the locomotion is crab-wise with the dog’s body sideways out of the normal straight line. As the dog increases speed into the "flying trot', he should move fluidly, without pounding. The forelegs should reach out well past the nose while the head is carried forward."

Please note the chart below which judges are required to follow when rating our "breed" as a whole:

Why is this area so important to our dogs? Because watching these dogs moving in a "flying trot" looks awesome? Not exactly! First and foremost the Shiloh Shepherd was bred to be a trotting dog, be it for herding or just jogging next to their owners.  These dogs should possess an easy flowing (non-tiring) trot. The dogs that naturally choose to move in an extended trot also display correct structure (everything where it should be) while dogs that do not move well could be exhibiting some serious structural defects! For a deeper understanding of the importance of proper movement, I would like to suggest  Dogsteps: Illustrated Gait at a Glance by Rachel Page Elliott. Some people think that the beauty of the flying trot is not that important if you only plan to have your dog as a pet (couch potato)....But...there is a lot more to this than meets the eye! 

Since gait is considered to be a critical part of the overall  quality of these dogs, breeding programs should always take the "total" dog into consideration! If the structure is not correct (as per breed standard) then the faulty dog/bitch should ONLY be bred to a counterpart that will offset this condition, and future breeding quality puppies should be carefully selected for several generations!

One of the critical issues that needs to be considered is the full package. Since a specially designed Malamute line was crossed into this breed about 12 years ago, breeders must be concerned about the "baggage" that this line carries. We have found that certain genes seem to "cluster" together. One of these is the tail (gay), incorrect movement or pacing (see the drawings on the cover of Dogsteps) and stubbornness! Most of us are aware that Malamutes tend to be "hardheaded" as well as  "roamers"....these are not the temperament traits we want to see in our Shilohs! Although the MAW line added much needed improvement to our pelvic set, it also brought with it some undesirable (sled dog) traits that need to be "washed out".  Obviously dogs that tend to pace with gay tails should not be bred. 

Tina's special report continues....

Movement  |  Tails |  Where Did the Leg Go?