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Cane Corso Angulation
"Rear" and "Front" Angulation as it Relates to the Cane Corso Breed
In our opinion, the topic of both "front and rear angulation" in the Cane Corso breed is of critical importance, as proper structure. We do hope that this article can be received as being educational in purpose, and pass on some reasonable degree of knowledge on the subject, as we really do believe that rear and front angulation, as well as proper overall structure and movement, are still the most misunderstood issues in the Corso world. The breed is making some significant improvements in these areas the past few years as more individuals in the breed have realized that the dog is not "just a head," but it is still the area where the breed is most evidently "lacking" in terms the current state of the overall breed. We have been watching working breeds in the AKC ring for more than 15 years, have had many very knowledgeable people point things out to us, and take the time to pass along what they know. However, we continue to read, watch, and learn constantly, as it is a life long learning cycle if one wishes to be a top notch assessor of structure and movement, whether that be in young puppies or mature dogs.
Rear Angulation
There is a lot of misconception about what the general term "angulation" really means, particularly in respect to the rear of a working dog. Most people in the Cane Corso breed only tend to look at the angle of the hocks when the dog is stacked, but that is only one factor. That is a reasonable "quick and dirty" indicator, but rear angulation is primarily determined by the angle of the pelvis to the spine, and how much it will rotate on its attachment points when the dog is moving. Picture a teeter totter from the side. A properly moving "endurance or single-line trotter," which defines the Cane Corso breed, must be able to properly "drive" its rear end forward and backward in a smooth, powerful, and efficient motion to do its daily "work/job" with endurance. A dog that is under-angulated in the pelvic region cannot properly drive its rear end backward to full extension, nor bring its rear forward far enough in the stroke, as the pelvis can only rotate so far. You will often see judges in the ring assessing a stacked dog"s rear angulation with their hands, in essence, measuring the angles of the pelvis to the spine and the ground. They do the same with the shoulder girdle, using their hands to "feel" and measure the angulation.
The overall rear structure and movement is determined by a combination of the rear angulation, which is the pelvis, in combination with the curve/turn of the stifle of the rear leg, as well as the length and angle of the hock. If the hock is too long or under-angled, the dog will not be able to drive rearward properly, and will throw the legs backward instead of "drive." Picture a swimmer from the side doing a deep scissor kick, as opposed to a world class sprinter driving out of the starting blocks. A dog whose pelvis is under-angulated or "steep" will move its rear with shorter, choppier movements. They look like they are "picking" their way around instead of driving smoothly and efficiently. Conversely, a dog that is over-angulated in the rear, and in particular one with significant curve of stifle and an over-angulated hock, will move very "inefficiently" as well, as the leg/hock will never completely straighten out when it is driven backward. It"s somewhat like watching a grasshopper walk with its rear legs, as they never come close to straightening out. The endurance/single line trotting working dog must be fluid and efficient in movement, and if the rear end is either under-angulated in both pelvis and hock, or over-angulated, the movement suffers greatly, as does the endurance. The dog simply cannot do its stated "job" over long periods of time.
As one can see, angulation is not simple. It is a complex set of interacting structural issues. For instance, one particular dog can lack a bit in the angulation or "openness" of its hock, as well as have a very moderate curve/turn of stifle, so it does not look that impressive when stacked or standing at a natural repose, but can still have very nice, efficient movement because the pelvis is highly angulated. When that dog moves, everything just seems to fall into place. Conversely, a dog can have very nice angulation of the hock, and a decent turn of stifle, yet still have very poor rear movement, as it has very poorly developed pelvic angulaton.
To make it even more complex, it is critical that the rear end drive straight forward and backward for maximum efficiency. If the dog is "hocked inward" (that is, rear hocks turn in), or "duck footed" (meaning the hocks are straight, but the feet turn outward significantly, which is a problem that few people somehow take into account yet is very common in the Cane Corso), then the dog's endurance is greatly diminished, as it will not move its rear efficiently. It's the same principle that many aboriginal people clearly understood, as they had to walk great distances to hunt and gather each day. If they were not maximally efficient at the same, their survival would be in jeopardy. Therefore, many aboriginal tribes across a variety of continents purposefully taught their young children to walk with their feet straight, instead of pigeon-toed or duck-footed, as the movement efficiency, distance traveled, and endurance are then all greatly enhanced over a distance.
Dogs need to be as structurally correct in regard to all of these issues in order to be able to move fluidly, powerfully, and with great endurance. If you watch a dog with superb structure float around the show ring it looks effortless, yet the other dogs cannot keep pace. Conversely, the other dogs can be struggling mightily to try to keep up, and you can easily tell how hard of work it is for them, as they are puffing and panting with their tongues hanging out, while the structurally correct dog is moving at a very comfortable pace for itself. Which dog is actually capable of fulfilling its designated role as a working dog? Certainly not the ones that cant' move properly because they lack proper structure.
The term "moderate angulation" is something used in many AKC working breed standards in relation to describing rear angulation, as is the term "balanced." Yet, if you look at most AKC working breeds, at least those closely related to the Corso like the Rottweiler, Boxer, Bull Mastiff, DDB, Great Dane, etc. (all being Mollosoid breeds used for guardian, hunting, and herding duties) they clearly have, in general, significantly more overall rear angulation than the "average" Corso. We can honestly say that the Cane Corso breed, in general, still suffers greatly from under angulated rears ends and very poor rear movement. We are happy to see some lines are working hard to improve upon that issue, which is great, and if some breeders overshoot a bit trying to correct the problem, then they will have to bring their lines back to an optimum state. It is a complex structural and movement issue to understand, and it is going to take some time before people in the breed in general understand the same, and focus on fixing the problem, which has been evident in the breed for many years, and will not be corrected overnight.
It is easy to see that many in the breed simply don´t understand the issue. We constantly see pictures posted of dogs who are grossly over stacked in order to get their top lines to straighten out enough to appear acceptable, and most people in the breed viewing those pictures and responding to the same don´t even seem to realize the glaringly obvious fault. The hock should be stacked at approximately 90 degrees to the ground, pretty much straight up and down, and the dog should be able to pull a flat top line with the front legs set properly. Many pictures show dogs stacked with their hocks 45 degrees to the ground, or even more, in order to pull out the top line, which simply demonstrates that the top line and rear angulation are not well developed in that dog. When this is done, the curvature on the stifle of the rear leg is also straightened right out as well, giving that dog the "peg legged" look. Yet, people in the breed seldom seem to notice these facts, or simply just don´t care to notice.
If those photo subject dogs were stacked properly with the rear hocks to 90 degrees, they would appear to be "up in the rear," and look broken at the withers. What people in the breed would not realize is that in many cases, it isn´t necessarily a bad top line causing this appearance, it is an under developed rear end. Many people in the breed who are smart with the camera simply avoid having to show these structural faults/issues by only posting pictures of their dogs in an offset front angle shot, which shows only a bit of the topline, and some rear muscle in the thigh and butt, but generally hides the faults. An "untouched" side shot tells the story of the dog's structure, meaning that "Photoshop" does not come into play, not that the dog has been set up by a handler, which is just fine. The very best shots of a dog's structure are those which are natural or "free baited," as the structural faults have not been stacked out by a knowledgeable handler, who knows how to hide the same as best as possible as they are stacking out the dog.
Front Angulation
The front shoulder joint angulation on a working breed endurance trotter is a similar issue. There are some blood lines, or dogs produced by specific breeders, that exist in the Cane Corso world that can be said to almost completely lack in front angulation. This is in some ways a simpler structural issue to both understand and to observe in the Cane Corso than rear angulation. Front angulation is generally easier to assess directly from a photograph of a subject dog, taken straight from the side. In a dog "lacking" in front shoulder girdle angulation, the fore chest appears as very underdeveloped, often being flat or even concave looking, and visually, the front legs drop straight down from the point of the chest near the shoulder girdle instead of being offset somewhat, with a well developed, protruding chest being clearly evident. The front shoulder "layback" is related to the angle at which the actual shoulder blade is laid back, which allows the shoulder girdle to swing back and forth, or "reach" during movement.
As with rear angulation assessment in the show ring, you will often observe Judges using their hands, as well as their eyes, to measure from the top of the shoulder blade to the point of the shoulder, and estimating the layback angle of the joint. If the dog cannot properly reach forward with power with each step, as well as pull the front leg back to the point where it functionally meets the rear leg coming forward in the middle of the dog, then it cannot move fluidly, and with endurance. If a dog lacks in front angulation, instead of reaching for each step with power, the dog will appear in many cases to be "throwing" its front legs forward. Picture a person that is walking on stilts: they must functionally throw the leg forward, and can only drive it backward with limited power, again looking as they are "picking" at each stride, as opposed to reaching forward and driving rearward fluidly with power. Walking on stilts is hardly a fluid, efficient way to move around, it is very non-fluid and non-economical. Simply picture a working dog throwing its front legs forward and picking their way around with limited range of front motion and little "pulling power," and then ask yourself how much endurance this dog will have for any period of time while in a natural trot?
In our opinion, this is currently not as critical of a deficient structural issue in the Cane Corso breed right now as is the overall issue of rear structures and movement, as there are more lines and dogs out there that demonstrate better quality front angulation than rear angulation. That being said, there is still significant work that needs to be done on the general "fronts" in the breed by the breeders of Cane Corso who are knowledgeable enough and care enough to do so. In combination with very evident tendencies in some blood lines/dogs to demonstrate some combination of being potentially "out" at the elbows (like a Bulldog); flat or weak/broken in the pasterns; or "easty-westy" in the natural stance of the front feet (the "ballerina" front...this issue is far more critical when it is evident when the dog is moving, as opposed to when only standing in repose), it is very clear that all of us who are breeding still have some work to do on the "fronts" of the breed.
Summary
Please be very clear that we are not trying to sound preachy here at Darkstone Kennel, but we firmly believe that overall rear end structure and movement is easily the least understood, major structural issue/deficiency in the breed, and it unfortunately clearly shows in a significant percentage of the breed. We are very pleased to see that some significant number of individuals or breeders in the breed have been working hard to improve their top lines, which had been a very serious deficiency for years, and still requires a great deal of work, but at least it is being focused on, and improvement is very evident. "Head type" will always be a contentious issue of "preference," but in general, overall head types are improving in consistency with every generation we see out there. These improvements are wonderful to see beginning to happen, and are required continuously if the breed is to continue to improve overall in the long term. However, a great deal of work needs to be done by all of us in the breed on "rears" and "fronts" in order to produce the consistent type of fluid, effortless movement our working breed needs as an endurance/single line trotter.
In just our own opinion, we would prefer to see a few breeders even "overshooting" a bit with the rear end development in their breeding programs, then bringing the same back to a more moderate state if necessary to produce the "optimum" dog. The same relates to the front angulation evident in their lines. It is, however, much harder to produce a dog that is "over angulated" in the front shoulder girdle. This state of mind would contrast to the current state of the breed in which the majority of individuals involved in the breed consistently either completely ignore rear/front angulation in relation to the overall structure of their dogs, or just simply do not understand the issue when engaging in their breeding programs.
Betty and Byron Osing
www.darkstonekennel.com
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