Movement
Judge Vera Kollar
I want to thank all the exhibitors and the handlers who showed to me at the two
shows below:
 Pacific Northwest Boxer Club Specialty - August 17, 2012 – Seattle, WA
The show was held outside and it happened to be the hottest day of the year.
 Heart of America Boxer Club Specialty – August 25, 2012 – Topeka, KS
The show was inside in air conditioning.
The hospitality was exemplary and I had a wonderful visit. The boxers were
beautiful and presented in lovely fashion. I will always remember both trips fondly.
At both shows, I was pleased to have so many quality boxers to choose from.
When I judge boxers, I always judge to the breed standard. I do not focus on flash,
color or ears (cropped or natural). In assessing the overall boxer, movement is
extremely important. as well as the beautiful boxer head. The body, balance and
movement are the greater part of the dog and boxers are a working breed.
The entire anatomical structure of a dog can be evidenced by it’s movement. Thus,
if all the bones are in the right places in the right proportions, that dog should have
the capability of good movement.
Of course, there are a lot of negative factors that can affect a good dog with good
movement: youth with growth spurts; injury; extreme weather conditions; time of
day; or a bitch in heat (their pelvis may become loose during a heat cycle).
I believe would like to take this opportunity to explain movement as it was taught to
me. I will address the boxer gait as it is stated in the Boxer Breed Standard below.
Gait
Viewed from the side, proper front and rear angulation is manifested in a smoothly
efficient, level-backed, ground covering stride with a powerful drive emanating
from a freely operating rear.
I believe the key word here is efficient. A properly moving dog runs
with less exertion of energy and can run longer and cover more
ground. This is why movement judges will run your dogs more. The
dogs that are not running efficiently and cannot cover ground with
the others in the ring will burst into a gallop or tire very quickly.
A freely operating rear drives the front of the dog efficiently and does
not mean they are kicking their legs high into the air as they run. Try
simulating that yourself as you run. It is not efficient.
Although the front legs do not contribute impelling power, adequate reach should
be evident to prevent interference, overlap, or sidewinding (crabbing).
This can be clearly seen from the side when a dog is moving. A
correctly moving dog will have the front and hind legs come together
touching tips of their toes. If the hind legs are coming under the
body and overlapping the front legs as it also comes under the body,
the dog is sidewinding in order to prevent the back feet from stepping
on their front feet. Incorrect movement will be evidenced with
sidewinding, running wide in the front or wide in the rear to avoid
stepping on their feet.
If a dog is running high in the rear, it can be because the hind legs
are too long for the front legs and they cannot produce proper foot
placement.
Viewed from the front, the shoulders should remain trim and the elbows not flare
out.
A dog who is running with their elbows flared out will typically cross
over in the front or have one or both feet curve inward with foot
placement.
The legs are parallel until gaiting narrows the track in proportion to increasing
speed, then the legs come in under the body but should never cross.
It is obvious to see legs that cross in the front. If a dog is running
wide in the rear, they will look like they are kicking their feet out to
the sides when coming in to you on a down and back.
The line from the shoulder down through the leg should remain straight
although not necessarily perpendicular to the ground.
This imaginary line extends from the shoulder through the leg as they
reach. This reach is determined by a correct shoulder assembly. The
two shoulder blades on top of the dog’s shoulders should be quite
close together and 2-3 fingers apart between the top of the shoulder
blades.
If the shoulder blades are farther apart is makes a straighter line (up
and down) with the bottom of the shoulder where it connects to the
leg (straight shoulders). This limits the range of the lower leg and the
leg will appear to have a right angle to the body when running rather
than a straight line.
For example, stretch your arm out in front of you and the straighter
the shoulder (wider shoulder blades), the more your elbow will be
pulled in towards your waist.
(Examples)
Viewed from the rear, a Boxer's rump should not roll.
The dog’s reach occurs from the front and the drive occurs from the
back. The ribcage stabilizes the drive to push the dog forward which
is why the standard includes:
The ribs, extending far to the rear, are well-arched but not barrel-shaped (ref. Body
section).
If the ribcage is shorter, there is less to stabilize the rear drive and
you will see a rolling rump as each leg’s drive pushes and twists the
rump left or right.
The hind feet should dig in and track relatively true with the front. Again, as
speed increases, the normally broad rear track will become narrower.
The easiest way to tell if a dog’s hind feet are digging in with drive is
to check the thighs. Dogs that dig in will have strong thigh muscles.
Dogs with very little thigh muscles are not compelling drive from the
rear. They have a front wheel drive chassis.
If you think that a dog moving with a wide rear track or one that is
double tracking in the rear (legs that step wide and then narrow and
then wide again) is efficient, I suggest you run on a down and back
and a go around mimicking their movement. It is not easy, nor is it
efficient.
If the hind feet are moving relatively true with the front, that means
that the front and rear feet on each side of the dog are running in the
same path.
To see your dog’s foot paths, run them in snow or dip their feet in
water and run them on a sidewalk. Their footprints will show their
movement.
The Boxer's gait should always appear smooth and powerful, never stilted or
inefficient.