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Movement - Albert Munro 1979 © Southern Afghan Club

Movement is essential and involves most of the bone and muscle structure and, with conformation and temperament comprises the most important aspects to be considered. So I offer this sketchy outline of the theory of movement hoping to be of some use to the novice rather than to the informed student. We have in mind the Afghan Hound Breed.

When we examine an individual the purpose for which the breed was originally created and developed must always be before us as a background and superficialities should not be placed over basic fundamentals. The Afghan Hound is primarily a hunter, so we shall look for the ability to move rapidly and for long periods during the chase whilst still retaining enough energy to mount an attack when they prey is finally encountered. The hounds we meet in the showring are unlikely to be called on to display these qualities but they are within the basic nature of the breed

So much for the introduction, now to get down to work.

When a dog wishes to move he starts by lifting one front leg followed almost immediately by the diagonally opposite rear one. Then the other front leg and the appropriate rear one in a similar manner. Of the two feet left in contact with the ground the rear leg thrusts forward by virtue of muscle power straightening the rear leg bones until - at the limit of travel - the leg is straight. This is the point of maximum thrust and ideally should occur at the moment the front foot touches the ground. The front leg, having touched down, travels under the body without folding, helping to support the weight and, as the muscles contract, to fold the shoulder and elbow joints, helps to pull the body forward. In this way the forelegs add their quota to the total thrust and so thrust applies to to the forehand as well as the rear but sometimes it is called 'reach'.

Although here we shall be concerned only with the trot there are several kinds of movement. Of the slow movements there are two. The walk and the trot. In these the dog has two feet always in contact with the ground. This is known as diagonal Movement. At the faster speeds - the flying trot, galloping and leaping - the conditions differ greatly. Now the two forelegs move in unison as do the rear ones and there is a short period when all four feet leave the ground at once. This is lateral movement. At the faster speeds another force must be dealt with - That of gravity but we must leave this and concentrate on the trot which is the gait most used by those travelling at at a considerable distance or when endurance in search of prey is needed, it is also best over rough ground and in the showring it is at the trot where faults or virtues in the running gear are most easily observed.

Remember that, although when standing the rear quarters support most of the weight, when moving the forequarters emphasise support over propulsio9n whilst the rear emphasise propulsion over support.

The essential to proper movement is balance, that is balance between middle and front. It is necessary that the thrust developed by the pressure of the hind feet on the ground shall be transmitted, via the bones of the leg, amplified by the thigh muscles and delivered to the forequarters with as little loss as possible. Adequately muscled thighs and backs are necessary to achieve this and a back not level will waste effort. So it will be seen that confirmation of these structures, the one with the other, should be as close as possible. Powerful hindquarters are of no avail if the forehand is incapable of handling the thrust they provide. This condition will result in the rear encompassing a greater stride than the front can match. It will often be found, when imbalance of this nature is present, the dog will compensate by lessening the thrust from the rear to match the front, or will either:

a Place his rear legs between the front ones.

b Place one rear leg outside - Left or right - of the front ones and the other between them or

c Place both rear legs outside the front ones.

Any of these will result in a short stilted movement and will cause pounding or crabbing. Pounding is raising the rear quarters and coming down heavily on the forefeet. It can cause easy tiring, skidding and sore pads. Tracking becomes closer with increased speed (this is to do with controlling the centre of gravity) but close tracking does not justify the interference of the right and left paws. It does not extenuate cow hocks, ie: conditions when cow hock joints are closer together than pelvic joints but paws turn out again, nor the turning in of hind paws below the hock joint.

Unless there is acute angulation between the upper and lower thigh bones there can be little thrust because it is dependant on the combined length of these bones when extended. There must be leverage and the further the rear foot is placed under the body the longer the stride and the greater the thrust. Nevertheless if in spite of well angulated rear quarters, the shoulders (owing to being too steep or to weak) are unable to accept all the thrust from the rear, the good rear angulation is wasted and, if a judge should put up a dog on the score of rear angulation alone he may, and probably does, put up a bad mover.

Now to consider the forehand, but before we go into the component parts let us remind ourselves of the great amount of activity it achieves besides actually moving. In addition to moving the the forehand need to:

a Help support weight

B Assimilate and absorb shocks when moving.

c Use it's force when turns are made in propelling the dog in whichever direction it wishes to go.

d Help to put the breaks on when stopping.

e Offsetting lateral balance - maintaining a level c/g

f Absorb the shocks of digging.

At least four of these functions are brought into play with each step taken. The Afghan Hound standard requires the shoulders to be long and sloping, well set back, well muscled and strong without being loaded, and these qualities are essential if the hound is to fulfil it's purpose. The shoulder is the foundation of the front assemble and this foundation bone is flat, rather triangular in shape, broader at the top, tapering gently to the narrower end which terminates in the hollowed out cup which encloses the ball like end of the upper arm joint. It is set obliquely at an angle which should form part of an angle of 45 degrees with the horizontal. There is a ridge on the outer surface of the bone, running from top to bottom approximately down the centre. To this, muscles are attached and these, together with the rest of the shoulder muscles, must not only hold it in place, and support the front of the body, but also rotate the blade around it's centre. The angle at which the shoulder lies may be gauged by locating, with the fingers, the line of the ridge and observing it's angle. Should a straight edge be placed along this ridge and continued downwards, the point of which it touches the ground being the spot beyond which, regardless of the size of the dog, the front legs cannot reach at a normal trot. [ note; the mention of a normal trot is necessary here because at fast speeds - when there is a period of suspension with all four feet off the ground - this condition will not apply]

From what was said above, about the straight edge device it will be realised that the steeper the angle of the shoulder the shorter the stride in front will be and the steep shoulder will not absorb the shocks of movement as efficiently as the well laid one.

If a dog with a weak straight shoulder has attempted to compensate by thickening of the muscles which sustain the blade there will be trouble because the muscles attached to the outside of the blade cannot be increased without building up those beneath it - hence loaded shoulders - that is pushed out at the top bringing the lower ends in. This will result in widening fronts and turning out of elbows. A wide front interferes with lateral balance and 'out at elbows' weakens support.

The other important part of the fore assembly is the upper arm which forms the connection between the shoulder blade and the foreleg. There is a small projection in the joint of the upper arm which fits into a socket having a slight overhang thrust forward at the lower end of the shoulder blade and this prevents a full 180 degree opening of the joint when stepping forward. Without this the forelegs could be thrown up over the ears. Actually as the fully extended foreleg touches down it should continue the 45 degree angle of the shoulder.

The upper arm should approximate in length to the shoulder blade and form an angle of 90 degrees between it's centre and the shoulder ridge, thus ensuring that the forelegs fall well under the body. A line dropped from the top of the shoulder to the ground will just touch the rear tip of the elbow joint.

Going and coming of looseness of shoulders or elbows, lateral motion of any part, interference or crossing over, weaving, bow legs or the reverse, cow hocks and inverted or everted paws may be observed. In this connection it should be borne in mind that all the leg joints are hinges, capable of opening and closing but without lateral movement. There is also so called 'hackney action' when the forearm is lifted to almost horizontal and the pastern joint flexed so that the pasterns hang down perpendicularly. This is faulty movement. It is due to weak shoulders and is done to avoid the front legs being clipped by the rear ones. It results in a stilted action and is very undesirable.

Just as a well laid shoulder is essential for correct frontal movement so the slope of the pelvis governs that at the rear. The angle of the pelvic girdle determines how far under the dog the rear legs can be placed. Unlike the shoulder blades which are capable of being moved by muscular effort the pelvis is rigidly fused to the backbone and it's slope can be altered only by raising or lowering the back, either of which we have seen is undesirable. The set of the pelvis should compliment that of the shoulder blade and the length of the upper arm and the second thigh should be about equal. The angle of the pelvic girdle may be gauged by assuming a straight line continuing the line of the back rearwards and another straight line continuing the slope of the pelvis downwards, the angle between these two lines should approximate to 30 degrees. Of course one cannot do this in practice but, once you become aware of a 30 degrees angle experience will do the rest.

Adequate rear angulation has been stressed coupled with powerful thigh muscles to straighten and fold the hinged leg joints and provide the thrust and drive required for sustained rapid propulsion, further , these combined with those along the upper side of the back constitute the leaping muscles and leaping calls for the greatest effort of any form of movement. Complementary to the angulated joints the low set hock is is important in that it does much to ensure lasting speed and greater endurance so permitting the hound to cover long distances without distress.

In addition to moving the shocks attendant on movement must be met and absorbed and this is accomplished by by the resilience of the toes, upper arm, shoulder, second thigh, hocks and pasterns, all of which act as shock absorbers besides playing their part in assimilating the stresses set up by the extremely rapid changes in speed and direction which are a feature of the Afghan breed.

So far we have outlined how bone and muscle structure contribute to proper motion. Other physical causes affect movement - sore pads, cramp, rheumatism or other causes of still joints, over tiredness, poor conditions or just plain laziness. These should be temporary and self evident conditions which yield to treatment and do not concern us now.

The foregoing only lightly skims the surface of the theory and study of movement. I am very much aware that large gaps have been left and what goes on when the hound moves have received, I fear, too little consideration, or even no consideration. However I have done the best, according to my capability, to provide something of an introduction to an important subject.

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Updated 26-06-06