Back length.

[Moll. 1,769]

How much does length of back enhance a running dog?

Are shorted backed types quicker off the mark, but slower with less wind than those with longer backs who can cover the ground faster.

Does length of back help or hinder turning?

 

Interested to hear peoples opinions, i hear people saying "got a good length of back on that dog" but never hear people taking it into account for breeding?

[Guest dances]

shorter back dogs are quicker turners as a generalisation due to the fact that to turn they must have there feet on the floor. so the more times there feet touch the floor the quicker the turn in theory

[rocky1 942]

hi moll ,i here that a lot more in the saluki breed so the back thing might be a stamina thing ,also here the same with a nice deepchest here that more with the deerhound breed i,m guessing thats winds aswell ,sorry for not anwser your question fully ,just i heard alot of the same

[Stanleigh 135]

In his book Col D Hancock devotes a chapter to the back/loin , if you get the chance read it it,s a really good explanation concerning the types of back and why they function the way they do.

[skycat 6,172]

In my experience, the length of back is less important than the overall conformation of the dog. If its legs work OK, if it is fit, and most importantly, if it really wants to catch, then it will, regardless of the length of its back. I had a very long backed little lurcher (23") who could do everything, and was shit hot on the turns on the lamp, as well as having a lot of stamina for day time running. I've also had a short coupled dog of 25" who was mustard on the lamp, very fast on the take off and turned very tight.

 

Some Saluki types seem quite short in the back when compared with greyhounds or other lurchers, and they have stamina to burn. I think it depends on the overall breeding, type as to whether or not a dog is better off with a long back or a short back.

 

Yes, a long backed dog with shorter legs will take fewer strides to cover the same amount of ground that a short backed dog of similar size, but I've never seen a long backed dog fail to turn well< but of course that depends on the agility and suppleness of the dog as well.

 

There's never a straight answer to a question when it comes to mixed breed running dogs!

[sighthound123 31]

I was told that the shorter backed greyhounds are usually the sprint dogs, also they tend to have slightly straighter hocks? and the distance runners obviously longer backs and more angled hocks. Dont know how much of this is true though

[cmccmc 24]

The original afghan hound imports were very short coupled (before the show folks got their claws into the breed and ruined it), and they were bred for endurance and agility on mountain and desert.

 

 

Some european racing lines have preserved the old type

 

 

But - sadly - the majority of afghans today look more like this

 

[DottyDoo 500]

should the lenght of back be on proportion to the dogs height??? or lenght of leg or anything like that????

 

 

never really been arsed aboot how long a dogs back was, as long the dog done what was asked of it....

 

 

but my deer/grey pup is very long in the back, almost as long as he is tall

[Moll. 1,769]

should the lenght of back be on proportion to the dogs height??? or lenght of leg or anything like that????

 

 

never really been arsed aboot how long a dogs back was, as long the dog done what was asked of it....

 

 

but my deer/grey pup is very long in the back, almost as long as he is tall

 

Supposedly a long back and long tail are desirable in a running dog Dotty?

[DottyDoo 500]

should the lenght of back be on proportion to the dogs height??? or lenght of leg or anything like that????

 

 

never really been arsed aboot how long a dogs back was, as long the dog done what was asked of it....

 

 

but my deer/grey pup is very long in the back, almost as long as he is tall

 

Supposedly a long back and long tail are desirable in a running dog Dotty?

 

 

well them 2 i can guarentee on this dog, his tail nearly touches the floor an he is 28 ats an 6 month old

[sandymere 8,261]

Traditionally long backs were thought to denote stayers and I’d say that the best stayers I had on the track were long and low but that may have been coincidence as I also had a short coupled little bitch that stayed well to. In theory the longer the back the longer the stride length but that doesn’t take into account the extra energy used propelling the body over a longer distance, we’d need a physicists to do the math lol. I still like an animal with a decent length of back as part of a general balanced dog. General body type and fast/slow twitch fibre percentages must be the main contributing factors ie a lightly built saluki type equals a Kenyan runner, they come tall or small , and greyhound would be Usain Bolt . Body weight against stride length is likely the highest determining feature for stamina whereas power is that for speed. To heavy built can’t stay to light don’t have the power.

[fcuktheban 140]

How much does length of back enhance a running dog?

Are shorted backed types quicker off the mark, but slower with less wind than those with longer backs who can cover the ground faster.

Does length of back help or hinder turning?

 

Interested to hear peoples opinions, i hear people saying "got a good length of back on that dog" but never hear people taking it into account for breeding?

 

I've read running dogs with a longer length between hips and rib cage are usually faster by a good percentage. I will have to find the paper again. It has many factors in it such as the losenes of the dogs skin, the height of its ears on its head and more. I think this is a very interesting article.

 

My link

[skycat 6,172]

Interesting, but I think that article is trying to explain something which is self explanatory. Why? Because all animals and humans have a head shape relative to their size: in other words, you don't get a draught horse with a narrow small head because the rest of its bones are also large and solid. The same could be said of dogs: a Greyhound would be 'head heavy' if it had a massive great head on a body made for speed with correspondingly long leg bones, for example. So to me, it is logical that dogs and horses have heads which fit in with the rest of the body shape.

 

OK, so you could argue that dogs and horses bred for speed need a more aerodynamic head shape than an animal which doesn't have to move fast; less wind resistance!

 

He does actually state this in the article, Quote: "The narrower (or wider) head is simply a skeletal trait that is an indicator of other skeletal traits," Unquote, so it really is stating the obvious.

 

Some other examples where form follows function: Dogs like the European sheep droving dogs, such as the Maremma and other herding/guarding breeds, are very heavy and large. Speed has never been a requirement for such dogs, but endurance is. Hence the heavy bones and large heads.

 

At the other end of the spectrum there are Whippets, whose ability to take off with lightening speed and be into top gear almost immediately matches their size and shape.

 

This is one of the reasons why I find lurchers so fascinating: when we breed we are using different types of dog to produce something which is suited to varying tasks in the hunting field.

[Ideation 8,216]

Isn't it just a longer back often means a longer stride?

[chartpolski 20,410]

A long back is supposidly desireable, as with a cheetah, because the flexibility of a long back gives longer strides. How this would help a coursing dog on the fens, I could see, but would a long stride be advantagous to a lamping rabbit dog ? I've a 1st x Deer/Grey bitch and some people say she is short coupled, others say she has a long back !! I just think she is in proportion !

 

Cheers.