# Straight hindquarters?



## SunnytheGoldie (Mar 10, 2019)

Hello there! This is my first post here ^.^ Greetings from Romania!

So, a few days ago, when I stacked my goldie (10 months old female), I noticed that her back line is not straight at all and her front feet look quite short. After studying the structure of some show dogs, I saw that the problem is actually somewhere else: her back legs are not enough angulated. I tried my best to stack her hindquarters further back, but she started leaning backwards and lost balance. Also, I tried to bend each leg to the belly, place it to the ground, push lightly her croup. Her posterum was still higher than it should be...
Looking on her k9data page, I found pictures of all her relatives, including her great grand grandparents. Neither of them had a weird spine like hers.
Now, it doesn't look like it bothers her. I also watched her trot and it is just flawless. 
Can you tell me if there's something wrong with her back legs? I'll attach a photo as a reference.
Also, any advice is very helpful. I'm still a beginner in conformation and I want to learn as much as possible. Hopefully I'll find a way to make her stack look better and hide this problem.
(sorry for all the mistakes, my English is not really perfect)


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

Welcome to the forum. I don't know anything about stacking or confirmation but wanted to say your English is great and your girl is very pretty. Hopefully someone with real knowledge will comment soon.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

She looks just a little high in the rear. 

Might be still growing. 

She also has a tuft of fur just behind her shoulders which could be causing something of an optical illusion - exaggerating any dips in her back.

If you have a big mirror to practice in front of - 

I'd get her used to having you set her rear feet a step back. You want the toes to be a straight line down from her butt bone. Right now her hocks are a straight line down instead. 

Other thing - and you kinda have a board or mat behind her, but she's "rolling back" on her heels vs standing up squarely on her toes. This might cause some of the topline issues as well.

If you train her to let you set her up proper each time, every time, and hold the position for you - you can do small fixes with the topline if there's still a problem. 

Don't quote me on this  but have heard that a little hairspray or bodifier can help. Use a comb and just something not-to-tacky/sticky to poof up the coat in the dippy looking area. <= I'd do this before using any blade on the jacket (big no-no according to people who taught me). 

The judge will feel whether her back is straight or not, but if it's straight and the coat is just messing up the line - at least the judge won't second guess what he sees from the middle of the ring.


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## SunnytheGoldie (Mar 10, 2019)

Megora said:


> She looks just a little high in the rear.
> 
> Might be still growing.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your help! I guess everything is a matter of hiding what's bad and displaying what's good. I have two more questions:
Should I ask the groomer to trim that tuft of fur a little? Wouldn't this give her an unnatural look?
Also, is it ok to stack the dog with the hock not being straight down? I studied some photos and all show dogs have their feet placed parallel to the ground.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Some of why she's not on her feet right might be the mat up against her rear feet in the photo.. Those feet I would place about an inch further back, and see how that looks. Her topline- her rear is a bit high, and that clump of cape fur, don't cut it but you might try (not if you have a show coming up soon!) taking just a tich from underneath it. Blowdrying her might fix some of that, too.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> Should I ask the groomer to trim that tuft of fur a little? Wouldn't this give her an unnatural look?


Again, I've been taught not to use any kind of blade - even strippers and thinning shears on the jacket. I know people do cut into the fur to get stuff to lay right, but again - I've been taught that's a nono. You can do damage to the coat.



> Also, is it ok to stack the dog with the hock not being straight down?


No, you want the hocks straight up and down. 

I think your dog has enough length of leg to bring her feet back a step.


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## SunnytheGoldie (Mar 10, 2019)

Megora said:


> Again, I've been taught not to use any kind of blade - even strippers and thinning shears on the jacket. I know people do cut into the fur to get stuff to lay right, but again - I've been taught that's a nono. You can do damage to the coat.


Does "the jacket" also include the neck fur? I was planning to ask my groomer to shorten her long fluff that completely covers her collar.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

try too to give her tail a little tug when she's stacked and see if that doesn't make her push her front out over herself.


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## Peri29 (Aug 5, 2017)

She is beautifulllll, your Goldie.
I could not understand much from the picture but One of our rescue had a similar problem. His rear legs were longer compare to the front ones which decreased with time. In sitting position, his front paws were not touching the floor comfortably in flat position . He was like a ballerina on a pointe shoes. Dogs are dogs, goldens are goldens. They are all perfect much perfect than us. How many of us have these perfect runway legs and squat rears?
As long as she is in good health, all is perfect. Enjoy your Goldie


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

OK she IS a little low on leg (legs a bit too short) BUT she certainly is not straight in the rear! Her rear angulation looks good actually.
With decent grooming to thin out the fur over her shoulders and over her rump you'd find her topline looks much better. Be careful she's not overweight. That can add to the lumpy topline. I find that bitches tend to have "longer" toplines and that can manifest in a lower tailset and a "rumpy" appearance that I am not fond of.

I use thinning shears -- and lots of it -- on the neck and shoulders. I'd take out a ton over the hips/rump too on a dog like this. Done correctly it is very effective and certainly doesn't hurt the coat. But it's a skill unless your groomer grooms coated show dogs -- DON'T let her get near your dog! Pet groomers want to cut off what you should leave and leave what you should cut off.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

K9-Design said:


> I use thinning shears -- and lots of it -- on the neck and shoulders. I'd take out a ton over the hips/rump too on a dog like this. Done correctly it is very effective and certainly doesn't hurt the coat.


Heheh - talk to Gary C (Bertie's breeder). He's the one who drilled repeatedly about no blades being used on the jacket. But I do think everyone has their way of dealing with things. 

I agree with what else you said - I think she's not that bad. Even her legs aren't as bad as some european dogs. 

She does need her neck thinned out. 

I think there's something going on with her croup being steep? But I'm not knowledgeable to know for sure if that's what I'm seeing or if it's just extra thick coat on the rump area?


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## SunnytheGoldie (Mar 10, 2019)

Thank you for all your replies! 
I don't have any shows coming soon, but I was just curious if I should worry about her overall angulation. 
When she was little, her topline was straight and a bit sloping back, but at around 5 months her spine started looking like it would break in half. (I'll attach some pics - back then I knew nothing about stacking so she may look very unbalanced).


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I think there was a growth stage where Rukie looked like his hind legs grew faster than the front a little.


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