Dean why is it you prefer a shallow chest and less angulation?
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Notice the whippet has the deep chest and heavy "angulation " to its rear. People on here largly talk very highly of these traits but, lets examine the function and forms of these 3 sighthound breeds and compare them to one another. Function is what drives form. What is the whippets function? The whippet is bree to catch rabbits. Rabbits, not hares. Rabbits take a tremendous amount of speed and quickness which are two different things. We can think of quickness as explosiveness and agility. The whippet catches the rabbit how? By speed and quickness. Very little attention is given to endurance. Not much to killing a rabbit once its caught. So work is primarily over once the quick catch is made. The whippet is having to run for miles or fight its prey once it catchs it or hold and controle it for a prolonged period of time. Ok, notice the form of the whippet. That deep chest and step angle over the croup and rear portionnof the dog. As a side not lets visit size briefly too. The whippet must by extremely nibble and agile. This means its feet have to be on the ground more so than a dog bred for hare. A dog can't change directions when its feet aren't on the ground. A rabbit requires a dog with a lot of rpms to really excell at catching them. This is why the whippet is small. More rpms to cover the same amount of ground as a deerhound can. This results in a form that is best suited for the function of catching rabbit.
Now lets move to the Saluki. The Saluki is bred to run down gazelle and hare. It does this through speed and stamina. Tons of attention is focused on the stamina of of this breed of sighthound. Stamina has a 2 part play here with this dog along with the next dog we will be discussing. This race is a race of stamina or endurance, not just speed and agility as in the case of the whippet and rabbit. After this really long high speed race results in a catch, the Saluki has to have the endurance to either hold or kill the gazelle. So again their is another difference here as far as function goes than with the whippet and rabbit.
Lets examine the form that exells at this funtion or speed and endurance above and beyond anynother dog on the planet. It doesn't have the deep chest the way a whippet does. If a deep chest translated to more endurance and energy then surely the Saluki would have a chest 17 times more pronounced than the whippet. Moving to the rear portion of the Saluki. Notice the Saluki is much flatter over its croup than a whippet or greyhound if you can imagine just a bigger size whippet. Since the Saluki is still among the fastest dogs in the world, is the steep angulation over the croup really whats required to be extremely fast? Another case and point, notice the croup of a Thoroughbred. The Thoroughbred renowned for its great speed and stamina doesnt really have a round or steep angulation to the croup. However we do find this more to be a feature in the quarter horse which runs a quarter of the distance a Thoroughbred does.
Transitioning now to the final dog pictured, the wolfhound. The apex dog of all breeds. Its function was to run down and fight/kill wolves. This took speed and much endurance but not only speed and endurance but also power. Where do wolves live? In the flat lands? No! Do wolves have great endurance? Yes they do. Are they fast, yes they are. They are also big, powerful, and fight back unlike thenother two prey species we discussed the previous other two breeds of dogs were bred for. So now we know the function of the wolfhound and what it has to do, lets once again examine the form/structure of the wolfhound which is the worlds most apex dog. The wolfhound is fast and has to have a lot of stamina which again plays a dual role in this dogs function. It has to have the endurance and speed to cstch a wolf but also it has to have the energy and power to kill the wolf once it catchs it. Notice the chest and croup are more similar to thatnof the Saluki than that of the whippet or greyhound. Remove that hair and you'll find a more shallower chest underneath than what it appears to be. Also notice the mass of the wolfhound. Its not frail and danty like the other two breeds mentioned that caught prey that didn't fight back. So the biggest of the dog breeds, the apex of the dog breeds hunting by far the rougher and more unforgiving terrain and still one of the faster dog breeds with great endurance. Is the pattern starting to emerge now and make sense?
I'm not chasing rabbits. My dogs are running down 280 to 300 pound boar that once caught, ferociously fight back with dagger like weapons. Their strength and power is great, the prey carries its own weapons and its own armor in a very powerful and dense body. My dogs hold for an extended period of time often times caught 1000 or more yards away with me on foot.
That is why i prefer the structure that i do. I'm not heat stroking dogs, never have i heat stroked 1 nor are they getting cut up, nor have i ever lost one to a boar either in the field or after. That is the power of Form for Function and also The Lords blessing.
Realizing the entire function is paramount. Knowing the prey is extremely important and even more so when the prey is deadly or dangerous and even morso is it important to know the prey when the deadly dangerous prey is found in every environment you can imagin and is one of the most adaptible animal's their are second to the coyote and cock roach lol. When form for function is fully obtained, it is my opinion that ones skill level and understanding and their own physical fitness and endurance is a critical factor in the outcome and success. If your getting dogs heat stroked, frequently injured, or death is something you think is just part of the hunt, then either form for function has not been achieved or you are the weak link either skill wise or physically. Some will say well my country is different than your country. For one I've seen your pictures and no it is not and two, if it truely is as bad as you make it out to be, then theirnis a form for that function. That is just as successful. You just have to ask GOD for help to understand and for the ability to achieve and the skill to execute.
