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The shoulders are strong, sloping, muscular and well
angulated to the upper arm and should not be too closely
set at the point of the withers. The forelegs have strong,
round bone, extending to the feet and should show flexibility
with a slight angle to the forearm when viewed from the
side. Although the shoulders are muscular and the bone
is strong, loaded shoulders and heavy fronts will hamper
correct movement and limit working ability.
The requirement is for a hard working dog that needs
to cover long distances and work many hours. The upper
arm should join the shoulder blade as near to 90 degrees
as possible.
The forelegs when viewed from all angles should be muscular,
clean and strong boned. When viewed from the side there
should be a slight angle of pastern which is necessary
to absorb shock from the forequarters. Too much angle
will result in loose weak wrists and too straight in pastern
will cause jarring which puts a strain on the entire front
assembly. Under hard work these poor fronts will break
down. There is a great tendency to see a large number
of short upper arms, which does not allow for the correct
extension required. From the wither to the point of elbow
should be equal to point of elbow to the ground. This
is a problem area where the chest is either too shallow
or extends past the point of elbow or the foreleg from
the elbow to ground is too short. All these hinder correct,
free, supple movement.
Kaleski writes. "The shoulders are strong and well
sloped, so that the dog gallops easily and drops with
ease when biting. Chest is deep because a shallow-chested
dog has no heartroom and is easily thrown off balance.
If too deep, or "Bulldoggy" he cannot travel
at any speed but it must not be out of proportion to the
body".
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