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Forequarters –“shoulder blades are long and sloping forming a      Do we not all want our Briards to be the best they can be? The
45-degree angle with the horizontal.” We have way too many         correct head is certainly of value as it is one of the Hallmarks
Briards lacking in shoulder angulation; the lack of angulation is  of our breed. Correct structure, regardless of what activities we
responsible for short steps and restricted gait.                   choose to enjoy with our dogs, is vital to providing a pain-free
Hindquarters – “pelvis slopes at a 30-degree angle from the hor-   life well into their senior years.
izontal and forms a right angle with the upper leg bone.”          The first section of our standard is General Appearance; read it,
The correct angle will give your Briard balanced angulation        then read it again – imprint it on your brain. Although some
front to rear. An over-angulated rear usually causes interference  of these attributes may more often be exhibited at a herding
with the front feet and unsound movement. To compound this         event than at a dog show, it is the vision of a Briard we should all
problem, we also see lack of drive and follow-through, which       aspire to breed, exhibit, and live with.
causes lack of power in the rear. We also have too many Briards    I encourage you to utilize the materials and seminars produced
moving close in the rear, and some were almost cow-hocked;         by your Breed Education Committee. We should never stop
the hocks and metatarsus (rear pasterns) are to be parallel and    learning! Let the BEC know if you have specific questions and/
directly below the hips.                                           or issues you would like to see addressed.
Gait –is to be “supple and light. . . strong and flexible.” A      Purchase the DVDs (video of the 2014 National) and you will
well-angulated front and rear will produce strong reach and        have your own home study guide. If you can view the DVDs
drive; less or more than correct angulation can produce numer-     without noting the name or owner of each dog, you will become
ous problems. When built correctly, an efficient herding dog       much more objective when evaluating your own dogs.
will expend the minimum amount of energy; he requires fewer        After all is said and done, when judging Briards or any other
steps to cover a given distance. Moderate angulation, even if      herding breed, I must be able to visualize the dog doing what it
balanced front to rear, is NOT correct for the Briard.             was bred to do.

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