Structure

[Lenajo]

Because I grew up with Morgans and still have one. None of them, not one, did not offer this stance on their own.

 

Interesting thought. All the very short backed, high neck connection, flat crouped horses I've looked at with offered to park out naturally.

 

Yet the dogs I see doing this are long backed, ewe necked (compared to the horses), and have various sets of croup.

 

Any ideas?

[concrete]

My Belgians park out on their own. They must find it comfortable, I've seen them sleeping parked out e. My horses are work horses I don't show or pull with them.

[Sue R]

I’ve never heard it called parking in the show ring. Some breeds are stood with their back legs further out. Border Collie would not be one that it should be done with. They should be stood ith their rear’s set so that the hock is perpendicular to the ground, it should not be set so far back as in the first example horse picture.

No offense meant, but real Border Collies have no place in the show ring, and the show ring (and any show-ring-associated practices like stacking) have no relevance to real Border Collies. A Border Collie should stand however it chooses to stand, relative to what it is doing or about to do.

 

JMO, but pretty prevalent here where we value the dogs for what they do and not what they might look like.

[Jumpin Boots]

With Kat, I've often wondered if she doesn't just start out standing normally and then sort of lean forward and move her front feet, leaving her back feet behind, like she's ready to go (take off), but hasn't pulled her back end up to where it belongs yet (if that poor description makes sense).

 

J.

 

Boots does this all the time when he's getting restless, like waiting in agility or when Renoir is having his turn w/ the tennis ball, but then the interesting thing is that before he releases he rocks back onto his hips then drives forward.

 

Our old Mama Dog (beagle mix rescue) does this all the time as does our two female mini aussie fosters, although their x-owner was involved in show so they may have been trained to stack for the show ring I don't know. But all three of them will go into a stretch sticking their back feet out, but then not bring them back under themselves and stand there for a long time like that. The three of them also lay with the back legs behind them (the frog flop as we call it) more than any of the other dogs.

[NorthfieldNick]

I think Julie P meant gingering is uncomfortable to the horse, not standing like this. Both my decidedly non-show ring bred Arabs stand parked out all the time on their own. My gelding does it with his neck stretched up, too- I think he's showing off for the mares next door.

 

My old Lu would stand parked out, then move forward dragging her hind legs for a step or two. I panicked the first time I saw it, but it was just how she stretched, I guess. Nick leaves his hind legs out when he stretches forward sometimes.

[MaryP]

My newest foster dog does this. I just assumed it was because she has poor muscle tone or odd structure (a former Swafford dog). That's interesting, though, that this is being seen in fit dogs, too.

[juliepoudrier]

I was watching Kat today while Barbara worked her. If Barbara stopped her and Kat really didn't want to stay put, she'd lean forward and maybe even move a front leg or two until she had her hind legs parked way out behind. When Barbara asked her to walk, she'd immediately pull her hind legs up where they belonged, but it seems like the parking out is a result of the conflict between staying put as asked and wanting to move forward.

 

And Ben is right--I meant that gingering is unpleasant for the horse, and that's putting it mildly.

 

J.

[Carson Crazies]

Nick often "parks out" when he's just standing around - often if he's specifically staring at sheep. I don't ever notice him doing it while working, though. This isn't a perfect example - but he's a pretty square sort of dog except when he stands like this. He's on the hill looking through the fences at Julie's sheep. I have a few more pics in this series as he parks out more dramatically, but I don't have a clue where those other pics are, so this one will have to do.

 

 

TWH often tend to do this as well - whether they're taught or do it naturally I don't know.

[kelpiegirl]

Thanks for that Laura, NOW.... I get it

 

Nick often "parks out" when he's just standing around - often if he's specifically staring at sheep. I don't ever notice him doing it while working, though. This isn't a perfect example - but he's a pretty square sort of dog except when he stands like this. He's on the hill looking through the fences at Julie's sheep. I have a few more pics in this series as he parks out more dramatically, but I don't have a clue where those other pics are, so this one will have to do.

 

 

TWH often tend to do this as well - whether they're taught or do it naturally I don't know.

[Journey]

Thanks for the picture Laura! Nick has just joined what I thought was an exclusive "ladies" club

 

I think Julie is right, it's a mental conflict between the front and rear when they are not supposed to be moving! The only other thing I see is that these dogs all have legs, lots of long legs!

[geonni banner]

I have always heard this referred to as "camping out." Maybe just the people I knew when I was doing collie rescue. There is a good physical reason for dogs to camp out in back. (When they choose to, as opposed to being stacked that way.) You'll notice when a dog gets up from a sleep it does a stretch front and back, and the back part will usually start with the do stepping forward on the forehand and camping the back legs waaaaaay out, often ending by lifting the back feet one at a time and stretching the toes backward. Look at what's happening with the loin muscles when they do that, and note the concavity of the back.

Camping out from a normal stance will tend to cause the back to go slightly concave - less noticeable on a dog with a back that is a bit roached. This concavity of the spine will cause a different set of muscles to stretch and a different set to be eased. If there is any stiffness in those muscles, it will tend to ease that. Try arching your back and feel what happens with the muscles attached to your lower back and tailbone.

Horses have a spine that is much less flexible, especially in a convex/concave sense. You hear about dressage horses working really hard to achieve a certain type of fitness that allows them to "round." But it's pretty much the same principal - stretching those muscle groups limbers the animal's back. It feels good too.

If a dog camps out preparatory to working, it is likely that they are loosening those muscle groups in preparation for take-off. Look at Greyhounds - they're camped out all the time. (Partly because they have really long leg bones.) But picture the well-developed loin muscles - also a big part of the "running machine."

I don't think they even think about it - it's just an automatic thing to keep those muscle groups "tuned."

[silhouettestable]

Flurry takes that stance that a lot. Some of my others do it too but with them it's usually only when they're harnessed up and waiting to go for a run, at which time they're leaning into the harness ready to start pulling. Flurry does it quite frequently at other times, whenever he takes time to stop running around playing to watch what everyone else is doing. I probably have lots of pictures of him standing like that, but here's one that came to mind.

 

ETA: I just found a couple more pictures of Flurry standing like this. These are all from when he was younger, about 8-12 months of age.

[silhouettestable]

I just looked at some pictures I took a couple of days ago and found another one, but this time it's both Rain and Blaze that are standing like that. The dogs had all just had a good run around the fields and were taking a few minutes to catch their breath.