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Hindquarters - The hindquarters shall be strong, broad, muscular and well angulated, with well let down hocks. Seen from the rear, the hock joints appear to be perfectly straight, turned neither toward the inside nor toward the outside. The rear feet should be round and compact, with well-arched toes, neither toeing in nor out. The nails should be short, strong and as dark as possible, except they may be lighter in harlequins. Wolf claws are a serious fault.

Discussion

Strength and power must also be embodied in the rear assembly which supplies the drive to force the body forward. The set of the croup combined with the angulation of the upper and lower thighs provide the leverage to transmit the maximum power. The work required of the hindquarters requires strongly muscled upper and lower thighs, strong parallel hocks and the same degree of angulation to balance that of the forequarters. A steep croup, lack of rear angulation or over-angulation of the rear are all deviations from the Standard and should be penalized to the extent of the deviation.

Ideal Angulation

Angulation deviations

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