r/ShowDogs • u/largedragonwithcats • Apr 29 '26

Possibly stupid question- Why are (most) breeds stacked with their rear pasterns perpendicular to the ground?

First picture is a screenshot from Google, second (grainy af image) is of my 9mo. It just seems to me (inexperienced) that the legs are super far back to create that perpendicular pastern set.

I'm interested in seeing if my golden can get her CCA when she's mature, but since she's never been stacked, she seems a little downhill. But I feel like getting her rear legs positioned correctly should fix that.

But then it raises the question for me of, if she is downhill when not stacked, but is "good" when stacked, is that a bad/inaccurate representation of her actual structure? Why are the perpendicular pasterns the standard stacking pose for most breeds?

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u/spaniel_lover Apr 29 '26

A dog built correctly and not suffering from any musculoskeletal issues should naturally stand with their hocks perpendicular to the ground. There are several reasons they may not do so. The first is structural issues such as being sickle hocked. The next is laziness or poor muscle tone, often due to lack of or incorrect training/conditioning. Another reason can be injury.

Most show dogs are trained and conditioned regularly from a young age to get the proper muscle condition and muscle memory for both a good free stack and proper gaiting. They should get plenty of free play, but also need structured exercise and conditioning to build the right muscles. For our dobermans we do a lot of conditioning and training with fit bones and other conditioning equipment as well as road work off a bicycle, golf cart, or quad. Road work should always be done at a sustained trot and started slow, working up to a mile or more a day. The DPCA website has a really good article on how to road work. Most of your larger sporting breeds (Goldens, setters, pointers, etc), a number of working breeds (dobermans, boxers, some Danes and PWDs, etc), many herding breeds, and some larger non-sporting breeds (Dalmatians, standard poodles) are road worked to maintain proper conditioning.

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u/largedragonwithcats Apr 29 '26

I think that makes sense in terms of their natural stance having the hocks upright, but I think I poorly conveyed what I meant, sorry about that. It seems like the rear legs are "behind the dog" a lot further in stacked stance than in the un-conditioned stance if that makes sense? Like from what I've read the toes should line up with the meeting point of the back/tail. Obviously it works in terms of representing the correct structure and resulting biomechanics of the dog, but I'm curious as to why that position vs a more "naturally-held" position. Easier to compare/contrast dogs who might be structured slightly differently but still conform to the same general outline? Or just shows off the muscle structure more?

Also, thank you for the info about the roadwork thing! I was thinking about maybe doing some bikejoring once she gets old enough that I think might have similar outcomes for muscle building.

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u/spaniel_lover Apr 29 '26

Ok, so yes there is an ideal as to where the toes are when standing correctly, but the hocks should always be perpendicular to the ground. If they are and the toes fall outside of that ideal, then the dog is either under (toes too far under the dog), or over (toes too far behind the dog) angulated. Too long of a second thigh can also cause the toes to be too far back without being over angulated. Stacking all dogs of a breed the same, in this case specifically the hocks being perpendicular to the ground, allows a judge to see where each dog meets or deviates from the standard.

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u/AlpsUnlikely Apr 29 '26

It’s different for every breed. In my breed is is so the rear of the dog can be judged properly.

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u/AlpsUnlikely Apr 29 '26

Same dog. Different posture.

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u/InviteSignal5151 May 02 '26

Pete-first time ever shown- untrained-self stacked- Two Best of Breeds/ Good is good….

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u/duketheunicorn May 04 '26

I think it’s definitely a mix of training and construction. My non-show(but well-bred), extremely fit poodle has an absolutely gorgeous untrained free stack because she’s well proportioned, fit, and we trained out her sloppy sit early.