Talk to me about "bone"

LuvWorkingGSDs · 11-11-2008, 09:33 PM

I often see dogs described as 'heavy boned' or as having 'good bone'. (or conversely as being 'light boned') I can see the difference in appearance of dogs with 'heavy' vs. 'light' bone, but don't really have a good understanding of why it matters.

Is heavy bone desirable?

Does it affect the agility or other areas of performance of the dog?

How would heavy vs. light bone affect a dog participating in various sports?

Liesje · 11-13-2008, 08:36 AM

Good question. I think my working line bitch has finer bone. My 12 week old pup already has bone and feet as big as her. My vets (who know nothing about dog breeds) insist he's going to be 110lbs b/c he has big feet, but I think he just has much heavier bone. I know which one I *like* better but I don't know which is better.

SunCzarina · 11-13-2008, 10:03 AM

My dogs are the same, she's 7 and fine boned. The pup's feet have been bigger since he was 3 months old. Everyone's comment is that my pup is going to be huge. By all the age/height charts, he's going to be on the shorter side of the standard just like his parents, who aren't tall they're just solid.

I don't think it makes any difference in agility, Otto has tremendous paws and big thick legs but in his puppy class, he outperformed all the other pups at agility. I think he's funny to watch running through the equipment with his big clown feet.

Otto is too young to tell if he can match the moves my girl has, at 7 she's still very agile and sometimes spins around leaving the puppy with a 'wow that was cool' look on his face.

onyx'girl · 11-13-2008, 09:03 PM

Onyx was heavy boned as a pup, knee knuckles were large along w/her feet. She just turned 2 and has grown into a pretty agile dog at 90# and 27". Large for a female, spayed at 6 mos and 3 bouts of Pano. Not sure what played into what, but her mom and two of her siblings that I saw recently are as tall as her. We aren't into agility due to no class availability right now. I hope to get her into it in Jan.
She runs really fast, jump high, and has learned to turn quickly to keep up w/ Kacie, who is a big boned longcoat. We'll see what happens when she has to do it in a class structure.
I have no problem with the larger GSD, in fact I prefer them- but would not breed for that.

I think the Shiloh and Kings are beautiful!!

RubyTuesday · 01-02-2009, 10:21 PM

I suspect the amount of bone is both a matter of personal taste & somewhat related to the job being performed.

I prefer substantial but not massive bone & prefer dogs that are a bit light boned over the HUGE boned look many like. But I've never favored mastiff breeds. A dog with too much bone lacks grace IMO.

11-11-2008, 09:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
LuvWorkingGSDs Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 107	Talk to me about "bone" I often see dogs described as 'heavy boned' or as having 'good bone'. (or conversely as being 'light boned') I can see the difference in appearance of dogs with 'heavy' vs. 'light' bone, but don't really have a good understanding of why it matters. Is heavy bone desirable? Does it affect the agility or other areas of performance of the dog? How would heavy vs. light bone affect a dog participating in various sports?

11-13-2008, 08:36 AM	#2 (permalink)
Liesje Crowned Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 12,962	Re: Talk to me about "bone" Good question. I think my working line bitch has finer bone. My 12 week old pup already has bone and feet as big as her. My vets (who know nothing about dog breeds) insist he's going to be 110lbs b/c he has big feet, but I think he just has much heavier bone. I know which one I like better but I don't know which is better. __________________ UCH Alta-Tollhaus-Krieger Lamb Chop FO OB1 CL1R CL1F RA TT HIT TDI CGC VPC's Coca-Cola HIT CGC SG UCH Alta-Tollhaus Bono SchH1 AD T1 FO PA CL1R UNJ UCA HIT TT CGC OFA SG Pantalaimon vom Geistwasser BH AD HIT CGC

11-13-2008, 10:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
SunCzarina Crowned Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 12,031	Re: Talk to me about "bone" My dogs are the same, she's 7 and fine boned. The pup's feet have been bigger since he was 3 months old. Everyone's comment is that my pup is going to be huge. By all the age/height charts, he's going to be on the shorter side of the standard just like his parents, who aren't tall they're just solid. I don't think it makes any difference in agility, Otto has tremendous paws and big thick legs but in his puppy class, he outperformed all the other pups at agility. I think he's funny to watch running through the equipment with his big clown feet. Otto is too young to tell if he can match the moves my girl has, at 7 she's still very agile and sometimes spins around leaving the puppy with a 'wow that was cool' look on his face. __________________ -Jenn Otto von Hena-C 05/23/08 Morgan Donnermond 08/04/01 I have duct tape and I am not afraid to use it.

11-13-2008, 09:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
onyx'girl Crowned Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: SW, MI Posts: 17,605	Re: Talk to me about "bone" Onyx was heavy boned as a pup, knee knuckles were large along w/her feet. She just turned 2 and has grown into a pretty agile dog at 90# and 27". Large for a female, spayed at 6 mos and 3 bouts of Pano. Not sure what played into what, but her mom and two of her siblings that I saw recently are as tall as her. We aren't into agility due to no class availability right now. I hope to get her into it in Jan. She runs really fast, jump high, and has learned to turn quickly to keep up w/ Kacie, who is a big boned longcoat. We'll see what happens when she has to do it in a class structure. I have no problem with the larger GSD, in fact I prefer them- but would not breed for that. I think the Shiloh and Kings are beautiful!! __________________ Jane~ Kept by Onyx, Kacie and Gideon v Wildhaus aka Karlo

01-02-2009, 10:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
RubyTuesday Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,315	Re: Talk to me about "bone" I suspect the amount of bone is both a matter of personal taste & somewhat related to the job being performed. I prefer substantial but not massive bone & prefer dogs that are a bit light boned over the HUGE boned look many like. But I've never favored mastiff breeds. A dog with too much bone lacks grace IMO.

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