size and speed

Patricia · size and speed

I have been following a topic on the French Forum. It deviated from a potentiel buyer who was having his puppy picked by the breeder. He did not choose it himself. As he was in Quebec, someone asked if maybe it was to avoid the " American type" and photos were duly sent...
The subject deviated to differences and size. It was quoted that smaller dogs tended to be more " fizzy and faster"?
What is your experience?Then again, is it what the dog is made of and how much " heart" it has? I have not found my bigger male to be slower, if anything he is the opposite and has the advantage to carry hares and spring over sugar beet field with ease because of his long legs Very Happy

His grand father was quite a tall dog and behind many good dogs, Fench de Sous les Viviers. I have a photo of him ...I am also told he was ..fast.
I also remember seeing little Kelday Ete du Bestobel, quite a small bitch with a big heart who would still bring back a hare somehow across a ditch on the farm.
So, is smaller faster?

guy

I have a reference somewhere about short dogs being faster - as Arab horses.

Patricia

They now breed Arabs 15.2h to 16.2h Shocked

Complete loss of type, having worked with that type of horse...
Like a friend says and someone else on the Forum...Is it an optical illusion as the dog's legs are having to move more ! making the dog look more busy?

guy

Thinking about how my three run - the dog - runs with power, Ellie with stride, but Catja not only with strength but also ability to change direction quickly. She is the smallest of them all and yet can out run and out manoeuver all.

Des O'Neile

Bear with me for a minute.
As a boy I really enjoyed Westerns. I did however find it strange the way the Indians' horses appeared to move. It was only much later that I realised that this was more to do with the markings on the Red Skins Horses and not how they actually moved. Pointers are usually evenly marked but form time to time you get the odd one with a white body and a solid black leg. They can look as if they are using a crutch. It is all to do with the impression of movement more than actual movement.
The same applies to the impression of speed created by a small, particularly short coupled dog. The action is fast but the pace of the dog is not necessairly faster that a bigger dog running at pace. There really only is one thing better than a good wee one, a good big one. As hunting dogs run over uneven hilly ground a short coupled dog will have an advantage when it comes to uphill work but a bigger dog of similar length to height ratios will still be quicker than its smaller comrade.
I have suffered from Big Dog Syndrome on occassions over ther years and the only real comparrison is to run the Big 'n and the Small'n against each other.

doganjo

Patricia

Like Des says: let's put it to the test! Wink

eddieh

Of my two, Remi is the larger and can outpace Tegen. He finds it hard to catch her though, as he just can't match her agility. I've seen her land after jumping a ditch, and set off at a right angle on her first stride without hesitation.
The truth will out in October I suppose. Smile

Patricia

I think some may be under the impression that a smaller dog is faster and a bigger dog slow. The post on the French forum mentionned a 51 cms dog may be more sluggish and slow than a small dog. In work mode. I can't see why a bigger dog would be less efficient, that is all. A 49 cms or less dog is too small for me. They can struggle in heavy cover.
Never said anything about agility or manoeuvres Confused

Liz

I've found with my dogs that the bigger ones tend to be as fast as the smaller ones on the straight, but they're not as quick turning corners and look more awkward on the move.

With regard to size, it's not a disadvantage for a dog to be a bit oversize, but if it's very big it has a lot of excess size and weight (bone and muscle, not fat) to carry round which makes it inefficient.

If a dog is too small it won't be able to do the job comfortably and will struggle.

As with most things, there has to be a happy medium.

Des O'Neile

Patricia

Again, I am not talking- or should I say the original poster from the French Forum- about oversize but at the top end of the standard. 51-52 cms for the 1 cm tolerance. And then, as we know, it also depends HOW the dog is measured Rolling Eyes

My males have been 50 cms and 51, the latter not slower or less efficient that the former. It was quoted a " molasson of 51", Guy check it in your dictionary!-

Mugi

Possibly not relevant but .................

For starters it would be impossible to IMVHO determine this as even if you could exactly replicate conditions and scent etc you could not replicate how motivated an individual dog would be on any given occasion, they would not know they were being tested so how can you get a 'control' or even compliance Laughing

.

I can only compare different breeds hence the possibility of lack of relevance but Freddy, Brice or Chase could outrun each other over a straight or a twisting route so you have 3 very different body shapes and sizes who ran/run in different ways but whichever was the most motivated for the end result ran faster or more efficiently. To look at them you would always say Chase ran fastest and most powerfully but in reality that is unlikely to have been the case.

Then watching the lure coursing over a relatively simple course at the CLA, the terriers and similar appeared to run faster, turn tighter etc than the lurchers but the lurchers made up for wider turns by faster straight runs and those that were savvy also were turning in anticipation. Certainly with Chase I have seen him turn on a sixpence by basically throwing himself in the air and executing the turn while airborne ........... watch also decent agility dogs and they are tuning into the next obstacle while jumping the previous.

So my point is .......... there is more to speed than size.

guy

I see where you are coming from Sue - but I think Des is suggesting a test doing that which the dog was designed to do rather than a straight race or agility.

How about a pedometer on a collar and record the distance covered over a set period. Average of several runs.