Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 8:10 pm Post subject: 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 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?
I have a reference somewhere about short dogs being faster - as Arab horses. _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
They now breed Arabs 15.2h to 16.2h
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?
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. _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
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.
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.
Mine are almost the exactly the same as yours. Little Freckles is just on the lower size - half a centimetre over just - but she can pass both of the others easily. Allez is purposeful, methodical, Belle runs out elegantly _________________ Annie
Handle every situation like a dog, if you can't eat it or play with it, just pee on it and walk away
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. _________________ If a job's worth doing, it's worth paying somebody else to do it properly
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
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.
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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.
