Whats worse for a running dogs front legs?

[Sirius 1,391]

I am interested to know what people consider to be worse for a dogs front legs and feet between these two conformation problems?

 

Toeing out?

 

or Toeing In?

 

I have seen a fair few lurchers with these problems and it seems half the owners don't even know what it is. I have always disliked either problem and considered it a fault in a good dog, but which one is worse for the dogs longevity as a working dog?

Edited September 6, 2011 by Sirius

[rocky1 942]

never realy notice it in any of my dogs ,i surrpose it like anythink else the dog dosen,t know it has inner or sticky out feet so it just gets on with it

[hogdog 61]

Depends how severe it is, I'd say that a small amount of toe-out is perfectly normal.

 

Toe-out normally goes hand in hand with sloping pasterns, toe-in tends to go with upright pasterns.

 

As for whether there's any significant effect on performance I couldn't tell you, I'd just avoid extremes of either for health reasons.

[skycat 6,174]

Toes turned in is more likely to lead to wrist problems if the dog does a lot of work, like hogdog says, goes with more upright pasterns which cause a more jarring action when the dog is running as there's less flexibility in the joint. Many Saluki types have turned out feet and never seem to suffer from wrist problems at all. Obviously extreme either way ain't good. My vet always said that she'd never seen problems in horses with turned out feet, whereas badly turned in causes no end of problems, including with strains to the elbow joint. Probably fairly similar in dogs.

[Neal 1,874]

A racing whippet breeder once told me that, although she wouldn't go so far as to breed for turned out feet, a lot of good dogs she'd seen had feet which were slightly turned out.

[Sirius 1,391]

I agree toeing in seems to be a worse fault as I would assume there is less give and this would cause a jarring action in the extreme.

Ultimately an extreme of either is bad news, I would think twice about breeding from animal which has this.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Sirius

[Dan Edwards 1,134]

Turned in is much worse.

[richie198 28]

i agree turned in to be worst of the two

if you could think of your own foot to be turned in

it will lead to strain on the knee and hip/pelvis which

in turn will affect the spine well id say turned in would

affect the elbow and sholder more so than turned out slightly.

[Tyla 3,179]

My jrtxwhippet has turned in feet and very straight pasterns. As of yet had no problems with him and he gets out and about plenty. He is a bit of a freak though, very heavy front end and light on the back end, he certainly hasnt got perfect conformation! On the other hand he works his heart out, has brilliant feet and very seldom picks up an injury. Whether it catches up with him in the future though, only time will tell.

[bullmastiff 615]

Tyla looking at your profile pic, is that the same dog at the front of the photo? looks like it's pasterns have a fair degree of forward movement? (pasterns is the wrist I believe, not the elbow).

[BrianSteven72 369]

Not seen a lot of toe in/toe out in lurchers but seen a lot of it in pedigree dogs ruined by breeders more interested in money than breeding the best !

[whin 463]

_{worst thing i see on arunning dog is when there legs are to short for there body and cant catch pet hate dogs with short legs and over much body , saw som epics on here with dogs like corgis at times}