Boerboel Australia Inc.
Everything Else is Just a Dog
Movement
The movement is strong, purposeful, buoyant and fluent, with comfortable reach in front and rear.
When describing the movement of the Boerboel, the above sentence is the crux of the breed’s movement. A dog can move in a way that is exactly conforming to the following points below, but if he does not have that powerful, buoyant, almost floating, effortless movement of a Boerboel, then he should be rigorously scrutineered.
The rest of these points below, about movement, describe the finer points to perfect movement and although important, are not as important as this first point.
This picture shows a solid topline, and good reach and drive from both the front and rear quarters. Good reach and drive from the front end of this dog show the importance of having good shoulder construction. Also, if you find his centre of gravity, you will discover that it is just behind his shoulders and therefore most of his weight is on his front legs. This is just another reason why dogs need the desired, powerful shoulder construction.
The legs and body should move in line front to rear. The feet moves closer to a centre line as speed increases, forming a V shape in the observers mind.
A dog with correct construction will do this as he increases speed. A dog like a Bullterrier, who is stiff in the shoulder area, will increase speed, and his front legs will stay relatively parallel. This creates stilted movement, not the fluent movement we are after for the Boerboel.
Whilst converging towards the center line of travel, the legs should never cross.
Dogs that lack width in the chest are more susceptible to the legs crossing when moving, than dogs with a chest that is the correct width.
At all gaits the top line is firm and strong, without swaying, or dipping in the middle, and without excess body roll.
Looking at a dog’s topline is a good indication of his over-all construction, when standing still, and more so when the dog begins to move. When trotting, the topline needs to stay stiff, with the moving parts only being in the shoulders and legs. When running or sprinting, the topline should be bending at the loin area, but still maintain a strong, firm look to it. Dogs who have sway in their spine when walking, or their topline flexes like a wobble board when trotting, do not have correct Boerboel movement and may have other underlying problems.
Weak, unsound or plodding movement should not be tolerated.
This is the exact opposite to how a Boerboel should move. Without mincing words, dogs with really bad movement should be culled from breeding programs. So when it says, “Should not be tolerated,” this simply means the dog should be disqualified when being appraised.
Dogs who move poorly will have many structural faults which will be the cause of their poor movement. Poor movement is the gauge for any extremes. If a dog is large and has poor movement, it should be disqualified. If a dog is overly muscular and the muscle effects the movement, then the dog should be disqualified.