Cardigan Leg Shape

I've been doing some poking around and looking into the Cardigan breed. When I eventually get another dog, which will be years from now, I'd like to get a Cardigan if it's possible. There's just something about the thought of having a Pembroke and a Cardigan that is appealing to me. :)

I've noticed that some Cardigans have front legs that look very much like a Basset Hound's legs (that extreme bend) and others look just like a Pembroke's legs, which are far more straight than a Basset Hound's legs.

I haven't been able to find any information on why this is, so I thought I'd post the question here and see what I get. Why is it that some Cardigan legs are more bent than others'? Is it a normal occurrence, something that just happens sometimes or is it the result of poor breeding? Then again, maybe I'll just been looking at some bad pictures.

Thanks in advance for any insight into this! :)

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Permalink Reply by Jane on March 4, 2012 at 4:27pm

I don't think it's necessarily poor breeding, but the cardi front can be pretty fickle. It seems to be the holy grail for breeders if they can get a great front lol. According to the standard their feet should not turn more than 30 degrees outwards but I see a lot of cardis with excessive turnout, probably my own included.

I think ideally the front should look like this:

This site is pretty informative, with pictures too: http://www.cardicommentary.de/front.htm

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Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on March 4, 2012 at 4:54pm

Thank you so much! That site has just the information I have been searching for. :) I don't really care about the front being perfect, but I am definitely glad to see that the straight front is what breeders strive for.