Lately, I've been reading a lot of Cardigan standard literature as a way to expand my mind about this lovely breed. I frequent a lot of American breeders' blogs and one sought-after quality that I see repeated throughout is "round bone". Now, since I am not in any way involved in the show world of Cardigans (I only showed Basenjis, and they're built in pretty much the opposite direction), I would like to know what this term REALLY means.
As far as I could tell, a part of it might be front paw shape. Round and thick, as opposed to thin and oval. But I'll see people going on about a nice muscle wrap on their dog or bitch's round bone, and that makes me wonder. What does this trait really mean?
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Haha I'd like to hear an explanation for this one too. I think I know what they're looking for as far as bone goes, but how exactly to describe it is another matter entirely.
Yeah, I too have a pretty fair idea. I think it's related to how the front half of the dog is put together, but I have seen it refer to everything from the area around the withers all the way down to the round feet? It's confusing at best.
Ludi, I can't answer your question, but I have a Cardigan. When I adopted him in January 2011 he was 10 months old, sick and really boney. He weighed 20.5 Lbs. I fed him 1 Cup of food twice a day. I then decreased to 2/3 of a cup, then further to 1/2 cup. My question is where have all HIS bones gone? I'd settle for a really round bone, or even an oval bone. I now have a boneless Cardigan. I discussed this with him. His reply is that, because he's a brindle, the stripes going around him give the optical illusion of being boneless.... go figure! ( He's now 26 Lbs., must be muscle wrap! )
I'm not sure myself. I always got the idea that it had to do with the leg bones, and how as a dwarf breed they need a certain amount of bone to be sound. Not totally sure though.
It means the bones should look rounded in the feet and the legs generally.
A couple good links with pictures:
Feet and rear:
http://www.cardicommentary.de/goodrears.htm
Front:
http://www.cardicommentary.de/front.htm
General outline:
Yeah, I checked out Cardicommentary but I am not quite sure what round bone in the legs (especially upper leg) would look like. Is it part of the wrap around the chest? Is it about a well-put shoulder instead of being loaded?
Loved this site, Megan.
I received a reply from a very knowledgeable breeder whose blog I follow. I posted the same question to her, and received the following response:
Yes, round bone and oval bone are more-or-less opposites. It is one of the features used to differentiate Pembrokes from Cardigans. You do often see Pems with rounder bone and Cardigans with less-round. It's not the only or perhaps most important difference, but is desireable.
You can mostly see the difference is the shape of the foot. ... As far as shoulders and wrap: no, I don't think that bone shape has a place there. And I don't think that *all* of the bones are round. We're really just talking about the legs.
Issue resolved! It really is most visible in the foot shape, as I posted in the OP. :)
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