measuring height

[denverday]

Other threads about height stopping prompted me to ask...(without hijacking their threads)...I need to ask...

So....how do you measure what is considered a dogs height...something to do with whithers.....but I'm not excatly sure where that is...So if anyone can explain to me in layman terms...It will be much appreciated.

[frontierrots]

need 2 people. 1 person holds a treat securely and keeps the dog standing with front feet straight up and down, back feet out a bit and not under body and head up. second person makes a mark on the wall (talking home measuring here) or has a yard stick secured against the wall. Dog height is measured at the top of the wihters (shoulder) where the neck meets the shoulder

[denverday]

Thank you so much ....I shall try that tomorrow.

[RottsNScotts]

The withers are not where the neck meet the shoulders. The withers are the highest portion of the shoulder blade, along the line where the 2 shoulder blades meet.

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by RottsNScotts

The withers are not where the neck meet the shoulders. The withers are the highest portion of the shoulder blade, along the line where the 2 shoulder blades meet.

Which IS where the neck joins the shoulders. That point is the exact same height across the top of the shoulder in 99% of all dogs

That is the point where every single judge has wicketed dogs I've shown (Shibas) and where the judges at the seminar I watched home video of were instructed to measure AND where the German judges measured dogs at each of the BSTs I've watched. It's also the simplest way to explain to a nivice where to measure

[RottsNScotts]

I am sure you too have seen dogs whose neck goes into the shoulder badly. These dogs would probably not be the same height at the juncture as they would be at the true withers.

If you fitted a saddle to that spot on a horse, for example, you would have one VERY sore horse!

I found a link to a drawing of canine anatomy that might help
http://www.inkabijou.co.uk/anatomy.htm

[frontierrots]

having worked on a show Morgan farm we also measured the horses at that point which is the highest point. and no saddles are not fit to that point, they come up over the whithers in normal saddles but do not fully cover them. The majority of Morgans though have cut back saddles because of their high neck set

[RottsNScotts]

Know exactly what you mean; I grew up on Saddlebreds! Sure miss them!

[BostonRott]

To find the point to measure with: have your dog standing. Use your thumb and first finger, and feel teh shoulder bone. Feel up to where it comes to a point, and then starts to drop lower again (drop is "forward" going towards the head and away from the tail). Go back and forth (up/down) over this point with your fingers (you'll be moving surface skin back/forth too......like the way puppy skin moves around) until you have a good feel for the highest point. THIS is where you should measure.

[frontierrots]

I re read all the above and realized that I needed to provide a picture to translate Diane speak into normal human words LOL

IF you follow my original directions and make sure the head is up (thus presenting the saddlebred horse neck set look :) ) then where the neck joins the shoulder is the highest point. IF however the dogs head/neck is lower you need to follow Gretchen's directions <BG>