Our standard calls for a foot more hare than cat like. Through the years of working with and having greyhounds I have seen many different foot types ranging from overarched to flat feet.
Flat foot prone to toe injuries
A hare foot is thought to be the strongest foot to hold up to running/turning. A hare foot has a slightly greater than 90 degree angle between P1 and P2.
Examples of a hare foot
A cat foot has a 90 degree angle between P1-P2. I personally have never had increased injuries from a foot like this but I prefer a hare foot.
Cat Foot
The last foot type to mention is the overarched foot. The P1-P2 has a less than 90 degree. It would seem to be very punishing on the toes and luckily is an uncommon foot to find.
Overarched toes. This foot is less flexible and more prone to injuries.
No matter what type of foot the hound has, long toenails can increase the injuries. Keep those toenails short and take care of those hound feet!
4 comments:
looking at those I think Barbie is flat footed. Not sure they pay a lot of attention to feet in race dogs as opposed to show dogs.... I mean they only race for a couple of years :P I have seen quite a few ex-racers missing toes, it seems they can still go as fast without a toe or two.
Great photos and interesting post! I definitely like the white foot best. Who does it belong to?
The white footed dog is Whisper and thank you I like her foot type too. So far she has been pretty sound-good foot=good greyhound.
Beryl's feet don't look like any of them, and I love those short toenails! Although I'd say her feet are most like those under Whisper's. Definitely nothing like any of the other feet, which is good:)
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