HINDQUARTERS

The hindquarters are strong, muscular, and moderately broad. The rump is well filled in on each side of the tail and deep from the pelvis to the crotch.

The bone, angulations, and musculature of the hindquarters are in balance with the forequarters

    FIGURE 14 - This is an APBT with a virtual X-ray. The white lines indicate the proper way to measure for that all ellusive "ANGULATION" .

Figure 14 takes away the dog and skeletal structure so that the angles can be better seen. Notice that similar to measuring height and length the same skeletal processes are used for estimating (different from measuring) angulation.

FOREQUARTERS- The withers forward to the point of the shoulder where the humerus meets the scapula and on to the ground BLUE LINE (refer to FIGURE 2 and 3) provide the first plane. The second plane extends from the point of the shoulder through the elbow to the ground GREEN LINE (note that a WHITE LINE perpendicular to the ground in a proper conformation extends from the point of the shoulder through the elbow). THe angle between the blue and green lines should be close to 90 degrees. The angle of the blue and green lines with the ground should be between 30 and 35 degrees depending on the musculature and stance of the dog in stacked position. Proper balance of muscle and proper angulations result in about a 32 degree angle to the ground. This same method also is performed for the HINDQUARTERS. The blue line extends from the upper point of the hip bone (pelvis), through the farthest fore point of the femur and on to the ground. Again the angle between blue and green should be 90 degrees and a line from the top of the pelvis perpendicular to the ground should pass through the "True knee" or where the femur (YELLOW BONE) meets the tibia (GREEN BONE)

         
   
         
These are the same lines as in figure 14 minus the musculo-skeletal depiction. This merely points out the angles both in the shoulder and hips and the angles with the ground. Notice how the two GREEN lines extending inward meet at the exact point on the ground.
         
         
This shows another meaning for balance which is the musculo-skeletal balance between the hips and shoulders. The shoulders width and the width of the hips should be close to equal. Again and AGAIN the APBT is a study in averages and balance. Over done front or rear do not fit with the need for versatility.

The thighs are well developed with thick, easily discerned muscles. Viewed from the side, the hock joint is well bent and the rear pasterns are well let down and perpendicular to the ground.

         
         
Hock joint angulation is what many refer to when they say "angulation" . This figure shows the location of the hock joint and shows the rear pasterns perpendicular to the ground. A proper angle for the hock joint would be roughly 45 degrees with the ground (blue line meeting the ground). The GREEN LINE behind the dog is perpendicular to the ground and forms an equilateral triangle with the blue line. Notice the pasterns are standing parallel to the ground while the topline is maintained. Dogs without proper angulation can be made to appear to have a good amount of angle to the hock joint but in so doing it drops or raises the topline out of plane. When stacking the hockjoint angle should be no more or less than that required to put the rear pasterns perpendicular to the ground while maintaining a flat topline. The APBT should not have too little or too much angulation (AVERAGE AND MODERATION)
         
         
ANOTHER EASIER METHOD FOR VISUALIZING REAR ANGULATION- KINDLY PROVIDED BY RUTH KRAMER UKC JUDGE APBT BREEDER - "With the dog standing with hocks perpendicular to the ground, drop a line from the REAR MOST POINT of the buttocks perpendicular to the ground. In a dog with correct angulations this line should fall directly in front of the toes of the hind foot. If the dog lacks angulations, left picture above, it will run down through the foot, if over angulated, right picture above, the line will fall well in front of the toes."

             
 

Viewed from the rear, the rear pasterns are straight and parallel to one another.

Though not stacked perfectly the rear hocks are obviously straight and parallel in the female to the left. The graphic on the right illustrates parallel (correct), hocks turning in (cow hocked), and hocks turning out (bow hocked).