First let me establish the work of the forehand in the Cairn and its importance. There are six distinct functions required of the forehand assembley. These are- in the first place to support weight; then to absorb concussion or shock, both from movement and jumping; to propel the body in twists and turns; to offset lateral displacement (rectify balance); to help or even control or maintain the level of the centre of gravity; the 6th function for our breed is that it is an impotant part of the body that assists with the digging and earth removing, when "Our Pal" has gone to ground.

How can you recognise a correct shoulder, and can you see this with a puppy of 8 weeks? This is a question I´m often asked and my answer is "Indeed you can tell at such a young age". My method is as follows and you might like to try it out and maybe save yourself some heartbreak by keeping a pup until it is more mature and when you show it under a judge who understands about correct anatomy and he/she tells you

What many forget, when assessing the forehand, is that it does not consist just of a shoulder blade, but there is also the upperarm a very important part of the front assembly. Can you also assess if the upperarm is correct in a puppy – again the answer is "YES". When you have the pup standing on the table, gently feel with the thumb and finger where it joins the shoulder blade, and follow it down to the elbow. You can compare the length of it, plus the angulation to the shoulder blade. Remember that the angulation and length should be equal to that of the shoulderblade. It´s really not so difficult to master, all you need is patience both with yourself and the puppy, try it out a few times and you will soon appreciate it can be done. This is the system I have used for some years and would be pleased to demonstrate to anyone that is interested next time I´m on your shows. I´ve made a couple of sketches that might be of help in illustrating the faults.

Study the drawings of the two fronts. On front (1) the points A-B are ideal and should be aimed for by every breeder; points C-D show a shoulder that is far too upright, lacking correct angulation. Front (2) is a typical Fox-Terrier front, notice the stepper upperarm resulting in the dog not being able to stand well over its forepaws. Note also the lack of forechest, in our breed you should always keep in mind that the Cairn is an earth dog, therefore the upperarm is important. Freedom of action is most impotant in the task of digging, with a short or badly placed upperarm, freedom of movment will be restricted.

A good brisket is also required, because when the Cairn has gone to earth and space is restricted, the dog will work with its brisket on the floor of the hole, giving complete freedom to the upperarm. One should realise that when the upperarm is shorter in length than the shoulder blade, in time nature will take over and the shoulder blade will shorten in length, also become more vertical, losing its angulation. How can you overcome this fault? My answer would be refrain from breeding from an animal with this particular problem. A good well sprung rib cage is of importance, but a round ribcage isn´t true earth terrier construction as the dog would have difficulty in getting down the hole. What is required is a rib structure that has sufficient depth to give plenty of heart and lung room, without this the Cairn will lack stamina.

The last item I would mention is the problem of "loaded shoulders" ; what we should try and breed for is a Cairn with a good clean well laid shoulder. Perhaps the word "clean" is a little misleading, but in doggy terms it refers to a shoulder that lies close to the rib cage, because it is not overloaded with muscle either over , or even under , the blade. Without becoming too technical about muscles, one should realise the importance, and the ones I should like to refer to are those over and under the shoulder blade , the names of these particular muscles are the Trapezius and Rhomboideus. When you come across a dog that has noticeable gap between the two shoulder blade points and you can put your thumb between, this is a fault with the muscle, what has happened is that the Trapezius and Rhomboideus have become somewhat hard and lost elasticity essential for good muscle tone, because the muscle cannot contract ans has hardened. The shoulder blades then instead of being well knit together, are pushed outwards, resulting either in widening of the front or pushing the elbows out. As muscles usually work hand in hand, when the one thickens up, then the other will do likewise, hence the shoulder that is loaded.

The Hindquarters are often described as the engine of the animal, and basically it is true, the hindquarters are the source of the power and locomotion. Without efficient quarters the dog is virtually finished as a working animal and in the past our friend the Cairn was a working terrier, therefore soundness is essential.

Let us study the Cairn in movement and decide what we require: the basic outline, make and shape, is described in our Breed standard. For gait or movement it is described thus: - Very free flowing stride, forelegs reaching well forward, hindlegs giving strong propulsion, hocks neither too close or too wide. The description is well worded especially the "very free flowing stride" this tells us exactly what is required and obviously relates to an efficient and well constructed quarter, either fore or hind. Free flowing in no way means that the dog in movement should bob up and down, there should be no apparent disturbance of the topline and the complete picture should be that of a dog floating over the ground with all parts of the anatomy in complete harmony. When observing a dog going away from you, you should be able to see the back pads, when you can see the back pads in movement, it is obvious that the dog is able to flex its hocks and the drive or propulsion is there as we require. Generally the feet should move rather close to the ground, thus avoiding excessive bending of the joints which can be inefficient and tiring for the dog.

The back leg is drawn backward by the strongest muscles of the complete assembly, powerful muscules come down from the Pelvis and Croup to the lower thigh. These muscles are so made that they appear to wrap around the quarters which not only draws the stifle joint backwards but also straightens the hock joint. Therefore, if these muscles are not well made or lack condition, the result will be perhaps cow hocks or even a bow shaped rear assembly with the feet somewhat pidgeon toed in stance. You will now appreciate the importance of the muscles of the loin and back and the role they play in movement of the hindquarters.

In order to understand the hindquarters, you must apprec - that this does not just refer to the back legs, but the hind assembly is made up of different parts of the anatomy.

To assess the angulation of the Pelvis, I suggest you do as I do – stand your dog in a natural relaxed position with the back legs directly under the hips and with hocks straight and vertical (don´t extend the stance into an unnatural position). Now, with your left hand place the palm of the hand over the hipbones or Pelvis, with fingers extended towards the tail. With the right hand feel for the start of the pelvic structure and when you have located this, put your thumb on the point where it begins. Stretch out your fingers until you can locate the “sit point”,by using both hands – the left one as your horizontal and the right one as described, you should be able to ascertain the angulation of the Pelvic structure. For our breed the angulation shouldn´t be too great, as a flattish Croup is required, and the ideal angulation should be approximately 30°. Don´t give up on your first few attemps at discerning the angulation, with a little patience from both yourself and your dog you will be able to master this simple exercise. Remember this is one of the most important bone structures, so it is necessary that you should be able to recognise it. Another point to remember – the length of the Pelvic bone – the longer the better, the more length you have the more muscle you will have. Another important point, (together with correct angulation) is the width between the “sit points”, for obvious reasons a wider pelvic structure is preferable. In the first place one which has sufficient width will ensure that the hindquarters are not too narrow; in bitches a wider pelvic structure means that there is very little restriction when a puppy is actually being born.

All this is well worth remembering, so I would urge you to familiarise yourself with this particular part of the dog´s structure. In the past very little has been written about this in the books on the Cairn, and many of our judges (both old and new) seem to be oblivious to the importance of a good pelvic structure. Raed some of the judges critiques and you will find very few make any reference to this, study the techniques used by many judges in going over your dogs, and you will notice that very few pay any attention to this, but on the other hand concentrate only on head, mouth, shoulders and coat!!!

The correct pelvis that is not over angulated increases the length of stride and in doing so gives the dog the real zip in movement, it also increases the length of muscle that runs from the Croup to the stifle joint. These muscles are referred to as the “rearing muscles” and must be in good condition in order for the movement to have plenty of power. The set on of the Croup and Pelvic structure is instrumental in govering the amount that the thigh can be drawn back and therefore limits the stride and propulsion.

I hope that this section is not too difficult to understand, but you can now appreciate why it is so very important to have a Pelvic structure that is correct in every way.