We think dog feet are a big deal because they are foundational. On a dog, they are where the “rubber meets the road,” so to speak. They’re especially important in working dogs like scenthounds, sighthounds, and hunting dogs because bad feet break down quickly, and a miserable dog either can’t work efficiently, or she’ll quit working early.
When a dog’s paws aren’t cat feet or hare feet, they are usually regarded as “oval” feet. Oval feet are longer than cat feet, but shorter than hare feet, and the center toes are slightly longer than the outer and inner toes. Also known as “spoon shaped feet,” paws like this offer a compromise between jumping ability and high initial speed and endurance – but do you know which breed standards call for oval feet?
Test yourself.
Which AKC group (and we include miscellaneous group breeds that, when recognized, will go into that group) has the most breed standards calling for oval or slightly oval shaped feet? Can you name them?
Which AKC Group (and we include miscellaneous group breeds that, when recognized, will go into that group) has NO breed whose standard calls for oval or slightly oval shaped feet?
Which AKC group (and we include miscellaneous group breeds that, when recognized, will go into that group) has the fewest breed standards calling oval or slightly oval shaped feet? Can you name them?
The answers are below the picture.
With sixteen breeds, the herding group has the most breed standards calling for oval feet. These breeds are: The Australian Shepherd, Bearded Collie, Bergamasco, Border Collie, Briard, Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Collie, Finnish Lapphund, Icelandic Sheepdog, Miniature American Shepherd, Pembroke Welsh Corgi,Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Pyrenean Shepherd, Shetland Sheepdog, Swedish Vallhund (Dutch Shepherd and Mudi);
The Toy has the fewest breeds calling for oval feet, the Poodle and Toy Fox Terrier;
No Terrier standard calls for for oval feet at all!
The group with the next most standards calling for oval feet is the Sporting Group with six breeds: The Lagotto Romagnolo, Flat-Coated Retriever and English Springer Spaniel (both standard also accepts a round foot), Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Wirehaired Vizsla;
Only four breeds have oval feet in the Hound Group: The Cirneco dell’Etna, Portuguese Podengo Pequeno, Sloughi (and the Portuguese Podengo);
The Non Sporting group has only three breeds: The American Eskimo Dog, Poodle, Norwegian Lundehund, as does the Working group: The Anatolian Shepherd Dog, Cane Corso, and Siberian Husky;
Our top image comes courtesy of the AKC and specifically, from a quiz that asks if you can identify the breed by its feet. You can take that quiz here. If you liked that quiz, here’s another one.
The Cardigan Welsh Corgi standard doesn’t actually call for oval feet…
“The feet- are relatively large and rounded, with well filled pads.”
For the rear feet it reads…
“Feet- point straight ahead and are slightly smaller and more oval than front.”
This is one of the differentiating features between the Cardigan & the Pembroke.
From the Pembroke standard…
“Feet-Oval, with the two center toes slightly in advance of the two outer ones.”