The above relationships whilst trotting at medium trotting speed ideally translate to looking like this. I say 'medium speed' as this is the speed used by a trotting dog for long distances i.e it is not the classic 'GSD flying trot' used for fast speed and relatively speaking used for short distances. In the flying trot the height of the withers from the ground will be 'a little less', the far side metatarsus/hock/rear pastern will be 'just a little flatter' in relationship to the ground but it should not make contact with the ground, the extended rear metatarsus/hock/rear pastern will be 'just a little further angled' and the frontside pad of the foot will be 'just a little higher off the ground' but ideally not above the standing wrist height.
In words it reads a bit like this; Balanced, effortless, harmonious, the neck is at the desired angle to the ground, the withers have good height relative to the back and the backline is at a slight slope to the ground, the croup [pelvis] is at the desired angle to the ground, feet are travelling at about wrist height [standing wrist height] from the ground, the forward extended foreleg is at the right angle to the ground, that is it is at a parallel angle to the well laid shoulder blade and the foreleg is not being lifted upward from the elbow, the pasterns are firm, the front foot is at about a vertical line midway between the eyes and nose, there is moderate crossover between the rear and front feet, the far side metatarsus [hock/rear pastern] at the forward position is well angled to the ground and consequently only the pad of the foot is in contact with the ground, the tibia [lower thigh] and femur [upper thigh] are getting close to being fully extended with the tibia at a desired angle to the ground and the knee is at the desired height from the ground, the front side metatarsus at its full rearward extension has the desired angle to the ground for this trotting speed.
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