nose to determine that they are equal. Look at the planes, of skull and muzzle, are they parallel? Feel through the hair to make sure the skull is not dropping off behind. When you run your hands up to the side of the cheekbones, you should be able to go straight up to the ear. Look for small ears, well placed on the head so that when viewed from the front they are not set too wide. The eyes should be well apart, small, dark and almond-shaped. Put your thumb between the eyes. There should be a slight stop. Put your hand beneath the eye and around the muzzle to see that it is well filled under the eye. You should find a good, wide mouth with a strong, square jaw. Note that the bite is scis- sors or level neither being undershot nor overshot. And remember this is a badger dog, weak muzzles, lack of fill under the eye, bite faults, small teeth would be fatal flaws for this breed. EXAMINATION OF THE BODY In checking the front end, run your hands down the neck which should flow gradually and smoothly into the shoulders. The shoulder blade should be well laid back. The upper arm should be of almost equal length and set at an approximate right angle to the shoulder blade. Elbows should be tucked in so that when you move your hands down the leg from the shoulder, you don’t feel the elbow sticking out. Please note that there will be roominess between the elbow and the rib, if the rib is correctly heart shaped. Encircle the leg to feel for adequate bone. Cup the fore chest with your hand to ensure that it is well-filled and
Examination of the Head
extends forward. Drop your hand palm up between the front legs to ensure proper width of chest. Then place your fist under the chest. A correct brisket will just touch the top of an average man’s fist. The US standard describes the fore chest and how to assess depth and width very well. Individuals with small hands must be reminded to make allow- ances for the smaller size of their hands. Ribs should be heart-shaped in cross section, well sprung and deep. A Scot- tish Terrier should not be short-ribbed, the rib comes all the way back to a short, broad and muscular loin (roughly a three-finger width). Look for very muscular thighs and well bent stifles. The angulation in the rear should match the angulation in the front, giving the dog a very broad thigh, almost too much to fit your hand around. Hocks should be short in length and parallel to each other. When you lift the coat to feel texture, you do not want to see skin. The dog should have a dense undercoat with a
hard, tight topcoat. Furnishings should also have harsh texture and should not be excessive. Our standard mentions seven colors, they are steel or iron grey, brindled or grizzled, black, sandy or wheaten. But basically any color but white is what you need to remember, color is irrelevant to us. We say, no good Scottie can come in a bad color. If you prefer one color over another, please get over it. Far more important to us is the texture, it is a hard, wiry and dense double coat. GAIT When the dog is coming toward you, you want to see two front feet, inclin- ing slightly inward around a broad, powerful fore chest. Going away, you want to see the dog moving true behind with the whole back foot pad turning straight up. From the side, you want to see reach in front and extension behind. The top line should remain level both standing and on the move. Tail should he erect. Movement should be efficient despite short legs and breadth of chest.
Slab sided, narrow front.
Barrel rib, round/wide front.
Acceptable rib and front leg.
Average man’s cupped hand should fit under the chest and drop down between the legs.
Average man’s fist should fit under the brisket with little or no clearance.
274 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , A UGUST 2017
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