front of the forelegs that are set well under the dog, and there should be rounded shelf behind the tail. Th e hands-on examination will reveal essential structural elements of the Scot- tie. I like to feel a deep, well sprung, heart shaped chest with a brisket that drops just below the elbow. My four fi ngers should fi t between the front legs as I cup the chest. As I place my fi st under the Scottie, there should be little or no clearance between the chest and my fi st. I do not want to be able to bounce my fi st up and down between the table and the bottom of the chest. I like to feel strong bone in the legs, both front and rear. Th e front legs should have elbows that turn neither in nor out. Th e rear legs should have a nice turn of sti fl e and short hocks. Th e body should have substance; kind of a big dog feel in a small size. Th ere should be nothing dainty about a Scottie. As I run my hands down the level back, I like to feel a nice hard coat that fi ts like a tight jacket. Lifting the coat should reveal a softer undercoat close to the skin. Th e coat should always be hand stripped, never clippered, scissored or razored, except for the head and ears. A correct Scottie coat is glorious and unforgettable and not seen as often as I would like. Th e Scottie head is unique and very important to type. Th e correct ears, eyes, length and width of head, balance between muzzle and skull are essential in producing the desired expression. Th e Scottish Terrier with a correct head will look as if it is staring right through you. It could be almost be called a “mean” look with a varminty expression. It could also be called the “look of eagles”. You should know this expression when you see it. Try to look at the Marguerite Kirmse etching “Hoot Mon”. She captured perfectly the essential essence of the Scottie “stare”. If a Scottie looks at you with soft, round, pleading eyes, something is wrong. When I look into a Scottie’s face, I want to see small, dark, deeply set almond eyes. Ears should be small and pointed and set high. When alert, the ear tips should point straight up. I like to think that a plumb line dropped from the top of the ear and continue right along the edge of the cheek. Ears that are large, bat shaped, and stick
out from the sides of the skull will ruin the desired expression. Length of skull and muzzle should be equal. Th e skull should be a rectangle, not too wide, and cheeks should be fl at. Th e muzzle should feel full in the hand, with de fi nite fi ll under the eyes; a snipey muzzle is highly unattractive and undesirable. Scottie movement is also unique to the breed and somewhat di ff erent than most other terriers. Moving around the ring, the Scottie should have good reach and drive and maintain a level topline. Th e front pads should reach out almost to the nose as the leg extends forward, and rear pads should extend back and be visible from behind. A Scottie with su ffi - cient layback of shoulder and well turned sti fl es can exhibit this movement. Straight shoulders and sti fl es will restrict the reach and drive, and many more mincing steps will be required to cover the same distance as a properly built Scottie can. Scottie feet, front and rear, should point straight ahead when standing. Moving away, I like to see rear legs that are straight and true from the thigh to the hock to the foot. Th ere should be no curving in from the sti fl e to the hock and certainly no cow hocks. Th e feet point straight ahead when moving. Th e front feet should also point straight ahead when moving toward you. However, because of the broad deep chest and the upper arms somewhat wrapping around the chest, the slight but distinct and unique “Scottie roll” will be observed as the dog moves toward you. A Scottie with a shallow, narrow chest will have straighter front legs and will not exhibit this movement. Th ere should be a de fi - nite, but not exaggerated, roll as the dog extends each leg forward and then plants the foot squarely on the ground. A cor- rectly built Scottie will move with reach and drive and the slight roll. Scottish Terriers should be sparred to show what they are made of. Two or three at a time can be brought out to the ring center at a safe distance to take a look at each other. I expect Scotties to show inter- est and face each other with tails and ears up, each one trying to express dominance. Too often, handlers train Scotties to respond just to bait which can mitigate the
e ff ectiveness of a classic spar. At times, the male personality will lend itself to the bet- ter spar, but Scottie bitches can certainly hold their own in the spar, especially com- pared with bitches in many other terrier breeds that are sparred. Scotties should show and move with tails and ears up, especially tails. When alerted, I like to see correctly set ears standing straight up. At other times, Scot- ties will move their ears out or back. Some Scotties tend to move their ears back as they gait around the ring, which is not a problem. However, no Scottish Terrier should be rewarded for moving around the ring with it’s tail down or sticking out like a Pointer. A Scottie’s tail is like a barom- eter; up is indicative of the desired self con fi dant “own the world attitude”; down re fl ecting uncertainty and wariness. Tail carriage should be between 11:00 and 1:00, with the ideal being straight up at 12:00. Tail carriage a little more forward of the ideal is preferable to carriage approaching the horizontal. Th ese are some of the things that I try to keep in mind when judging Scotties. It is di ffi cult to fi nd the perfect Scottish Ter- rier, but I do try to fi nd those that are clos- est to the ideal. BIO Bill deVilleneuve has owned and been breeding Scottish Terriers for more than 40 years. He has whelped more than 20 litters and shown more than 20 Scotties to their AKC championships. Bill was the top Scottie owner/handler with two di ff erent dogs. He owned the #1 Scottie bitch several years ago, that was a multi group, multi BIS and multi BISS winner, and now a favorite companion of almost 12 years old. Bill has owned several other multi group and BISS winners and also the top producing Scottie brood bitch 20 years ago. He was first approved to judge Scotties in 1983 and completed approval for the Terrier Group in 1991. Since then, he has been approved to judge the Toy and Working Groups and Junior Showman- ship. Bill has judged the STCA National Specialty at Montgomery County KC a few years ago and many of the regional specialties across the country.
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