Illustration 8: Six Scottish Terrier bitch outlines depicting head to body length proportions.
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Marvin analyzed the four standards, namely the one in force before 1888 through the present and finds devia- tions that have practically made over the breed. First, the body has been shortened with a longer more graceful neck. In fact, the dog is now termed a “short-bodied dog” while his ances- tor was definitely a “long-bodied dog.” Second the weights for the breed have been increased while the height has been reduced. This means that the dog is definitely cobbier, more blocky in appearance than his racier forebear” (Marvin, 1971, p. 166). In his book, This Is The Scottish Ter- rier , Dr. T. Allen Kirk states, “The body of a Scottish Terrier is as distinctive as the head. It is moderately short, measur- ing approximately the same from the withers to the root of the erect tail as does the head from the occiput to the nose” (Kirk, 1966, p. 80). My rather brief walk through the history of the Scottish Terrier and its standard brings to light to the reader that the Scottish Terrier has changed through the years; however, he remains a cobby, compact dog in a balanced package. The total picture is one of symmetry. Nowhere in any of the stan- dards are measured references made to his length of back, only his height and weight are statistically defined. Please remember, there is nothing written in the preceding pages pertaining to the current standard of the Scottish Terrier Club of America. There are many printed sources about the Scottish Terrier. I chose to use these. I found duplicate information in each source I used, often times, some- thing different was revealed. In the
compare in exact measurements—par- ticularly withers and point of shoul- der. To do so would involve a hands-on examination, obviously not available in one dimensional diagrams. Taking each drawing/picture individually, compar- ing the length of head to the length of back and the length of body, one is merely using that particular dog’s or bitch’s proportions. We begin to see the relevance of symmetry and balance with little use of definitive numbers. As Bruette/Megargee commented, emphasis should be placed on symme- try and balance; I’ll let the reader’s eye be the critic. Remember, with these relationships, we are not considering height. We are merely using the rela- tionship between the length of head, the length of back, and the length of body. I’ll merely talk about the origin of the outline illustrating the variety of sources used to develop this sense of correct symmetry and balance. The first drawing to illustrate the two relationships is Megargee’s own pictorial concept of correct Scottish Terrier type. The following outline was taken from the STCA’s Clarification and Amplifica- tion of the Scottish Terrier Standard published in 1980 and written by a com- mittee of Robert C. Graham, Miriam Stamm, and Dr. and Mrs. T. Allen Kirk, Jr. The illustrations were drawn by Lori Bush. On the inside cover of this same publication, a copy of a Tausky photo- graph appears. I personally have always admired this Tausky photograph as, to me, this outline epitomizes the “per- fect” specimen. I would have been a
remaining pages, my intent is to relay what I have encountered and learned through the years, taking these same principles and applying them to today’s Scottish Terrier. PAST PROPORTIONS AND HOW THEY APPLY TO THE SCOTTISH TERRIER Having gone back in time to gather accurate facts, I am now going to utilize that information, apply it to a number of different Scottish Terriers and illustrate how much we are on or off track with our current standard, revised in 1993. There are two proportion references (mentioned earlier) that I am going to use to illustrate how those proportions relate to the dogs and bitches we have seen in the ring and continue to see in the ring. 1. Proportion 1: One and three quar- ters to two head lengths from the point of the shoulder to the rear end, is a desirable body length. 2. Proportion 2: The body is moderate- ly short, measuring approximately the same from the withers to the root of the erect tail as does the head from occiput to the nose. I am using drawings from the books I’ve quoted. I am also using illustrations from the STCA’s illustrated standards and outlines taken from a current all- breed magazine (all with permission). And, I will be using three photographs of dogs/bitches randomly selected from those I have bred and/or shown when I was still exhibiting. As they were in my charge, I will not hurt anyone’s feelings if “things don’t work.” Please note that in all of the fol- lowing drawings/pictures, one cannot
224 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , J ULY 2018
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