Showsight October 2017

says WHAT’S THE MAIN THING JUDGES OVERLOOK WHILE JUDGING YOUR BREED? ring with it’s head held high. To the novice and uneducated judge this will appear a showier dog, but not a correct one. —Kris Milward

well as correct structure in a dog who is able to cover ground smoothly with an effortless gait with no lift or excess effort. —Anne Marie Kubacz Shetland Sheepdog—the #1 thing AKC judges overlook when judging Shelties is the amount of grooming product in the dog’s hair coat. The amount of chalk or powder that is commonly used to build a ruff has to be unhealthy for the dog and the groomer. A UKC judge will call you on it while most AKC judges will reward it. —Anonymous Tibetan Mastiffs—judges often overlook structure, choos- ing instead the bigger dogs with heavy coats. There is much concern in the breed about losing the authentic Tibetan Mastiff by promoting the more Chinese-version that is not structurally sound and cannot do its work as a guardian dog. —Anonymous My breed is Spinone Italiano, I feel the number one thing judges overlook with our breed is underline/tuck up. Our standard says, “The underline is solid and should have mini- mal tuck up.” This breed should not look like a Pointer, Short- hair, etc. looking at its underline. That to me would be the first however there are a few others that get overlook as well, substance, bone, expression is of paramount importance to the breed. —Kay McLeland Dogue de Bordeaux—movement. Ours is a head breed. Having said that, a beautiful, correct head is not the sole con- sideration. A working dog needs to be able to work, hence move. While a Dogue can be stacked to compensate for lacking angulation and an undesirable top line, these things cannot be hidden during movement. The breed needs to demonstrate reach and drive, which is optimally seen in a Dogue with proper angulation. A Dogue without correct con- formation for this breed will not move well. The Dogue de Bordeaux will also move with its head in a lowered position. So often a Dogue is placed higher for prancing around the “A WORKING DOG NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO WORK, HENCE MOVE.”

Irish Setter—many do not know correct movement. —Anonymous

Borzoi—as a judge I want a sound, solidly built dog that is structurally correct in all aspects to perform as it was bred to do. This means everything from the strength of the jaws and dentition, streamlining for speed from the tip of the nose to the tail with enough ribs spring for the lungs and heart to function correct top line that the brisket correct front and rear as that is the running gear. As these dogs were bred in Russia they also need to have sufficient coat, which is often the icing on the cake! —Anonymous Irish Setter—balance. Since my beginning in 1966, I have hunted and field trialed my AKC show dog and completed sev- eral field championships for my kennel as well as other Irish Setter kennels that believed in the dual dog. Balance makes the difference in the field when the hunter asks the dog to hunt longer than a few minutes, like half a day or more. Further, terrain needs balance of body in the dog to handle ruff footing. I have field trialed my Irish all over the United States. —Patty Harris

Airedale—movement. —Anonymous

Judges perpetually turn a blind eye to silhouette. Briards are all about outline/proportions and movement. Those traits are all in symmetry together. If you change/ignore the form of the animal, you alter the ability to function in the intended way. When a breed ceases to represent the template of the breed, that breed becomes endangered to its original form. —Terry Miller Alaskan Malamute—judges tend to forget the fact that the Malamute is not a head breed! They are not supposed to look like a Rottweiler or Mastiff head and they should not have extreme stop in the head. They also tend to overlook correct coat! Soft, long, trimmed, broken coat is incorrect! A Malamute needs a course correct coat for its job, which is another point as most judges tend to forget what their job is—pulling a sled. —B. Martin Afghan Hound—the number one thing the judges forget is attitude. The Afghan is aloof and dignified. Not Poodley. —Anonymous Toy Poodles—judges most overlook the bad front-end assemblies, which give the lifty movement. Min Pin like. And I’ll add the lack of balance with the overdone rears. Both con- tribute to untypical movement in the breed and together it makes it worse. Movement is as in any breed part of its type. —Anonymous

134 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , O CTOBER 2017

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