In general, the height and weight elements of the Standard, while not determinative, should be strived for by judges and breeders. Irish Terri- ers should come as close as possible to these height and weight standards. But so long as the other elements of the Standard are met, those advisory Breed Standard elements should not alone be the determinative factors in judges’ decisions. IV. HEAD AND EYES Among the categories it addresses, the Irish Terrier Breed Standard devotes the largest amount of Standard descrip- tion to the breed’s head. The Standard also briefly addresses the Irish Terrier eyes. The Standard provides in those areas as follows: “HEAD—Long, but in nice propor- tion to the rest of the body; the skull flat, rather narrow between the ears and narrowing slightly toward the eyes; free from wrinkle, with the stop hardly noticeable except in profile. The jaws must be strong and muscu- lar, but not too full in the cheek and of good punishing length. The fore- face must not fall away appreciably between or below the eyes; instead, the modeling should be delicate. An exaggerated foreface, or a noticeably short foreface, disturbs the proper bal- ance of the head and is not desirable. The foreface and skull from occiput to stop should be approximately equal in length. Excessive muscular devel- opment of the cheeks or bony devel- opment of the temples, conditions which are described by the fancier as ‘cheeky,’ or ‘strong in head,’ or ‘thick in skull’ are objectionable. The ‘bumpy’ head, in which the skull presents two lumps of bony structure above the eyes, is to be faulted. The hair on the upper and lower jaws should be simi- lar in quality and texture to that on the body and of sufficient length to present an appearance of additional strength and finish to the foreface. Either the profuse, goat-like beard, or the absence of beard, is unsightly and undesirable. “EYES—Dark brown in col- or, small, not prominent; full of life, fire and intelligence, showing an intense expression. The light or yel- low eye is most objectionable and is a bad fault.” COMMENT Although much of the above language is both self-explanatory and definitive, a few areas in my view require comment. The first concerns the requirement that “the foreface and skull from occiput to stop should be approximately equal in length” between the nose and the stop
under the Standard should be “active, lithe and wiry ....with great animation; ...free from clumsiness, ...built on lines of speed;” not “cobby or cloddy;” with “legs moderately long, well set from the shoulders, perfectly straight; ...both fore and hind legs should move straight forward when traveling” ...with “elbows working clear of the sides.” Under those Standard elements, it is clear that Irish Terrier movement should involve full freedom of action, straight and far-reaching, with a steady even gait involving substantial reach and drive. The breed should cover ground with minimal effort and main- tain a level top line while doing so. When moving at a trot, the legs should be parallel to each other; the front legs should reach at minimum to the level of the front of the dog’s head and the back legs should push out strongly—indica- tions of balanced angulation front and rear. Forelegs and hind legs should be carried straight and parallel. Weaving, bouncing, sidewinding, or stilted and irregular movements are not appropri- ate in the Irish Terrier. CONCLUSION This article has generally not high- lighted the perceived faults of the Irish Terrier breed, in that I believe that we as breeders and judges often spend too little time on the positive qualities of any breed and too much time on per- ceived faults. Breed type should be more important than minor individual faults. That said, the best dog should be the one closest to all of the ele- ments of the Breed Standard, the one who most impresses us when viewed against elements of that Standard and the one who convinces us that he/she is the best based upon his/her actions and bearing. It is hoped that the above discussion of some of the most impor- tant elements of the Irish Terrier Breed Standard will assist judges and breeders in determining and producing the best possible Irish Terrier—whether it be in conformation competition or in breed- ing and raising this wonderful breed. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ronald Hoh is the Vice President of the Irish Terrier Club of America and a relatively new Terrier judge from Sacramento, California. He is also an active member of several regional Irish Terrier clubs and one all breed club. The views expressed in this Arti- cle are those of the author; they do not necessarily represent the views of the Irish Terrier Club of America.
and the stop and the end of the skull. Too short a foreface produces an inel- egant and unbalanced look and limits the desired “good punishing length” of the jaws; too long a foreface upsets both balance and expression and pro- duces a look that the foreface is too weighty. The foreface likewise should not fall away to any significant degree between or below the eyes and should be delicately modeled. There should be no visible deviation between the cheeks and the foreface. The balance called for in the Standard is also best achieved where a stop is hardly visible, even in profile. The head itself should be bal- anced, like the body. Second concerning the eyes, the eyes make substantial contributions to the Irish Terrier’s expression and should be full of intelligence and fire. The cor- rect eye expression is determined by the size and color of the eye and how it is placed on the head. The eyes must be relatively small and deep-set, must not be too far apart, should be dark brown and must be almond shaped, with dark eyebrows and dark brown skin around the eyes accentuating the desired spir- ited and animated expression. V. NECK AND SHOULDERS The Irish Terrier Standard calls for a neck “...of fair length and gradually widening toward the shoulders,” and for shoulders that are “...fine, long and sloping well into the back.” Under these standards, the Irish Ter- rier shoulders should be fine, long and well laid back and should present to the touch an uninterrupted flow from the ears to the neck through the shoulders, strong and straight in elegant, continu- ous lines that flow into each other all the way to the dog’s tailset. There should be no appearance of slackness behind the shoulders. The connection between the neck and shoulders should pres- ent a clean line between them and the shoulders should be properly laid in at the shoulder muscle convergence. The shoulders should not approach the neck a ninety degree angle, in that this would negatively affect the lithe, graceful rac- ing outline and symmetry called for in the Standard. The elegance of the neck defines the preferred proud carriage of the Irish Terrier head. The neck should be long and run in an arched continuous line blending into the back and shoulders, united in strength and elegance. VI. MOVEMENT The Irish Terrier Breed Standard does not directly address Movement as a separate category. It does, however, make indirect reference to that element in other Standard categories. Movement
340 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , N OVEMBER 2018
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