Form Follows FUNCTION BY STEPHANIE SEABROOK HEDGEPATH MEASURING PROPORTIONS AND FINDING LANDMARKS PART ONE W hat is the first thing a judge does once a class is in the ring and checked in? He or she “walks the line” to get a first impression of the dog’s profile. If you are not sure of the essential physical As our first example, this is from the Standard for the Shetland Sheepdog: SIZE, PROPORTION, SUBSTANCE
“Size, Proportion, Substance: The Shetland Sheepdog should stand between 13 and 16 inches at the shoulder. Note: Height is determined by a line perpendicular to the ground from the top of the shoulder blades, the dog standing naturally, with forelegs parallel to line of measurement. Disqualifications - Heights below or above the desired size range are to be disqualified from the show ring. In over- all appearance, the body should appear moderately long as measured from shoulder joint to ischium (rearmost extremity of the pelvic bone), but much of this length is actually due to the proper angulation and breadth of the shoulder and hindquarter, as the back itself should be comparatively short.”
characteristics that make up your breed, you may find some hints in the first paragraphs of your breed’s AKC Standard under the heading of General Description. The next paragraph that I turn to in my studies of a new breed is usually the section on Size, Propor- tion and Substance. Please note that not all standards have this sec- tion separated from the whole of the standard, so you may have to hunt for the information. In the late 1980s, AKC decreed that all Breed Standards be formatted in a particular order from that point forward. Only breeds recognized prior to 1989 could have revisions made to their Standards without reformatting, and any newcom- ers must use the format now in use. The majority of parent clubs went along with the new format and were allowed to reformat their Standards without making any actual changes to the wording, but a few declined and remain as they were. The proportions of a dog are vital to their breed character. Their profile gives you the shape of the dog—so that most breeds can be identified by their silhouette alone. Proportions can vary widely from breed to breed, as do size and substance. But when describing the silhouette of the dog, the Standard usually (but not always!) explains height, weight, and proportion. When studying propor- tions in different breeds, there is usually a reference to particular points in the dog that are used as the basis for measurements. I call these particular points “landmarks.” These landmarks vary from breed to breed and it is up to the breeder to learn how to find these landmarks so that they can determine the proportions in their own animals. Let us first discuss some of these landmarks and, more specifically, where they are located on the dog.
Figure 1. Shetland Sheepdog Proportion Measurements
62 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JANUARY 2022
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