• Skull—The skull is of medium width, narrowing toward the muz- zle. Seen in profile with the ears laid back, the skull is slightly rounded. The upper jaw is moderately filled in under the eyes, so that, when viewed from above, the head forms a wedge tapering smoothly from the back of the skull to the tip of the nose. The stop is definite but not prominent. The length of the muzzle is slightly less than the length of the skull. • Eyes—The ideal eyes are small, oval rather than round, dark brown, and placed forward on the head. • Ears—The ears are small, triangular, placed high on the head, and, when at attention, very erect. A drop ear or ears is a disqualification. • Nose—The nose is small and black. • Bite—The bite must be scissors or level. Any deviation is to be severely penalized. Take a felt tip pen and highlight every adjective you see above. These tell you about their temperament as well as describing the head. They are active, very independent and decision makers. You should see a foxy style head; trian- gular and or wedged shaped. The above
Still have your felt tip marker? You should be marking moderate length, slightly arched, balance, correct silhou- ette, topline level or sloping slightly and stand-out ruff. This is followed by describing the chest as broad and deep reaching to the elbows. The Schipperke is broader in the front than the rear. The croup is broad and well-rounded with the tail docked. “No Tail is visually discernible.” Please think about this image. There is no leeway. FOREQUARTERS The shoulders are well laid back, with the legs extending straight down from the body when viewed from the front. From the side, legs are placed well under the body. Pasterns are short, thick and strong, but still flexible, show- ing a slight angle when viewed from the side. Dewclaws are generally removed. Feet are small, round and tight. Nails are short, strong and black. HINDQUARTERS The hindquarters appear slightly lighter than the forequarters, but are well muscled and in balance with the front. The hocks are well let down and the stifles are well bent. Extreme angu- lation is to be penalized. From the rear, the legs extend straight down from the hip through the hock to the feet. Dew- claws must be removed. Again, the standard is very specific with the visual qualities desired in our breed. Verbiage mentioned draws toward the desired visual image. Short, thick, strong, flexible, small round and tight. Nails strong and black. COAT • Pattern—The adult coat is highly characteristic and must include several distinct lengths growing naturally in a specific pattern. The coat is short on the face, ears, front of the forelegs and on the hocks; it is medium length on the body and longer in the ruff, cape, jabot and culottes. The ruff begins in back of the ears and extends completely around the neck; the cape forms an additional distinct layer extending beyond the ruff; the jabot extends across the chest and down between the front legs. The hair down the middle of the back, starting just behind the cape and continuing over the rump, lies flat. It is slightly
description is easy to visually search for when you initially view the head. You can easily see if you have a dark, small oval eye. You will see those small, trian- gular high-placed ears. Check for these desired traits on the floor. The bite must be scissors or level and should be shown by the handler on the table. NECK, TOPLINE & BODY • Neck—The neck is of moderate length, slightly arched and in bal- ance with the rest of the dog to give the correct silhouette. • Topline—The topline is level or sloping slightly from the withers to the croup. The stand-out ruff adds to the slope, making the dog seem slightly higher at the shoulders than at the rump. • Body—The chest is broad and deep, and reaches to the elbows. The well sprung ribs (modified oval) are wide behind the shoulders and taper to the sternum. The forechest extends in front of the shoulders between the front legs. The loin is short, muscular and moderately drawn up. The croup is broad and well-round- ed with the tail docked. No tail is visually discernible.
238 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , A PRIL 2017
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