ABOUT THE AUTHOR Carol Kniebusch Noe lives in Virginia and has been involved with breeding and exhibiting Pekingese since 1972. She judges the Toy and Non Sporting Groups, SIS and Juniors and is the editor/author of The Pekingese Study Guide. She is a professional flutist and conductor and is Professor Emeritus of Music at James Madison University.
Th e characteristic movement is unhurried, digni fi ed, free and strong with a slight roll over the shoulders. Th e motion is smooth and e ff ortless and is as free as possible from bouncing, prancing or jarring. Th e rolling gait results from a combination of the bowed forelegs, well laid back shoulders, full broad chest and narrow light rear, all of which produce adequate reach and moderate drive.
Rose Marie Katz, one of the prominent American breeder-exhibitors of Pekingese in the 1950s and 60s said, “ Th e Pekingese dog should be judged as a whole. It must present a picture of balance and type. It must be evaluated for its good points rath- er than torn apart for its faults. In evalu- ating a Pekingese, one must keep in mind that it is a toy dog of great substance and character for its small size.”
THE HARD COLORS by JOY THOMS
T he Pekingese Standard was revised in 1995, and the state- ment regarding color now reads, “All coat colors and markings, including parti-colors, are allowable and of equal merit.” Obviously, this includes whites, creams, and blacks as well as the parti-colors. Whites and creams have long been thought to be inferior to the other colors. Most of us have seen “white pet store Pekingese” that leave a lot to be desired and this has negatively influenced judges appreciation of this color. Likewise, partis and blacks have taken a backseat in the past. A parti color should have equal amounts of both colors on the body. Th ere- fore, a dog with a shawl over the shoulders and white on the chest is NOT a parti color. A crème Pekingese is one that has only one color on the coat and face. A pale fawn with some color on the ears or face is NOT a crème. Whites come in various shades but are a shade of white, not crème. Lootie, one of the first Pekingese we see in prints, was a parti color. Th is is a color that is very seldom seen in the show ring today. Th e same can be said for black and tan, a color that we seldom see. Blacks have made headway in the last ten years due to the e ff orts of several dedicated breeders, and are now more accepted in the ring. How about white? Up until the past sev- eral years this is a color that has not often been seen in the ring, or if it was, it was quite inferior to the other colors. Is it pos- sible to breed a white that is on an even par with the other colors? I think it is.
I have been breeding for over 45 years, and have produced over 125 Champions, including at least 30 whites. As you can tell, I am addicted to the white Pekingese and it has become my goal for the past 15 years to breed them of quality equal to the other colors. What does this entail? First of all you must realize that the gene pool for whites, or blacks or partis, is much smaller than that of the “normal” colors. Because of this, we will probably have to be more careful about how we breed and my emphasis has always been on improving quality. Where do you go to get started on this venture? Since I had several nice creamy white bitches in my kennel, thanks to a strong white gene that one of my best males carried, I pro- ceeded to search for the best white male I could find to mate them to. I decided that I was not going to find that is this country but managed to find one in Eng- land. Th is is the key that I needed to seri- ously get started on this project. I might add that I have dabbled in this project at least twice prior to this, but never had the right key! Th is was the starting point that pointed me in the right direction towards success. Th e same goes if blacks, black and tans or partis are your passion. Find the best, and breed to the best, and keep studying. Now, getting back to the small gene pool, it is going to be necessary to bring in quality from the very best of the other colors. Doing it this way is going to take a little longer, but the outcome will be
much more pleasing. To breed only for color is a mistake. What is it going to take to get the Judges to acknowledge that a white, or black, or parti can be comparable to the other colors? Th at’s easy. We must show them only quality exhibits. It is necessary to be able to stand back and objectively say, “Is this a dog that I would show if it were any other color?” If the answer is “yes”, then go for it! I don’t ever want to hear the statement again: “Its pretty good—for a white.” We are all used to seeing a “normal” colored Pekingese with a black mask so we find it easier to analyze their facial structure. Color on the face, or lack of it, can be very deceiving. A black mask can often accentuate desired features which can be more di ffi cult to appreciate in a self masked dog. Th ere is also quite a dif- ference between dogs with full black faces and black muzzles. Coat color also plays a part in how you perceive the total pack- age. Your eye will be immediately drawn to the clear colors with black on the face. You must learn to look past color and consider what is beneath the coat. I would like to ask all the people who judge Pekingese to keep an open mind and not discount any dog just because of its color. Try to get past the color, judge according to the Pekingese Stan- dard, and judge the dog on the day. Sooner or later the hard colors will take their place along with the other colors as quality exhibits.
226 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , F EBRUARY 2015
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