with espen engh, sheila hoffman, pam lambie & eric liebes pharaoh hound q&a
Komondor still holds the All-Breed BIS Record for the breed (7). I’ve had good success breeding both of those breeds since. I’ve been judging since 1992 and am approved for all Hounds, Working and Herding breeds, as well as Britta- nys (hopefully more Sporting breeds soon!) When Pharaoh Hounds were first admitted to Group competition in the early 80s I often helped a friend show her nice champion bitch, I also got to know the breed in the field and through my good friends the late Kay and Marshall Durr (K’Zar Pharaohs), so I have been around Pharaohs for many years. I was approved to judge Pharaoh Hounds in 1997. 1. Describe the breed in three words. EE: Elegance-with-power, noble, normally-constructed. SH: Athletic, graceful and brilliant.
EE: Yes, two traits are becoming exaggerated. One is size. The breed standards are calling for a medium-sized breed as opposed to a large or even giant breed. Many Pharaoh Hounds are pushing it as for size. As compared to several other Sighthound breeds, this is not a particu- larly leggy breed. As long as balance is retained, I will make some allowance for larger size, but within rea- son. Angulation of hindquarters tends to have become exaggerated in more than a few dogs. A Pharaoh Hound should have only a moderate sweep of stifle (and hock, even if the latter is not mention in the breed standards), but should still be well within what is consider “normal” dog construction. SH: The standard clearly calls for “elbows well tucked in”. We are seeing a vast number with a gap between the elbow and body even when standing. This is an easy feature to judge and our judges need to be penalizing it accordingly. Another challenge today is that too many generic show dogs are rewarded in the breed ring. These dogs often have straighter shoulders, upright necks and over-angulated rears, more than our breed standard allows, which leads to imbalance of angles in the shoul- der and rear. This imbalance is detrimental to overall soundness and function while also creating incorrect breed type. PL: Length of body. EL: Size. We are seeing oversized dogs. The 23 to 25 inch range for boys and 21 to 24 inches for girls suites their type and function best—too big and it all fails. 4. Do you think the dogs you see in this breed are better now than they were when you first started judging? Why or why not? EE: Having kept abreast with the breed for 40+ years and having judged them for most of those years, I think on a global basis there are probably more good dogs around now than ever before. But there have always been some outstanding Pharaoh Hounds out there, and the best dogs of yesterday—going back in time to the best Merymuts and dogs like champions Shemas Khan Khara, Farao Anubis Ramses and Antefas Kahira—were just as good as the best dogs of today or maybe even better. That being said, the best dogs of today would have done very well in the past too. SH: They are definitely better than when I got into the breed in the mid 80s. We are not seeing as many loose fronts and flipping pasterns that there were in my early years. We also have better toplines overall while only seeing a few currently with soft toplines. One concern is nar- row rears on the move. The breed should move with some width the rear in order to keep them steady when hunting on the rocky, uneven terrain of their native Malta. Many are very narrow in the rear, which should be considered a fault.
PL: Noble, graceful and alert. EL: Strong, athletic and alert.
2. What are your “must have” traits in this breed? EE: The breed is fortunate to have a very good breed stan- dard that clearly spells out the must-haves of the breed and is very similar in all countries which is reflected in the dogs themselves. The must-haves include a slightly rectangular body with clean-cut lines, not very curvy. The breed should be noble and give the impression of high quality. Balanced, but moderate (meaning not too much and not too little) angulation both ends making for a no-nonsense construction. A typical head with parallel planes, good length of skull and muzzle. Ears that are car- ried erect when alert, medium high set and contributing to the keen expression. An arched neck. Sound legs and feet and sound, free and flowing movement with head held fairly high as consistent with the breed’s noble bearing. SH: Classic head with parallel planes, off-center upright ears and oval eyes. Medium size with balanced moder- ate angles. Of course, classic tan to chestnut color with minimal white. PL: Free-flowing gait with an alert, playful temperament. EL: The structural aspects that make the breed what it should be both standing still, on the move and in the field. Pharaohs should be slightly rectangular, have an athletic strong topline and move with grace and free flowing effortless action. In the ring, the breed should glide over the ground without any lift and that car- ries through to how Pharaohs gallop also. The Pharaoh Hound head is strong, but also lean and chiseled. The PH Standard calling for a “Blunt Wedge” describes the head well. There is no doubt that between the head, move- ment style and outline, the Pharaoh Hound is distinctive from close-up and from far away!
3. Are there any traits in this breed you fear are becoming exaggerated?
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