PUREBRED DOG DETERIORATION?

Carol Hawke, Former AKC Judge

Studying breed standards, I chose the wolf as basic prototype and the most common reference point for all canines.

Lacking that model, judging dogs by breed standards have no means by which they can be properly interpreted. Without a clear prototype of canine anatomy laser-etched into your mind, all that remains is comparing one dog to the next. If your method of judging merely involves comparing each dog to the next, then you must select the dogs that represent the most obvious picture of breed type within every breed.

That only works in theory not in actual practice.

The more exaggerated specimens may seem to you as more ‘breed standard correct’ but in reality, they are breed standard extreme because there is no basic prototype from which to form that ideal specimen. Those who judge this way will always seek dogs with the most exaggerated version of breed type and will, inadvertently, injure the anatomy of the breed to such a degree that they leave it crippled and unsound.

This is not the method I was taught nor the method I choose to judge dogs by. Judging one breed specimen against the next one - as a methodology, shows no respect for the purebred dog as a living creature. Exaggeration of breed type would not be in compliance with AKC’s code of ethics and it should be soundly condemned.

For example, the French Bulldog breed standard requires a dog medium to small in structure. It calls for a short front leg. The rear legs are to be longer than the front legs (but they already are, anatomically, so it is not a tremendous effort to achieve this goal) but the front legs must still be SHORT. How short? A taller dog has longer legs even if it is quite short bodied while the smaller dog generally appears more compact owing to its size alone.

Is the taller dog too long on leg (for his (proportions) to meet the breed standard or is he merely taller and larger all around than the smaller dog next to him?

If you add correct angulation to these two dogs, their appearance is altered significantly. Angulation always creates the appearance of more length in the dog regardless of its height. A tall dog with poor angulation and short body may appear ‘boxier’ than a short-legged dog with better angulation and a short body.

Small dogs tend to disappear in grass which is also a matter of concern. What if both dogs lack sufficient loin to possess the required roach back? The roach over the loin requires more length of loin than the breed standard presently addresses yet it is an essential characteristic of breed type.

Making a rounded croup on a dog with almost no loin does not create the roach-back designed into the breed but this is where the modern breed has departed from its own inherent type due to interpretive ignorance. In the French Bulldog breed standard, we are looking for a dog of medium to small structure with heavy bone, a compact body, roach over the loin, bat ears and front end wider than rear.

This same dog is required to weigh 28 lbs or less by our American standards (where the breed was redesigned as a lap dog) and creates a most intensive and determined feat for any sincere breeder to accomplish! Therefore, it is necessary for the sake of balance and health in already exaggerated dog breeds to always carry the prototype of the basic canine and then carve that prototype using the applicable breed standard.

In the two decades I judged for AKC, I chose to carry the same prototype of the basic canine and then apply it to the breed standards and thus, project it onto the dogs.

This is how great judges of the past used their knowledge of animal husbandry to preserve balance and soundness in the pursuit of useful health and function of the purebred canine rather than follow the errant way of today’s ‘greeders’ who have ignorantly departed a working knowledge of domestic animals, good sense and compassion in favor of exaggerated type.

In the final part of this column we will talk about dog show judging ethics, including your valued comments.

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