Conformation Corner
Articles originally published in Havanese Hotline, the Official Publication of the Havanese Club of America | |||
Conformation Corner Articles: Judges' Education: ABrief History and Overview Balance and Breed Type Permission to post this article on the CHC website has been granted by both the author, Diane Klumb, and the Editor, Margie Staniszeski. These articles MAY NOT be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the Hotline Editor.
Read the HOTLINE ! You won't want to miss a single issue of The Havanese Hotline, the quarterly publication of the HCA. Full of photos, advice, interesting stories and the latest info on Havanese happenings, this magazine is available to everyone - not just members of the HCA. | Balance and Breed Type by Diane Klumb Breed Type is defined as “a particular set of characteristics which set one breed apart from all others.” In the world of purebred dogs, breed type is paramount, as it must be, because without breed type, there are no breeds. Many novice exhibitors sit ringside and watch judging, convinced that the judge is an idiot, simply because they do not understand how judges judge, or the importance of breed type in the judging process. Novices tend to expect judges to put up the soundest dogs, which, when one is inexperienced, invariably means the dogs with the best rear movement! Judging solely on rears is the mark of the amateur, mostly because rears are the easiest thing to evaluate. But with very few exceptions, rear movement is rarely an element of breed type in any breed. The reason for this is simple- most breeds have exactly the same standards for rear movement- the joints (hip, stifle, and hock) should be in line when viewed from the rear, and should remain that way when the dog is moving. Deviations such as cowhocks, bandy-legs, close hocks, and the faulty movement they engender, are deviations from the ideal in nearly 150 breeds, and so do not address breed type at all. Rather, rear movement is merely a reflection of general soundness- important, but not critical to breed type. Likewise, there is nothing in correct front movement of a Havanese observable on the down-and-back other than the flash of pad, (which may or may not be evident depending on the length of the grass, the speed of the dog, and the color of its feet) that would set it apart from any other breed, and the deviations from generally sound movement here- paddling, weaving, and crossing over- are the same deviations that one would see in 150 other breeds. Hardly critical to breed type. What judges are actually supposed to do (and the best ones do!) is select the soundest animals from those displaying proper breed type. As any experienced judge will tell you, you can find sound dogs at the pound. This means that the first cut must be made on breed type, not soundness. If the soundest animals are lacking in breed type, they will not, and should not, make that first cut. And this means exhibitors (and hopefully breeders and judges as well!) must know the elements of type in their own breed, so that, ideally, only those animals displaying them will be sent into the ring. What are the elements of breed type in the Havanese? (In other words, what particular combination of characteristics makes a Havanese different from all other breeds?) 1. Topline Straight but not level, rising slightly from withers to rump. 2. Outline Slightly longer than tall, with high head carriage and tail arced over back 3. Gait Springy, and elegant, with moderate reach and drive, showing free reach and good extension. Not stilted. 4. Coat Soft, silky, wavy and abundant. 5. Expression Broad backskull and large dark almond eyes; correct earset follows line of skull. 6. Temperament Intelligent, playful, sweet, and non-quarrelsome. A Havanese possessing the necessary elements of breed type should be immediately discernable as a Havanese at twenty yards, simply by its topline, which is both the single most defining characteristic of our breed and a critical element of his overall outline. That’s why these two characteristics are listed first and second. They are simply the most obvious. The third element, which is the unique gait, is a direct result of the first two. And all three require balance. Without the balance specifically called for in our Standard, a Havanese simply will not display the first three critical elements of breed type!!!! What is balance? In a general sense, balance is described as a harmonious amalgamation of all parts into the whole. Although correct, this definition is not particularly helpful to novices, who generally require something a little more specific to work with when evaluating their own dogs. There are essentially two sorts of balance in the dog- horizontal balance and vertical balance. The Havanese Standard defines both horizontal and vertical balance for the breed very clearly. Horizontal balance, in the world of purebred dogs, means that the angles on the front and the rear must match, and this applies to all breeds. In our breed standard, these angles are “moderate”, both fore and aft. Shoulder layback is moderate, which is defined in the standard as lying not more than forty degrees off the vertical. In addition, the dog must have sufficient angle at point of shoulder to set the forelegs well under the body with a pronounced forechest. Rear angulation is also moderate, and is defined as a rear in which the hind foot falls slightly behind an imaginary perpendicular line drawn from the point of ischium to the floor. This requires sufficient angle at both the stifle and hock joints. What our Standard does, then, is clearly define the upper limits of moderate angulation for both the front and rear assembly, as the tendency of show breeders is to produce dogs with more and more angulation over the years. However, this is rarely seen in the Havanese- unfortunately, far more dogs in the ring today are straighter in both front and rear than what could possibly be termed “moderate”. If the dog is “straight as a stick on both ends” he will be balanced horizontally, but he will lack vertical balance (we will see why later) and his side gait will be incorrect as well. A Havanese with correct horizontal balance and the required short upper arm will have the rise in the topline required by the Standard. This topline, which is so critical to our breed (as we are the ONLY breed out of 150 that call for it) does not exist in a vacuum- it is the sum of all parts beneath it. The dog with balanced moderate angles both fore and aft will also present the correct gait for the breed. It should be noted that in order to evaluate correct breed type while gaiting, the Havanese must be evaluated primarily on his side gait. Breed type will not be revealed on the down and back, which is chiefly used to assess soundness. Like topline, the Havanese Standard is very clear on gait- it is “flashy rather than far-reaching”, but with good reach and strong rear drive. In order to have the desired amount of reach and drive, a dog must have moderate angles on both ends. A dog lacking in angulation will not display the elegance or resilience necessary for proper “spring”- instead, it will be stilted, which is decidedly incorrect. It will appear choppy rather than springy. Straight shoulders will restrict reach, and the Standard specifically calls for the front legs to reach forward freely. Likewise, straight stifles will restrict drive. (Straight-stifled dogs, it should be noted, are nearly always clean movers when viewed from the rear, but they lack the strong rear drive and good rear extension called for by the Standard, which can only be evaluated from the side.) A Havanese of correct breed type should not display the side gait of a Chow! The other area of gait where the Standard is very clear and concise is in the last line: “The topline holds under movement, neither flattening nor roaching. Head carriage is typically high, even on the move.” In order for a dog to meet the standard in this regard, a Havanese must have perfectly balanced moderate angles, both horizontally and vertically, as well as a short upper arm. These two lines provide the greatest challenge to breeders, and are admittedly hard to achieve. Are they worth the effort? Absolutely. The dog who can maintain the classic Havanese outline (high head, tail arced over the back, with a slight rise to the topline) with good reach and drive at the trot is the dog with the best breed type, plain and simple. He is immediately recognizable as a Havanese at any distance, and that is breed type. A topline that flattens under movement is caused by a dog whose drive exceeds his reach- in other words, he has more extreme angles in the rear than in the front and therefore lacks balance. If the front is significantly straighter than the rear, the dog will have a flat topline when stacked, even if his upper arm is short. Straight shoulders are the single most common cause of flat toplines in this breed; close behind is the dog with moderate shoulder layback but a straight upper arm, (which is getting more common as breeders attempt to produce cleaner fronts.) A dog of average height with perfectly balanced angles front and rear will have a rise of approximately ½ inch if measured with a wicket. It should be noted that the front is measured at the withers, directly behind the top of the shoulder, and the rear is measured at the rump (the highest point of hip) not from the set-on of tail. A dog whose tailset is slightly lower than ideal does not have an incorrect topline provided it is straight and rises slightly from withers to rump. (A roach back is caused by a dip behind the shoulders and a rise over the loin and is not the same thing at all.) The dog with slightly less angulation at the shoulder than in the rear will generally display a ¼ inch rise from withers to rump, clearly discernable when stacked, but with a tendency to flatten at the trot. Many of the best toplines in this breed are found in the 6-9 classes, which is probably why we finish so many puppies. The reason for this is simple- many puppies in many breeds are high in the rear between 6 and 9 months of age, much to their owners’ consternation in breeds that do not reward it. It is caused by the fact that the rear is simply growing faster than the front! Judges must judge “on the day” however, and it is not their job to guess whether a topline will flatten out with maturity. We do not have a specific set of guidelines for judging puppies written into our Standard. Breeders who wish to honestly evaluate their puppies, however, can look at vertical balance, which will often provide a good clue as to what the adult topline will be. Vertical balance in over a hundred AKC breeds is the same- a balanced dog will be approximately one-third head and neck, one third body, and one-third leg. (Among the exceptions to this rule are the chondrodysplastic breeds, as vertical balance applies primarily to breeds that are equal from withers to elbow and elbow to foot, resulting in a dog that is slightly longer than tall, as ours is.) This balance is addressed in the Havanese Standard, in the section titled Neck, Topline and Body: The neck is of moderate length, in balance with the height and length of the dog. It carries a slight arch and blends smoothly into the shoulders. There it is, in black and white. And it is probably the single most ignored line in the Standard. The Havanese breed is awash with dogs whose necks do not approach “moderate” in length, and which are nowhere near “in balance with the height and length of the dog”. If this lack of the balance which our Standard calls for were a disqualification, like lack of pigmentation is, we’d probably have only half as many dogs in competition, and a lot less champions. Why is this? Given the fact that all dogs of all breeds have the same number of cervical vertebrae (7), the difference in apparent length of neck is entirely dependent on shoulder layback. A straight shoulder will visually “steal” an inch or two from the neck. These same straight shoulders will diminish the required arch, and will prevent the neck from blending smoothly into the shoulders. One again it becomes apparent that no single part of the dog exists in a vacuum- each contributes to the harmonious whole. The short necks resulting in lack of vertical balance in our breed are caused by the same thing as most of the flat toplines- straight shoulders. A straight-shouldered puppy with good rise at 6-9 months will often finish out with significantly less rise when his front end catches up to the rear. A dog who lacks vertical balance is also incapable of the high head carriage called for in the Standard as well, unless he is lacking in the lower third -in other words, he is low on leg, which is seen less frequently than it was several years ago. The Standard states Head carriage is typically high, even on the move. (The word “typically”, when used in this context, refers to the relationship of high head carriage to breed type rather than its actual incidence in the breed. ) As well as high head carriage, correct tail carriage is also critical to breed type, as it too is an integral part of the outline of the dog. In order to complete the balanced Havanese outline that is required for proper breed type, the tail must be carried as the Standard requires- “it arcs forward over the back, but neither lies flat on the back nor is tightly curled. On the move the tail is carried loosely curled over the rump.” (A tail which is tightly curled and/or carried flat so that it blends into the back will significantly detract from the proper outline even if it is set on correctly, so tail carriage is critical to breed type, whereas tail set is not.) A better understanding of balance will result in better breed type in both the whelping box and the ring, at least as regards the first three elements of it. So what of the last three? Are they less important? Not at all. The last three elements of breed type are just as critical, but less obvious at a distance. These are evaluated for the most part on the table. Coat. The Havanese Standard does indeed use a lot of words to describe the coat, but none of them are contradictory, and together they create a pretty clear picture of the ideal Havanese coat. These are the words used to describe the ideal Havanese coat, in the order in which they appear in the Standard: Under General Appearance: Profuse. Untrimmed. Long. Silky. Wavy. Under Coat: Double. Soft and light in texture. Abundant. Wavy. Those are the ONLY words used. And “wavy” is indeed used twice, which should provide a clue as to its importance. Profuse and abundant mean exactly the same thing- plentiful as opposed to thin; untrimmed in the first section refers to the general appearance of the dog as shaggy rather than sculpted, and a long, wavy, silky, double coat, soft and light in texture throughout should not be hard to imagine. So where is the “confusion” we hear so much about? Not in the Standard as written, certainly. The confusion comes from the fact that when this breed entered the AKC Toy Group in 1999, many of the coats did not approach the ideal. Breeders tried to pass off coats to both judges and novice exhibitors as “silky and wavy” which were in fact cottony or wooly rather than silky, and frizzy, kinky, and curly rather than wavy, because they simply had no control over the coats they were producing. As any woman who’s had a bad hair day knows, frizzy is not the same as wavy, yet far too many Havanese coats are indeed frizzy, and breeders try to convince themselves, the judges, and puppy buyers that they are wavy. Blowdryers, irons and a multitude of expensive conditioners can all give a dog the appearance of a wavy coat when nature did not provide it, but if you really want to know what sort of coat a dog has, simply letting him air-dry will reveal it. It should be noted that the dreaded AKC “foreign substance rule” applies to those substances that cause a coat to lie down as well as to stand up when it is disinclined to do so naturally- all those “spray-on” and “leave-in” conditioning products used to tame and disguise frizzy Havanese coats are just as unethical (and illegal) as hairspray……and just as “unnatural” for a breed which is to be presented “as naturally as is consistent with good grooming.” Sorry, but it’s true. Better to breed for a correct coat to begin with- one that is easy to maintain naturally and will not “obscure the natural lines of the dog” without being weighted down with a small fortune in grooming products. This is the element of coat that is discernable from a distance, of course- if the topline is obscured by an overly profuse coat, it is impossible to evaluate whether that topline is holding under movement or flattening out. (An overly long coat, on the other hand, is far less likely to obscure the outline of the dog, if one stops and thinks about it- our Standard does not spend one word describing the required outline of the bottom of dog, whereas the outline of the top of the dog is critical to breed type, both moving and stacked.) These “ideal” coats have existed since the earliest years of the breed- the challenge is to produce them consistently, not to redefine nor re-interpret the Standard to make the less-than-ideal coats acceptable. (The dogs pictured below, whose coats are abundant, soft, silky, wavy, double, and clearly soft and light in texture, are second-generation descendents of the Original 8, and were whelped over twenty years ago. One can look at them and immediately understand why this breed was once called the Havana Silk Dog.)
The fifth critical element of breed type is Expression. When one looks at a Havanese face, there should be no question that one is looking at a Havanese rather than a Maltese, or a Lhasa, or a Bichon. This typical expression is the result of several components all working together. The broad backskull combined with ears that are broad at the base and set on at the correct level on the skull to create “an unbroken shallow arc from the outer edge of each ear across the backskull” is the first critical component of Havanese expression. The second critical component are the eyes- “dark brown, large, almond shaped, and set rather widely apart.” Every single standard for Havanese ever written has called for almond eyes and this particular combination of a broad backskull and broad-based, high-set ears. Very few, if any, other breeds call for it, however, making it a hallmark of Havanese breed type. This is a hard combination to hold, genetically, as the tendency is for a round eye to appear with a broad backskull and an almond eye with a narrow one. Although the broad backskull and correct earset are fairly well established in the breed, and one does not see a lot of incorrect narrow skulls in the ring, far too many Havanese do not have the required almond eye, and it would appear many breeders do not understand its importance. Eye shape is not a matter of personal preference, here….. This is an almond-eyed breed, and a round–eyed Havanese is lacking an essential element of breed type, plain and simple. Both the Maltese and the Bichon standards call for a round eye, and Havanese displaying them too often resemble those breeds in expression. One can easily ascertain eye shape on 8 week-old puppies, and, like those with a flat topline resulting from a lack of balance, those pups with an obviously round, globular eye should be placed in good pet homes rather than sold as show prospects, as disappointing as it may be. Temperament, the final element of Havanese breed type, is an area where the breed is doing well. As a companion animal, a sweet, non-quarrelsome temperament is as critical to a Havanese as herding ability is to a Herding breed, as it speaks directly to his function. So there you have it. Understanding what breed type means, its importance, and which unique characteristics make up the elements of breed type in the Havanese, will enable those breeders who truly want to produce consistent quality to evaluate their litters with a more discerning eye. In order to be show-quality, a Havanese must display all the critical elements of breed type in addition to general soundness. When breeders gain a discerning eye, fewer litters will be “all show quality” simply because none of the pups have any disqualifying faults.
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