Barbara J. Andrews © TheDogPress  Nov. 2006 - No matter how long we’ve been in dogs, we continue to learn from each other.  Old-timers learn from novices and able-minded novices learns from everyone!   Judges learn from show magazines, gaining valuable insight on trends in breed type.  Although pictures are no longer worth a thousand words due to digital enhancement, ads do help judges know what's winning and what to award... 

Judges who point to something "different" are more likely to be criticized for not knowing type than to be praised for having found the best example of a devolving breed.  Before we criticize Judges, please repeat aloud something I've said in hundreds of columns - judges can only award what breeders produce and handlers present.

Okay, now you're ready to answer the following: Will any breed benefit from devolving into a generic show dog?  Will a statue that performs reliably suit the temperament and purpose of the breed?  Should front and rear assemblies have "good angulation" regardless of breed purpose?  Is generation after generation of "showing fools" good for any breed?  Is Siberian movement correct for the Akita?  Does a Pug's bone compliment the Boston?  

This current edition of ShowSight Magazine revealed the how and why of breeds that stray from the AKC Standard.  Peggy Mickelson’s emphasis on spanning a Border, and comments on eyes, full muzzles, and expression in Shelties should be absorbed by every judge and breeder.  Likewise, Diane Klumb's dissertation on Phantom Standards clarifies the mystery of uniformity in many breeds and her examples are a study in Cockers, Springers, Gordons, and of course, Havanese.  Should Gordons devolve into Irish because that breed wins more?  You ask the questions.  You will find the answers!

 I’m sure neither writer knew the other’s subject and each column stood on its own but taken together, they were powerful examples of why judging is a subjective art and breeds are ever-changing.  For some breeders, phantom standards are an excuse to hear a different drummer.  One has only to look at Pam Guevera’s Blasts FromThe Past photos to acknowledge the changes time has brought (or wrought) in many breeds.

Many changes have occurred in the breeds I've worked with over the last fifty years.  Dobermans changed from German working type into the more elegant, upstanding and over-angulated Dobe of today.  That's why we moved on to Rottweilers in the late sixties, seeking the powerful body and guarding ability we saw diminishing in show Dobermans.  We fell in love with the Akita for its character and oriental mystique and saw it evolve into the sounder, better balanced, showier specimens of today, but with those changes, character devolved into a softer, less imperial, less challenging Akita, accepting of the discipline needed for a top winner.

 Compare that (we did) to the complacent but clownish Bull Terrier personality under which lies a determined, gritty, fearless terrier temperament.  We saw the bull terrier shift from a solid forty pounds of typical untippable muscle and four-sqare “bull” movement (wide, rolling due to wide chest and bulging inner thigh development) to a taller, more streamlined “better moving” terrier.  Heads improved (in some opinions) but with that came skull and jaw deformity. The unique devil-may-care personality also changed because Group level performance demanded more polish and stackability.  Size increased too, bigger is always better, unless it is a bull terrier which used to be more packed per pound than a pug!  Over the years, Bullies devolved into soft, 80 pound, Pillsbury dough-boys. 

 Disparaging over those changes, we discovered the Miniature Bull Terrier which even in England, had lost popularity due to its less dramatic head.  With the help of a judge friend, we sought and bought the best, including the first English Champion import.  We formed a club, gained AKC recognition and the interest of many Standard breeders who appreciated a hard little terrier with less exaggeration.  Thankfully the clownish displays of bully personality have remained intact and are still appreciated by the knowledgeable even though such goofy behaviors as shaking the body with all four feet off the ground don’t usually impress Group judges...

 We saw the Chihuahua as a jewel of history but at that time, not particularly well presented or sound.  Judges had a problem with correct back length, tail set, shorter leg, and wide ranges of breed type.  Breeders rose to the challenge and today the world’s smallest dog holds his own in the Group but has drifted towards such exaggeration of head and skull that the breed is in serious genetic trouble.

 Last in my personal breed repertoire, the Toy Fox Terrier.  A foundation breed in UKC, it was a terrier through and through and shown in the Terrier Group.  In the highly competitive AKC Toy group, changes have occurred; they are show-ring sounder, more consistent in appearance, but are so far, still a functional, tough little terrier in a toy-sized body.  The Chihuahua still thinks he’s the biggest dog in the ring and a good one is unmistakable for its “terrierlike qualities” so we hope the Toy Fox Terrier will also retain those qualities. On the minus side, toy breeders are willing to forsake a well developed terrier jaw and a full compliment of strong terrier teeth.  The strong chin is devolving into a snipy, weak profile.  Increased angulation and loss of muscle development is problematic for a little dog meant to go-to-ground but then a softer temperament would prevent him from killing vermin as he was bred to do.  Will this 100 year old breed retain the inherent qualities of the “fiest” as he evolves in the AKC ring?  Probably not.

 Thanks Pam, Peggy, and Diane for providing us with examples of change in the breeds we have long loved and lived with!  It is up to the breeder-exhibitor to decide if such changes are improvements, if evolving  "consistency of type" for the show ring is good, or if it is in fact, devolving breed type overall.

Barbara J. Andrews

http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Editorials/0611-Devolving-Purebreds.asp