Breed Priorities – The Boxer
Click here to read the complete article
by Nikki Riggsbee
The Boxer is the most popular working breed based on AKC’s registrations. And they are often one of the larger entries at dog shows. And the quality often has one or more individual dogs competing successfully at high levels.
Their standard is helpful in directing attention to areas it considers more important when evaluating their breed. For instance, the General Appearance paragraph includes this instruction: “In judging the Boxer, first consideration is given to general appearance and overall balance. Special attention is then devoted to the head, after which the individual body components are examined for their correct construction, and the gait evaluated for efficiency.”
But to get more information, we invited 40 Boxer breeder-judges to participate in a survey on Boxer priorities when judging their breed. Twenty-four agreed to participate, and twenty completed surveys were returned. These breeder-judges averaged nearly 35 years in their breed and nearly 12 years judging it. Some judge only Boxers, while others judge multiple groups. More than half have judged their national specialty, and all have judged Boxer specialties.
Prioritizing Virtues
The survey included a list of virtues taken from the Boxer standard. The breeder-judges ranked them by importance. They are listed below in sequence by the average of the judges’ ranks, with one being the most important.
1. Body in profile…square
2. Broad, blunt muzzle
3. Alert, dignified, self-assured; constrained animation in the ring
4. Ground covering stride with a powerful drive
5. Tip of the nose slightly higher than the root of the muzzle
6. Distinct stop
7. Moderate layback of muzzle when viewed from side
Click here to read the complete article
Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=100124
Posted by ralbee
on May 17 2020. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed
