Breed Priorities – Pembroke Welsh Corgis
104 – March 2017
by Nikki Riggsbee
This discussion is not intended to promote fault or part judging. Nor is it to imply that any characteristic called for in the standard is unimportant. Judging, and breeding, is about prioritizing and about what the judge or breeder must have and what will be forgiven. Discussing priorities can help in learning how to better evaluate a breed.
Questions, Comments, or Concerns? Contact AKC Judge Ms. Nikki Riggsbee at Email: nriggsbee@aol.com
Survey results vary from breed to breed in how much the 6. Topline firm and level experts agree with each other on what is most and least important in their breed. The greater the consistency, the more confident I am in the results. The Pembroke Welsh Corgi breeder-judges who contributed to this project were definitely in greater agreement than has occurred in some other breed surveys.
Fifty-seven Pembroke breeder-judges were invited to take the survey on their breed’s priorities. Forty-two agreed to do so. Of the twenty-one who participated, some judge just Pembrokes or a few other breeds while others judge groups. They averaged over thirty-one years in the breed and have been judging them on average for over thirteen years.
Virtues
The breeder-judges were given a list of breed virtues from their standard to prioritize from the most important to the least important. Their responses were averaged and the following is the list of Pembroke characteristics in sequence by the average priorities, with 1 being the most important.
1. General balance and outline
2. Moderately long and low, withers to base of tail about 40% greater than height at withers
3. Head proportion: five parts of total distance for the skull and three parts for the foreface
4. Gait free and smooth
5. Line drawn from the nose tip through eyes to ear tips, and across, forming an approximate equilateral triangle
7. Shoulder blades long and well laid back. Upper arms nearly equal in length to shoulder blades
8. Intelligent, interested expression
9. Substance and stamina in a small space
10. Legs short, forearms turned slightly inward, with the distance between wrists less than between the shoulder joints 11. Deep chest, well let down between the forelegs
12. Eyes oval, medium-sized, brown, with dark eye rims
13. Neck fairly long
14. Oval feet, turning neither in nor out
15.Coat medium length; short, thick, weather-resistant undercoat with a coarser, longer outer coat 16. Nose black and fully pigmented
104 – March 2017
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