CONFORMATION CLINIC
by Paula Collins
"Good Dog"
This is an overall 'honest' dog in conformation. He is by no means the perfect boxer, but I consider him to be of Show Quality. He has his faults, but in most areas, is correct, or has merit. Please review the Boxer Anatomy page to learn about the general terms in describing the parts of the dog.
He has a short back, good croup, high tailset. Good tight feet, correct head, good arch to his neck, and nice angles. I would like to see a bit more chest, and a bit more maturity.
(In the photo this dog is 13 months old. He has since matured nicely.)
"Bad Dog"
This dog has problems of all sorts.
He lacks angulation, has sloping pasterns, is longbacked with a low tailset, choppy transistion from neck to topline. Flat feet, his muzzle is too long, bad ear crop short neck, he lacks layback in his muzzle. Not enough forechest, along with a host of other issues. His faults are SEVERE and combined. However, he has faults seen in many dogs showing, and being bred.
Please understand no dog is perfect, and if a breeder were holding out for a faultless dog to breed from, they would be holding out forever. Its not breeding perfect dogs that creates show dogs, its breeding to offset faults, and accentuate merits. A medicore dog with little faults has lesser merit in breeding than an outstanding dog with a noticeable fault but some extraordinary characteristics.
Look for the merits in a dog, not just the faults. Anyone can "pick apart" a dog, but few can learn to judge on merit. Try and see the positives, while you notice the negatives.
NO DOG IS PERFECT!!
Learn to balance your views, and learn to see the merits and faults in all dog you judge, including ones online, dogs you see at shows, and ESPECIALLY your own!
Dog graphics both of Cinema's Flamingo Kid
Created by Paula Collins/CINEMA BOXERS
