DOGS FOR SALE:  Are They Within the Breed Standard?

In a recent local mall event, I had a chance of bringing one of our dogs.  A lady approached me and asked, "What breed is your dog?"  After telling her "shih tzu", her eyebrows narrowed in wonder.  "I have a shih tzu at home. . . but it doesn't look like yours," she murmured.  I smiled and thought, "Ah, breed standards. . ."

Genteel's Alphonsus a.k.a. "Yakee"

I would often encounter pet owners expressing the same confusion and concerns as that lady in the mall: 

• "I feed my puppy the best dogfood but it doesn't seem to grow as heavy-boned as yours."  
• "I brush my dog's coat everyday.  How come it's still not long and silky?"

My most likely answer to these would be genetics.  From experience, a dog's size, coat, even temperament, are inborn and inherited from its canine parents and grandparents.  Breeders call it "bloodline", and you can trace this in the dog's pedigree.  More importantly, understanding a breed's standard plays a great importance.

"Breed Standard" refers to a set of descriptions that sketches how a particular dog breed should typically look like.  Serious and long-time breeders are keen on this because it helps them identify the best breeding stock from among a litter of puppies.  Knowing the breed standard is also valuable for dog lovers who wish to buy the ideal purebred puppy.  Putting it simply, it will help differentiate between a boxer, an ambull, and a bullmastiff; a shih tzu from a lhasa apso or a maltese; a chihuahua from a miniature pinscher.

If you don't have a visual idea of what a Pomeranian looks like, you might just end up buying a Spits with a brown coat.

 

 So, how do you familiarize yourself with the breed standard? Here are some of the basic terms and ideas that you need to know:

• General Appearance
• Size and Proportion 
• Head; Muzzle; Eye Color; Bite
• Neck 
• Topline; Croup; Hock; Pasterns
• Tail Set
• Coat
• Color
• Temperament

I will discuss each in detail on my next blog.  For more pictures of locally-owned purebred dogs in Iloilo, please visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Genteel-Kennel/102308413156278

Lovely barking!