We’re huge fans of Curtis M. and Thelma R. Brown, authors of The Art and Science of Judging Dogs, a book we deem “must” reading for the person looking to understand dog structure. Their book, K-9 Structure & Terminology, is another essential, and it includes a passage that has to do with “fancy points.”

“Fancy points” refer to the arbitrary characteristics that a horse, cow, and yes, dog, must have to be considered an “acceptable member of the given breed” by the person evaluating the animal. The Browns cite Dalmatians, and specifically, spots. Dalmatians have spots, but spots, they suggest, don’t make the dog.

The AKC breed standard is specific about those spots: They should be distinct, round and well-defined. They should be evenly distributed, and the less they intermingle, the better. Any solid mass of black or liver hair with no white hair is a patch, and patches are a “no no,” so much so that they are a disqualification in a show ring. Spots don’t make a Dalmatian a better pet, better trotter or sounder dog, and this is true, but do patches influence breed type in a Dalmatian, and if not, why be so specific about them?

The Browns go on to use northern breeds as another example. In some arctic breeds, yellow eyes is a disqualification, and the Browns suggest that it’s mere fancy that some of these breeds must have dark eyes since at the time the book was written, no one had demonstrated that yellow eyes cause inferior eyesight.

It’s a quaint legend that a person with blue eyes sees heaven, and a person with brown eyes see earth,  and someone with one brown and one blue eye can see both, but a substance known as melanin is responsible for determining the color of dogs’ eyes; the more melanin, some believe, the better protection from intense arctic sun glare (something dark pigmented eye rims also offer). Even the shape of an eye can be beneficial to breed like the Samoyed whose almond-shaped eyes enable him to squint and expose less of the eyeball to wind and frigid air while still being able to see.

So what do you think? Are “fancy points” always arbitrary?

Samoyed by Elena Kolotusha is available as a print here.