As much as we love the photo of the three Doberman Pinschers (and we will get back to them later on), it is the photo below where we ask you to spot the one thing that isn’t like the other.
Go ahead. Take a stab at it.
As tempted as we are to say that only one has ever resisted the urge to roll in something dead, that’s not the answer we’re looking for. In fact, we’ve asked a trick question because each image does have something in common with the other two.
It is “the look of the eagle.”
The eagle has the look of the eagle because, well, he is an eagle.
But the Afghan Hound and Doberman Pinscher?
We’ll cite sources below, but even to a layman’s eyes, each dog is capable of a piercing expression that is (wait for it) eagle-like.
Starting with the Afghan Hound, we quite like the way the UK’s Kennel Club phrases it: “The Afghan looks at and through one.” But wait, there is more.
Juliette de Bairacli Levy, an active and prominent Afghan person in England when the original standard was written in the early 1900s said, “These were the keenest hunters. The look of eagles, you know.”
The phrase, “look of eagles,” in relation to the breed’s expression was used by Shaw McKean in a 1951 critique of Afghan Hounds at the Morris & Essex show. He emphasized that the Afghan Hound’s expression should be “almost disdainful,” with eyes that convey a sense of pride and aloofness, rather than kindness or dreaminess. McKean added “I always like ‘the look of eagles,’ and under no circumstances can we have a kind eye.“
In a 2012 issue of Topknot News, the newsletter of the Afghan Hound Club of America, a contributor speculated that a reason why artists are so drawn to the Afghan Hound is its farseeing gaze with the look of an eagle.
We could go on, but here we pivot to the Doberman Pinscher.
In an article by Robert Vandiver, “Judging The Doberman Head.” he writes, “Doberman fanciers often call the typical expression the “look of eagles.”
In the arts, a stunning Doberman Pinscher sculpture by Susan Bahary is entitled, “Look of Eagles.”
The Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada’s Illustrated Standard explicitly refers to the “look of eagles” in its description of the breed’s general appearance. It states that the Doberman should be “elegant in appearance, with proud carriage, reflecting great nobility, and we refer to as the ‘look of eagles.’
The three Doberman Pinschers in our top photo show that the expression is not a “one off.” It’s a trio look of eagles!
To conclude, we would not love our respective breeds if we, as owners, didn’t see a different side of them, so we leave you with two “un-eagle-like” images of both breeds.
Photo by ojos de hojalata
Photo by Anna-av
Collage: Afghan Hound by slowmotiongli/iStock; Doberman Pinscher by Kailee Harvey/iStock; Eagle photo by tof Mayanoff/Unsplash.
Top photo of a trio of Doberman Pinschers by sssss1gmel/iStock