It’s the final round of Jeopardy and you could win a gazillion dollars if you get the final question right. Scroll down for the clue:
Clue: They are set slightly forward on a dog’s head, almost on a frontal plane, but not as prominently as in some brachycephalic breeds.
To help you along, click on the arrow for your “thinking” music:
The Jeopardy answer, as we all know, comes in the form of a question, and the correct question is:
What is a sub-frontal eye position?
There aren’t many more ways to describe a sub-frontal eye position when you know what “frontal,” “eye” and “position” mean, but the word, “sub” throws a lot of people.
Perhaps this will help (thanks to the years of Latin we had to take in school): The “sub” in “sub-frontal eye position” means “slightly below” or “almost at” the frontal plane. In dogs, this term describes eyes set slightly forward on the head, and as forward as eyes that are “fully frontal,” but more forward than eyes set on the sides of the head.
Most sources agree that this type of eye position is helpful in offering some breeds a wider field of vision than fully frontal eyes, but we would add an additional caveat: Why a breed standard would call for this eye position has a lot to do with the breed’s “mission statement.”
We divert for a moment to mention that as of this writing, we came across only two AKC breeds to use the exact wording, sub-frontal, in their breed standards as the term pertains to eye position:
In the Dogo Argentino (a breed created primarily to hunt large game such as peccaries, wild boar, and pumas), having good peripheral vision and improved depth perception is an obvious advantage, and sub-frontally positioned eyes provide this. But in the only other breed standard to call for this placement, the Bolognese (a companion comfort breed), this eye placement is essential to breed type because it impacts expression.
We should mention that the Boxer standard comes close to similar wording, but writes: “frontally placed” eyes.
The Lagotto Romagnolo breed standard states, “The eyes are set somewhat frontal-obliquely,” while the Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka standard describes the eyes as “medium size, rounded, and set on the frontal plane.”
A breed’s eye position should never be undervalued as it pertains to breed type, and often impacts the dog’s ability to do its job successfully. William Given once wrote that proper eyes and expression will set a breeder far apart from others (we’re paraphrasing) because both are the hallmarks of a successful breeding program and identifiable line.
Herding and hunting breeds generally have wider-set eyes (such as the Cardigan Welsh Corgi) to provide a broader field of vision – better for monitoring a flock of animals or tracking moving prey. Sighthounds typically have a 270-degree field of vision which helps them spot and chasing fast-moving prey, while breeds that work in varied terrain, such as spaniels, require better depth perception provided through eye positioning that allows for more binocular vision.
In a breed standard, words matter, though clubs sometimes have different way of expressing essentially the same thing. We think even pet owners (as opposed to fanciers) would benefit from sifting through their dog’s breed standard while bearing in mind that a group of people who love the breed agonized over every word in it.