Pop Quiz!

Scroll down to the video and see if you notice something the judge does with the Pekingese entry on the table. You can stop watching as soon as the judge takes her hands off the dog:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you spot the judge picking the dog up?  She did it to evaluate the Peke’s “heft,”  and how it’s distributed.

People are often surprised at how heavy a Pekingese can actually be. In fact, “surprisingly heavy” appears in the AKC breed standard, and it’s a term used to explain the breed’s muscular, blocky body under all that hair.  To evaluate weight on the dog, a judge need only pick the dog up off a table by an inch or two to quickly ascertain, “Yup. Surprisingly heavy.” Most of the weight on these dense dogs is at its front half. Why? In part it’s because the breed has an unusual pear-shaped body that is narrower in the rear, but wide in front with a broad, full forechest and well sprung ribs. It’s also due to a disproportionately massive head, and heavy bones for a dog this size.

For anyone unfamiliar with the breed, there’s a lot more going on under that coat than one might think!

To get instruction on how to lift a Pekingese properly,  go to the last video on this page.

Image of Pekingese antique dog print from the 1937 by the English illustrator, Lucy Dawson is offered by plaindealing and is available here