We came across a breed forum in which a robust discussion was over dogs who endearingly moved their back ends like a hul...
Read MoreThe New, Not Entirely English, Drover
If, on a dare, you ever call a phone number written on a bathroom stall following the words, "For a good time, call........
Read MoreTuftastic!
We caution that a particular word found in the standard hints that grooming for this isn't a requirement, but a suggesti...
Read More“Pleading” the 5th
It's not a word we would associate with a working dog, and if ever there is a dog driven to work via scent or sight, it'...
Read MoreWhat Changes After 100 Years?
Reading breed standards written nearly 100 years apart is insightful because, in part, it reveals what is essential in a...
Read MoreThe Staffie’s Genius Owner
There are a couple of reasons we write about once-famous people, and one of them is born of curiosity about what interes...
Read MoreThe Penalty Box
Depending upon the breed's standard, the consequence of having a certain fault in a dog show conformation ring may resul...
Read MoreNever the Two Shall Meet
In parallel parking, the idea is to situate the car so that the long side of the parked car is lined up, or parallel, to...
Read MoreDon’t Do Dull
"Dullness" as used in this standard is particular interesting because "heaviness without dullness" might seem a contradi...
Read More“…To Unsnare Time’s Warp”
Honestly, the poem could describe most of our breeds, but the writer had a specific breed in mind, and as they say, "it ...
Read MoreAlphabet Lips
Nitpicky? Maybe, but if you were to switch "alphabet lips, you would lose breed type in a big way. These are the little,...
Read MoreBy a Whisker!
In the dog fancy, which is to say the world of exhibiting and breeding dogs, there is less debate because many breed sta...
Read MoreThe Man (and the Dog) Behind the Skull
As the lore goes, thirteen rock crystal skulls, said to possess mystical properties, were scattered across the globe, an...
Read MoreSkimming the Earth
As he tells the story, the Pyrenean Shepherd breed winner approached him for his individual examination, but first jum...
Read MoreThe Affenpinscher “This Week”
Dachshunds, Basset Hounds, Bulldogs, and Weimaraners made appearances, and while those popular breeds probably didn't ne...
Read MoreGeorge: A Champion of the Irish Terrier
A commitment to maintaining the distinctiveness of a breed can inspire passion, and in William Secord's book, Dog Painti...
Read MoreWhen a “Break” is Dramatic
From head to ear to topline and toe, "break" shows up in breed standards as a descriptive word, but there's one more use...
Read MoreYou Don’t Tug on Superman’s Cape
The work to be had when encountering a "factoid" during research on a dog breed involves digging into other sources to s...
Read MoreLouis Louis, We Gotta Go
The reputation of these dogs as fast, wide ranging hunters grew, not just among sportsmen, but evidently with fanciers b...
Read MoreWall? What Wall?
The breed's most outstanding trait is an otherworldly "cold nose" tracking ability. The breed's nose is so sharp, he can...
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