Who among us who are fanciers wouldn’t be startled under the following dog show scenario: We stack our dog as the judge approaches (let’s say it’s a gentleman), and when he stops at the front of our dog, he whips out this bad boy and aims it at our dog’s head:
We don’t know about you, but we’d be inclined to throw ourselves over the dog before letting anyone get near them with a strange-sharp-pointy thing. The strange sharp pointy thing, by the way, is a “mean caliper,” an instrument used to measure thickness and distances, and it is mentioned by name in the Wire Fox Terrier AKC breed standard. This standard, by the way, is not only the only AKC standard to mention calipers, but after checking the FCI, UKC and Canadian KC standards, it may be the only standard in the world to do so. The exact wording:
“The length of the head of a full-grown well developed dog of correct size – measured with calipers – from the back of the occipital bone to the nostrils-should be from 7 to 71⁄4 inches, the bitch’s head being proportionately shorter.”
We are not Fox Terrier fanciers (admirers, yes), and we can’t categorically say that it’s never happened, but for what it’s worth, we’ve never seen calipers in a show ring in the many years that we’ve been in the fancy. Our supposition is that a judge uses their hands to feel for length and breadth of skull and muzzle, but it’s still intriguing that the word appears in the breed standard, and perhaps a WFT person can weigh in on this.
GCH Afterall Painting The Sky” (aka “Sky.”) Best in Show at the 2014 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show” by Petful.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Suffice it to say that the head is an important aspect of Fox Terrier type, and the standard is explicit in describing it. The topline of the skull should be almost flat, slope slightly, and gradually decrease in width towards the eyes. The foreface should be slightly longer than the skull, and if it’s not, the head will look weak and incomplete. If the measurement is greater 7 to 7 1⁄4 inches, the skull may look coarse, and if it’s proportionately narrower in an adult, it may look “bitchy” – not a good thing in an adult male.
Mind you, carding, hand stripping, and a #15 blade in the hands of a groomer with a good eye goes a long way to create the tight and tailored look of a Wire Fox Terrier in show coat, but the foundation of a well put together head is key. In our view, a correct Wire Fox Terrier head is quite exceptional (which is to say that it makes those of us who love the breed weak-kneed) and the perfect head piece to a dog that should appear to be on the “tip toe of expectation at the slightest provocation.”
Image: Wire Fox Terrier by Kathleen Sepulveda is available as fine art, and in home decor and lifestyle items here.