The “Taneous” Head (but not this one)

The Irish terrier is the raciest member of the terrier group with a longer body and longer legs than the other terriers.  Likewise, its head is long, flat, and slightly wedge-shaped; the foreface and skull from occiput to stop are approximately equal in length, and the head has a slight stop that isn’t very noticeable unless the dog is viewed the dog from the side. Needless to say, an exaggerated foreface disturbs the balance of the head, and thus is not desirable.

Chiseling below the eye is delicate, and when there is too much muscular development of the cheeks, or bone development of the temples, it’s described as being “cheeky,” “thick in skull, ” or “strong in head” – all traits that are objectionable. Furthermore, when an Irish Terrier has two lumps of bony structure with (or without) indentations above his or her eyes, it’s regarded as ugly and a fault. This kind of head is referred to as a “bumpy” or “alligator” head, and has also been referred to as a “taneous” head. These “bumps” tend to be the result of an overly narrow head that’s tubular, and such a head cannot portray the kind of typey expression characterized as keen and wicked, intense, and hard bitten, an expression some judges have described as the dog looking right through them.

Few people take pictures of faults, a pity since how are we to recognize it when we see it? For that reason, we haven’t been able to find an illustration of a “bumpy head,” but share a lovely one instead with the permission of the AKC from which the photo comes.

 

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