The thing I had planned for today is still not ready (I keep screwing it up :) ). So, lets continue with the Illustrated Standard in the order its printed. Standard Post #3 HEAD AKC Standard Keen intelligent alert expression. Eyes large, round to oval in shape. Small and/or almond shaped eyes are undesirable and are to be faulted. Eyes to be dark brown to nearly black in color. Eye color can vary with coat color, but regardless of coat color dark eyes are always preferred. Light eyes are undesirable and yellow eyes are to be strictly penalized. Blue eye(s) or any portion of blue in the eye(s), as well as both eyes not being of the same color shall disqualify. Fully pigmented eye rims are desirable. Rose ears, small, fine in texture; in repose, thrown back and folded along neck. Fold should be maintained when at attention. Erect ears should be severely penalized. Skull long and lean, fairly wide between the ears, scarcely perceptible stop. Muzzle should be long and powerful, denoting great strength of bite, without coarseness. Lack of underjaw should be strictly penalized. Nose leather to be entirely and uniformly pigmented. Color to be black, dark blue or dark brown, both so dark so as to appear nearly black. Teeth of upper jaw should fit closely over teeth of lower jaw creating a scissors bite. Teeth should be white and strong. Undershot shall disqualify. Overshot one quarter inch or more shall disqualify. Elaboration While it should always be remembered that Whippets are not a ‘head breed’, certain head properties do define elements of breed character. Eyes should be large and dark and the expression should be soft and not hard bitten (though expression will be intense when the dog is in hunting mode). Though still dark, eyes on blue and creme dilute colored dogs will have a different undertone than those of black pigmented individuals. Blue dilute dogs will tend to have a slate undertone to the eye while creme dilutes tend to have a gold undertone. However it should be noted that dark eyes within these tones are very achievable from a breeding standpoint and are definitely preferred. Fully pigmented eye rims are desirable, but missing eye rim pigment is not a ‘deal breaker’ on an otherwise good dog. A ‘rose ear’ can have many different incarnations and still be correct, depending on the set on the head, the length and weight of the ear and the location of the ‘break’ - the point at which the ear folds. In a perfect world, we like high, fine, crisp ‘gull wing’ ears, but as long as the ear falls into the definition of ‘rose’, it should not be faulted unless a judge is splitting hairs between two otherwise equal specimens. Erect or ‘prick’ ears are to be severely penalized. Equally offensive are large, heavy, low set ‘hound’ ears with little or no ‘break’ or ‘fold’ on the upper contour of the ear. In terms of use of the ears, remember that a Whippet should not be penalized for not ‘using’ its ears. It is perfectly acceptable for a Whippet to perform in either an animated or in a more stoic fashion while in the show ring and neither should be given preference. Judges should remember that the standard calls for a skull which is long and lean, yet fairly wide between the ears, being neither narrow and Borzoi like nor round or cheeky in the back skull. The width between the ears accommodates the characteristic large, correctly shaped eye. Head planes should approach parallel (neither down faced nor dished) and muzzle is approximately equal in length to the back skull. As part of the breed’s function is to catch and hold prey, a strong powerful underjaw with ‘great strength of bite without coarseness’ is of great importance. The Whippet breed as a whole has very few bite or mouth issues. An ‘off’ bite, particularly one that appears before you in the show ring, is a very rare exception. Judges should also note that our standard only addresses the occlusion, or bite, there is no need to probe into the sides of the mouth during your exam to count teeth or check for missing teeth as Whippets are not accustomed to this as part of the normal exam process.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 14:40:32 +0000
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