Re: Conformation??? -- Boerboel Breeders Info. Forum

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Date Posted: 16:44:37 09/26/04 Sun
Author: Dan G.
Subject: Re: Conformation???
In reply to: TMoran 's message, "Conformation???" on 11:12:35 09/26/04 Sun

Terry,

People involved with working dogs, DO place a good deal of attention to conformation. One difference being that the main focus of the show dog crowd is for the most part, STRICTLY conformation. There is a huge difference between these two for the following reasons.

1) When choosing breeding stock, the breeder that is concerned with producing a good working dog places conformation as ONE of the points to look at when choosing breeding stock. How he prioritizes conformation along with temperment, work ethic, overall health, etc. will vary from dog to dog and from breeder to breeder. Whereas again, the show dog breeder will focus mainly on conformation.

2) Conformation is also defined differently by the working breeder and the show breeder. The show breeder is concerned about how the dog will stand in front of a judge and how it will look going around a ring once or twice. They tend to pay attention to very minute details of the dog and 'pretty' them up, before the show. I've seen superior (overall dog) GSD's being passed because of silly things, like coat color, ear set and the list goes on, but yet inferior (overall dogs) would stay at the kennel because they had the 'proper' conformation. On the otherhand, the working breeder is more concerned with seeing the dogs conformation while the dog works and is worn down a bit. The conformation he is looking at, is not whether the dog has the proper coat, but whether the dog has the proper structure to do the job, while also looking at everything else as mentioned before.

This is from a book written by Raymond Coppinger. A professor in Biology at Hampshire college, a breeder, trainer and a former sled dog racing champion.

"Standing in a show ring reveals little about a Siberian's running shape. Charlie Belford had a wheel dog-the sled dog that is hitched just in front of the sled-by the name of Sammy. Sammy appeared badly built when standing in the yard, but he was beautiful at full speed. His cow hocks and roached back disappeared, transformed into the smoothest, most energy-efficient gait you would ever want to see. The faster he went, the prettier he got. He always reminded me of the baseball player Mickey Rivers. I thought Rivers moved awkwardly when he walked, but he ran beautifully, and very fast."

"standing is a behavior. Running is a behavior. If I want standing dogs, I select for dogs that stand easily and economically. I select for dogs that like to stand and have a beautiful standing shape. As a sled dog racer, I am not much interested in a standing shape."

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Replies:

Re: Conformation??? -- TMoran, 18:28:21 09/26/04 Sun
- Re: Conformation??? -- Dan G., 19:35:58 09/26/04 Sun
  - Re: Conformation??? -- Dan G., 21:15:33 09/27/04 Mon
    - confirmation/standard=potential -- Ed Davis, 15:24:12 10/02/04 Sat