Page 311 - ShowSight - October 2019

The Tale of the Tail
BY JO PATRICK continued
It then continues with:
Square, distinctive coat, stand-out, ruff, cape, culottes and unique silhouette.
Some of these words are derived from the French language, so further exploration is needed to conclude the desired physical picture. Off to the dictionary.
Ruff—A separate collar of starched pleated linen or lace worn by men and women in 16th and 17th centuries; a growth of long colorful or bushy hair or feathers on the neck of a bird or other animal.
Cape—cloak, mantle, poncho, wrap, shawl or robe.
Culottes—a pair of women’s knee- length shorts, cut to resemble a skirt. Silhouette—an outline, shape, shadow, profile. An outline of something filled in with black or a dark color on a light background, especially when done as a... work of art.
Unique—exclusive, exceptional, dis- tinctive, matchless, irreplaceable, rare. When the word unique is added to sil-
houette, something magical occurs, giving strength to the desired image. Visualize the following:
Exclusive shape, exceptional profile, distinctive shadow, matchless outline, rare work of art and irreplaceable outline.
The physical picture created becomes remarkable when these two words are placed together. There is no quarter for any other picture. When the Schipperke is viewed as a silhouette it is immediately identified as a ‘Schipperke’. Other breeds that can be identified by its silhouette alone are the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and the Old English Sheepdog. Neither has a tail.
Other words that can be utilized for the word “unique” when describing “silhouette” is; “exclusive, one of a kind, exceptionally distinctive, irreplaceable and rare”. The ant- onym of unique is “common”. I certainly would never describe a Schipperke seen in silhouette form as common.
Just by reading the “general appearance” we know what this dog is not. He is not long in body, any color other than black, doesn’t have a hound like expression, and he does not have a tail. Since the 1500’s the Schip- perke has never been visualized as having a tail. The lack of a tail accentuates the unique silhouette.
At the tail end of the paragraph identi- fied as “general appearance” the term “fault” is mentioned. The dictionary and thesaurus have been utilized for those words found in the “general appearance”. If used as a noun the definition would be;
Fault—Error, mistake, blunder, blem- ish, imperfection, defect, omission, flaw, shortcoming or deficiency. The antonym is strength.
In its standard, the Schipperke is described as a small, thickset, cobby, black “tailless” dog. There is a very small group of breeders who feel the presence of tails is merely a fault. In my opinion, however, when being exhibited, the appearance of a tail totally destroys the silhouette. Let’s explore this word “fault”. Below are exam- ples gathered by looking in the dictionary. The choices are:
“Liability, error, mistake, blunder, blem- ish, imperfection, defect and flaw.”
AKC Rep.—Why did you choose to give that tailed Schipperke the points?
Judge—I view the tail on a Schipperke as only a fault?
Judge—I view the tail on a Schipperke as a defect. I view the tail on a Schipperke as just a flaw. I view the tail on a Schipperke as a blunder. I view the tail on a Schip- perke as an imperfection.
Judge—I view the tail on a Schipperke as a mistake. And that is what it is!
Would anyone use any of the other
words when answering that question? The word, “fault” is easily used without thought. The standard neither mentions, nor describes a tail. It is acknowledged only as being “docked”. “No tail is visually discernible.”
Other descriptive words found in “the general appearance” are small, thickset, cobby, black tailless dog, with a fox-like face. He is small, but does not give the impression of toy like. Thickset refers to having substance. Cobby refers to being as tall as he is long.
Other words mentioned in the “Gen- eral Appearance” are agile, active, watchdog and hunter.
He is all of these. He is curious and loyal. He is extremely intelligent and remembers everything important to him. I have told my puppy buyers that he is a cross between a two year old and a raccoon, into everything and tells you “no” a lot. He is fun! He is not for everyone, but those of us that adore them do so forever.
Please, when judging our breed either as a sweeps judge or a licensed judge, do not view them as common. Value everything found in our “general appearance”. The Schipperke possesses a “a distinctive coat and unique silhouette”.
ShowSight Magazine, october 2019 • 309