Page 258 - ShowSight - February 2020

Two and a Half Minutes
BY MARYLYNNE ELLIOTT continued
are a friend. If the handler is nervous or ill at ease, the dog will feel it.
Take the dog’s head in your hands and feel for his underjaw. Feel for the head to be box-like, with cheeks and muzzle smooth instead of wedge-shaped. The sparkling and intelligent eyes should be as dark as the dog’s pigment allows, and round, not almond shaped. The ears should rise no higher than the top of the dog’s head and should hang smoothly, with the tip reaching the bottom of the jaw.
Move around to the side and put your hand on the withers. Is there a smooth transition from neck to shoulder, or are there rolls over the shoulder blades, indicating a short or roughly set scapula? Running your hand down the front, feeling for the shoulder- upper arm, then for the upper arm-elbow. Are they equal in length? Run your hand between the forelegs: Can you feel a forechest, or is the front so forward set that it’s empty, leaving your hand to cup only air?
Gently encircle the bone of the foreleg with your thumb and index finger—if they meet, the bone is too weak. The bone should bladed, not round. Check to see where the ribs end and the loin begins. Feel the muscling of the loin and the rear, including the inner thigh. The tail should be checked for kinks by gently holding it in your hand at the insertion and feeling it until the end.
Now check the ridge by lightly running your hand up the ridge and then back down. Check to see that the crowns are symmetrical and that the ridge is long enough, ideally running from between the shoulder blades to between the hip bones, but close enough is okay.
Finally, check the teeth by asking the handler to show you the bite. Check for a scissors bite, but accept a level bite.
Now send the dog down and back. Does she tend to single-track as her speed increases? Does she move so that her rear disappears when she comes toward you and her front disappears when she goes away?
When she comes back and stops in front of you, evaluate her free-stack. Do her feet all point forward? Does she own the ground she stands on? She doesn’t have to stand perfectly, but does she look like an ele- gant and powerful specimen?
Now send her around and watch how she holds her head and her tail: If you superimposed a clock face on her, are they positioned at ten and two o’clock? Does she move with her topline straight and level? This is also a good time to evaluate her tail set—is it too high or too low?
After you have examined every dog, move the entire class around, and make your selections. If you are torn between two dogs, check their fronts and their side gait, and then pick your winner.
Here’s what you don’t have to do: Don’t check feet by reaching down and picking up the leg—this will startle both the Ridgeback and its handler. Don’t check the sides of the bite or inside the mouth – like most hounds, this breed does not require full dentition. Don’t go overboard in feeling or touching the dog: On a short-coated breed like ours, everything you need to see is clearly visible.
And remember: All this has to be done in two and a half minutes per dog. Good luck!
256 • ShowSight Magazine, February 2020