Page 72 - ShowSight - October 2020

BREEDING WITH INTENTION
Are we paying attention to the original intent of the breed when observing it?
How conscious are we of these real and perceived differences when we make our judging decisions, be they in the show ring, working trials, water work or in breeding?
Is there a divergence in type or morphology? What are we doing, as breeders and judges, to close the gap?
compared to their working counterparts. The question is wheth- er the cords on a working specimen are allowed to grow to such lengths as seen in a mature specials dog/bitch, or are kept naturally or forcibly trimmed to accommodate a working environment.
The Kuvasz, like the Komondor, was also developed in the Hun- garian region. It was used primarily in the damper, higher eleva- tions as a livestock (sheep) guardian and guardian of large estates. During WWII the breed was decimated. With less than 30 dogs remaining, the breed was revitalized through the efforts of dedi- cated Hungarian breeders and a few others throughout Europe.
The breed is characteristically independent and protective. This writer’s early exposure to a friend’s Kuvaszok during her college years left an indelible imprint of the protective and vocal nature of the breed, as well as what working dogs’ coats looked and felt like. The peculiar coat pattern, with the head, ears, and paws of short, smooth hair, and body coat consisting of a fine undercoat and guard hairs, resembles a lamb or sheep in appearance—but not texture. The body coat may be quite wavy to straight. The breed is found in small numbers in the US and [any] departure in type and style from those in its home country cannot be ascertained. What is certain, however, is the difference in coat between those dogs being shown and those dogs serving a guardian lifestyle. The latter’s coat tends to look more like the aforementioned lamb, while the former’s is often washed and blown-dry so as to erase any of the characteristic wavi- ness and crispness of the guard hairs. An open coat, such as is often seen in the show ring, is not protective from the elements.
Various pieces of artwork from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) depict the Tibetan Mastiff much like the breed we see today. The term “Mastiff” is a misnomer as applied by the English to these large dogs found in the Himalayan region when, in fact, they are locally known as Himalayan Mountain Dogs. Of peculiar inter- est is the Tibetan Mastiff’s tolerance to hypoxia due to a genetic hemoglobin adaptation. Keep in mind that air has decreasing oxy- gen saturation the higher one moves into the atmosphere, i.e., up to high-mountain grasslands.
This primitive breed was long used by nomadic Himalayan fam- ilies as nocturnal guards against predators and livestock thieves. They are known as fearless protectors of the family and their posses- sions, and occasionally found as watchdogs in Tibetan monasteries.
The breed displays two distinct types that can occur in the same litter; the “monastery” type and the “nomad” type. The monastery type is described as taller, heavier, and more heavily-boned, with more facial wrinkling and haw than the “nomad” type. The larger, heavier “monastery” type is used in more stationary jobs versus the more active jobs of the “nomad” type, which is better structured and well-muscled. While the breed is shown in Western countries under one standard, the Indian standard separates the breed into two varieties; the “Lion Head,” which is of smaller stature with quite long hair from the forehead to the withers (the mane), and the “Tiger Head,” which is of larger stature and displays shorter hair.
Tibetan Mastiffs exist in relatively small numbers in the US. However, they are almost indistinguishable from those remaining dogs still used as guardians by nomadic families and maintained as watchdogs in monasteries.
Are we paying attention to the original intent of the breed when observing it? How conscious are we of these real and perceived dif- ferences when we make our judging decisions, be they in the show ring, working trials, water work or in breeding? Is there a divergence in type or morphology? What are we doing, as breeders and judges, to close the gap?
I’ll look forward to your commentary and questions on this article, as well as the ones that follow in this series. Feel free to send your comments to info@aramediagroup.com or to me at jollytime- hounds@northstate.net.
70 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2020
People are paying attention!
The following commentary was received from a very long- time Alaskan Malamute breeder/exhibitor/sledder/judge regard- ing the fourth in the series inclusion on the breed:
Because Alaskan Malamutes no longer have to survive in Arc- tic conditions, some “survival characteristics” are being lost.
1. The Malamute standard calls for a scissors bite and large teeth. This was necessary to eat a frozen hunk of meat when it was tossed to them; and this also frequently included bones. Bad bites, missing teeth, and small teeth are being overlooked by judges and ignored by breeders.
2. Cat feet are pretty, but wrong for the breed! They work just fine in a show ring, but will punch down through the snow. Large feet must be kept and, although the standard does not give the shape, if you look at working sled dogs in the Arctic for the past 200 years they all have large feet—and the two middle toes are longer than the sides; to borrow a common phrase, “snow shoe foot.”
3. Another problem is the over-angulation in the rear with hocks flying up in the air or not being extended when moved into gaiting position on the ground under the dog. Wasted motion is wasted energy. With food so scarce in the Arctic, a dog that used his energy (food) for unnecessary movement would soon be dead.
4. A theory about the stop, or in the case of Malamutes, the lack of it: “The topline of the skull and the topline of the muzzle show a slight break downward from a straight line as they join.” Both the Siberian Husky and the Sam- oyed standards call for a “well defined” stop. A slight break downward is not the same as a well-defined stop. If the stop is observed on all the land mammals that live in the high Arctic in winter, none have a stop; wolf, fox, polar bear, rabbit. Since the Samoyeds and Siberian Huskies belonged to reindeer herders, they would have had to migrate south for the winter in order find food for the reindeer. The Malamute stayed in the high arctic all year round, sleeping outside in temperatures up to 40 and 60 degrees below zero in snow and wind. Any indentation on the body would be subject to collecting snow and freezing there.