Page 22 - ShowSight Presents - The Beligian Tervuran
P. 22
A Simple Formula for
JUDGING THE BELGIAN TERVUREN
By Sharon Ann Redmer
How to judge Belgian Tervuren—here is a simple formula from one breeder judge. First select for type and tem-
perament, and then find the best moving dogs amongst that subset of typical, men- tally sound dogs. Easy... right?
TYPE
What makes type in a Tervuren? Think about overall criteria falling into
5 “buckets” of characteristics: silhouette, relative proportions, head & dentition, expression, coat & color.
First... Think square silhouette, and remember from high school trigonom- etry that “off-square” really IS a rectangle. Our Tervuren are measured from point of shoulder (NOT point of breastbone) to point of rump. They have full britches, and the males carry a collarette—both of which can add the illusion of length. Stand back. Look at where the dog’s feet stand naturally... if you need to squint your eyes
to get the overall proportions of height to length, go ahead! A Tervuren does not “stand” over a very large piece of real estate. You will see dogs who appear square enough from afar, but they stand over a lot of ground and have straighter fronts and rears. This is not correct.
Next, look for an elegant length of neck. The withers are accentuated and the topline is level. There is a very moder- ate tuckup (seen best in those out of coat adolescent girls and boys) and a medium long croup. Check out the tail. Does it
