JUDGING THE by KATHLEEN B. KOLBERT, JUDGE Turyanne Yorkshire Terriers AKC Reg. YORKSHIRE TERRIER
A s a breeder since 1963, and a judge since 1979, I hope I can enlighten those who now judge, and those who hope to judge, this very controversial breed. As I go through my judging procedure I hope to make you aware of the breed char- acteristics that set this breed apart from the other toy breeds. These are coat, color and texture. The standard currently in use was approved on April 12 th , 1966. In my opinion it is a very good Stan- dard. Sadly, many of the Yorkshire Terriers exhibited today do not come close to meeting the criteria described therein. I will now relate step by step, the procedure I follow when judging my breed.
For themost part Yorkie’s do notmind being examined, however every once in a while one may go for you. Please bear this in mind when approaching each exhibit. I take the dog’s head in my hands and look for a rather flat head. The skull should not be too prominent or round. Similarly, the muzzle should not be overly long. The eyes should be of medium size and not overly promi- nent. Dark in color and sparkling with a sharp intellident expression. Oval shaped eyes are preferred, not round eyes. A large round eye is gen- erally found with a too round a skull. A “small beady eye” is highly undesir- able and detracts from expression. Ears are small and set high on the skull and not too far apart. Head color is darker at the roots than in the middle, shading to still lighter tan at the tips. You need to fan out the head hair to see the shading. There should be no sooty or black hair inter- mingled with any of the tan. Puppies are born black and tan are normally darker in color, showing an inter- mingling of black hair in the tan until they matured. Richness of tan on the head and legs are of prime importance in all adult dogs. Scissors bite preferred, size of teeth in direct proportion to size of dog. Lips, nose and eye rims should always be black. Next, I run my hands down to check the length of neck and lay back of shoulders, follow down the leg to
Having assembled the class I have the exhibits stand so that I may take a first look at each dog’s outline. This is each exhibits first chance to say tome, “I am truly typical of my breed.” I then take them around the ring in order to observe the ability of each to maintain the correct outline andover- all balance when moving. Additional- ly, I am looking for that confident and self-important air so important to the breed. I am now ready to examine each ex- hibit on the table. As I do so, I first check the side view of the dog for cor- rect proportions. A four-pound head on a six-pound dog is not acceptable. Next, go around to the front of the dog and look at them as they face you. Extend your hand and then approach.
“FOR THE MOST PART YORKIE’S DO NOT MIND BEING EXAMINED, HOWEVER EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE ONE MAY GO FOR YOU. Please bear this in mind when approaching each exhibit.”
54 • T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2019
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