www.thedoctorschannel.com/view/ meet-the-breeds-the-norwich-terrier-2/. As I worked to establish the Wissel- wood line in both Pugs and Griffons, I focused on what I felt was important to me. One of my focuses from the beginning was the proper head type of the AKC Standard. In order to obtain the expression interpreted in the Stan- dard, the nose must be very short. The Brussels Griffon Standard states, “extremely short” . MYTH Dogs do not need a length of nose to have good wind or live long healthy lives! Nothing a kennel club, a veterinarian or an animal rights group can tell me will ever convince me otherwise. See Figure 1. The nose pad of this six-year-old Griffon is properly set right back into the domed forehead. It would be fair to say he has “no length of nose at all” . He walks miles each day and leads a fully functional life. He makes no noise while breathing or sleeping and comes from a line of longevity, most of whom also have no length of nose at all. He has a large nose leather and wide open nostrils. Evidently his inter- nal pipes must be also large and healthy. (For perfection of this head, I would like a cleaner finish to the lips). I repeat, Brussels Griffons do not need a length of nose for health, function and longevity. Air can meet with obstruction any- where from nostrils to lungs. Nostrils can be of normal size and the dog can still have much difficulty breathing due to restricted air from internal issues often later resulting in enlarged heart, CHF and shortened life.
If your brachycephalic dog (or your dolichocephalic or mesaticephalic dog) seems to have good wind through his nares but yet is struggling for breath, very sensitive to heat, makes labored racket or his sides heave during breath- ing; please go to a specialist and find out what really is going on. A specialist is necessary because so many veterinar- ians will first do the obvious, like clip- ping off the long soft palate or open- ing up the nares unnecessarily. During extremely hot weather the throat can swell along with the soft palate and a veterinarian who is not a specialist might cut it too short (or cut it when it doesn’t actually need it at all). Having it cut too short can cause other problems for your dog. The absence of length of nose does affect the brachycephalic in the extrem- ities of weather. We must give our dogs extra protection because they have no snout to warm up cold air or cool off warm air before the short trip to their lungs. I have seen all dogs reverse sneezing but perhaps our brachys more often. The main cause seems to be aller- gies, irritants or dry air conditions. We mostly see it after furnaces come on in the fall. They do seem to reverse sneeze most often during their dearly paid for short “down and back” because stress or dust at the shows may cause their sinus to run? Who knows, but we all live in fear...ha! TERM: UPSWEEP OF JAW If the Brussels Griffon does not have the proper undershot bite, not only will the “lay back” of the nose leather and “upsweep” of the curved mandible be absent, but also the entire ‘pouty’ expression vital to breed type will not be present. The make up of the whole skull must all flow into place in the adult Griffon. In this ideal undershot bite, the mandible will be longer than the maxil- la. When the mandible is made correct- ly it will curve in a ‘rocker’ (upsweep) that begins at the jaw hinge. The bot- tom teeth will just fold up over the top teeth. A definite chin will show, but no teeth— clean finish to mouth and lips. See Figure 2. This puppy’s head was all there at birth. He was born without any length of nose . Pictured at six months there is great width to muzzle and fill under eyes to balance the broad
Fig. 1: Nosepad in perfection.
Fig. 2: This puppy’s head was all there at birth.
Here are two more properly laid-in, upswept Griffons with beautiful clean finish to mouth.
“DOGS DO NOT NEED A LENGTH OF NOSE TO HAVE GOOD WIND OR LIVE LONG HEALTHY LIVES!”
T op N otch T oys , M arch 2017 • 63
Powered by FlippingBook