set high and held high. Our Standard states that the tail shall be docked to about one-third. There are dogs being shown with undocked tails. It is up to the judge’s discretion whether to use the dog or not. On the scale of points, the tail is grouped with general appearance (neck, topline & tail carriage). They count for ten points. The forelegs are of medium length, straight in bone, well-muscled, and set moderately wide apart. The toes shall be well-arched and the feet round and small (almost cat-like in appearance). There should be balance between the front as- sembly and the width of the rear, and the shoulders should not look front-loaded and the overall picture should not be a pear-shaped body. The hind legs should be set true, with strong thighs that are well-muscled. Stifles are bent and hocks are well let-down. Both front legs and rear legs should not turn in or turn out. There are two types of coat. The rough coat is a wiry and dense coat. We are seeing very short coats in the ring. The rough coat should be long enough for the judge to be able to examine the texture. Sometimes the beard and leg furnishings look sparse on a very harsh-coated Grif- fon. This is a proper coat. The soft coats will have what appears to be beautiful and full beards and furnishings. This is improper. The harsher the coat, the bet- ter it is. The rough coat is hand-stripped and there should never be scissor marks. The smooth coat is straight, short, tight, and glossy, with no trace of wiry hair. White hairs are a serious fault except for “frost” on the muzzle of a mature dog. A white spot or blaze anywhere on the coat is a disqualification. The movement is a straightforward, pur- poseful trot, showing moderate reach and drive and maintaining a steady topline. I will end with PLEASE JUDGE DOGS BY THE STANDARD and not what the current trend is. Some breeders will have several dogs in the ring that are of similar type. A judge might look at the quantity of dogs that look alike and discount the dog that is proper according to the Stan- dard. If judges would judge by the Stan- dard, it would force breeders to breed to the Standard. 42 • T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2024
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