The BRUSSELS GRIFFON
by Lorene Vickers-smiTh
T he Brussels Griffon is meant to be a BLEND of the three main breeds of origin: the Pug, the English Toy Span- iel and a Stable-Ratter Affenpinscher type dog. Being a relatively new breed (approximately 200 years old) without careful attention, our genes tend to seg- regate back to the breeds of origin. We get the essence of Brussels Grif- fon TYPE as it was intended, only when we blend these types together proper- ly—and not veer off to any one direc- tion. Both breeders and judges alike need to pay careful attention to this. Either can set “trends” or “fads” eas- ily for our breed in as little as a decade or less. Our breed has many traits of being a little Terrier, but they are NOT little Ter- riers. These Terrier traits are meant to be blended and softened with the large round dark eye of the Pug and an almost identical skull shape of the English Toy Spaniel. They should not have a hard or fight- ing temperament. While the Brussels Griffon’s ancestry has a make up of “Stable Ratter”, just as evident should be their ancestry of ‘doing nothing but being coddled and sitting on the cush- ions of ancient Royal Families’. By choice, I accept only a cer- tain number of assignments per year. Because time will lapse between, I refresh my mind by reviewing each standard (and illustrated standard if I have it) the night before. If convenient, I view the breed videos. I tear articles from magazines that breed experts have written about judging their par- ticular breed and I have these filed in
A beautiful outline of correct type was ch. Treyacres Zorro winning here under Lorene in 1990. Presenting the trophy is ABGA President, edith nash hellerman.
the Illustrated Standards. Each time I judge—I want a clear picture of every breed’s IDEAL, firmly in my mind’s eye. I do not want to be misled by trends. When a breed is going through a trend and nearly all of the dogs in the ring have a certain look, certain size, or whatever—it is very easy to lose the
IDEAL in your mind if you don’t keep it fresh by studying. ABGA has an excellent Illustrated Standard. Between it and the AKC stan- dard, there are absolutely NO issues of the head that can be left to per- sonal preference. The AKC standard is also clear on balance and substance.
t5 01 / 05$) 5 0:4 . "3$)
Powered by FlippingBook