This dog lacks enough stop but has good proportions.
This is a front view of the dog shown in profile on the pre- vous page. Note the beautiful rounded dark eyes, and black pigment on both the eye rims, the nose and lips.
can be acceptable. As in all animals, there is no such thing as perfection, there are always faults—it is how you choose to balance them when judg- ing a dog to be used in a breeding program, a puppy to keep for the next generation or judging a class at a con- formation event. There is room for differences within the breed for the artist’s (breeder’s) interpretation, but it is imperative we keep in mind what the standard, our blueprint, says. I recommend keeping the standard close and reading it often. The skull of a Papillon should be small. There are a number of dogs with large heads— this is not what our standard calls for. My granddaughter, Sophia, and I dis- cuss the standard sometimes. After talking about heads, she will ask to feel the skulls my Papillons. She has a keen eye and asks great questions about how the standard applies, so feeling the heads of different Papil- lons has been helpful to her in un- derstanding the standard. She just gently cups her hand to feels the head and its contours. The head should be slightly rounded between the ears— too much will give a look that is more Chihuahua like, and a flat skull gives a look that is not quite right and dis- torts the appearance of the ear set, as
can a round head. The eye shape and set are imperative to achieve the cor- rect expression. The corner of the eye should be online with where the top of themuzzlemeets the skull to form the stop. If eyes are set incorrectly, either too high, too low, too wide or too nar- row, the dog’s appearance is spoiled. In addition, an eye that is almond- shaped or the reverse, too round, will also spoil the appearance. Inmy opin- ion, there is nothing more unattract- ive than a Papillon with an almond- shaped light eye, or one whose eyes are too round and bulge.
To demonstrate how the muzzle should fit into the skull, slide your fingers down each side of the muzzle. Your fingers should abruptly run into the round skull, sort like a cigar shoved into a large snow ball. The muzzle should not be a wedge like a Pomeranian. The muzzle should be be fine. It should not be heavy, which makes the head look out of propor- tion. It should taper but not be snipey. There must be room in the muzzle for the correct bite as the standard also states, “Teeth must meet in a scissors bite. Faults: Overshot or undershot.”
“The skull of a Papillon should be small.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DOGS WITH LARGE HEADS—THIS IS NOT WHAT OUR STANDARD CALLS FOR.”
T op N otch T oys , J uly 2019 • 67
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