Dogs and All about Them by Robert Leighton
page 31 of 429 (07%)
page 31 of 429 (07%)
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a dewlap on each side from the lower jaw to the chest.
The chest should be very wide laterally, round, prominent, and deep, making the dog appear very broad and short-legged in front. The shoulders should be broad, the blades sloping considerably from the body; they should be deep, very powerful, and muscular, and should be flat at the top and play loosely from the chest. The brisket should be capacious, round, and very deep from the shoulder to the lowest part, where it joins the chest, and be well let down between the fore-legs. It should be large in diameter, and round behind the fore-legs, neither flat-sided nor sinking, which it will not do provided that the first and succeeding ribs are well rounded. The belly should be well tucked up and not pendulous, a small narrow waist being greatly admired. The desired object in body formation is to obtain great girth at the brisket, and the smallest possible around the waist, that is, the loins should be arched very high, when the dog is said to have a good "cut-up." The back should be short and strong, very broad at the shoulder and comparatively narrow at the loins. The back should rise behind the shoulders in a graceful curve to the loins, the top of which should be higher than the top of the shoulders, thence curving again more suddenly to the tail, forming an arch known as the "roach" back, which is essentially a characteristic of the breed, though, unfortunately, many leading prize-winners of the present day are entirely deficient in this respect. Some dogs dip very considerably some distance behind the shoulders before the upward curve of the spine begins, and these are known as "swamp-backed"; others rise in an almost straight line to the root of the tail, and are known as "stern-high." |
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