ARE WE HONORING OUR BREED STANDARDS?
TODAY’S BREEDERS SHOULD CONSIDER THEMSELVES THE CARETAKERS OF THEIR CHOSEN BREEDS.
on all flushing Spaniels. The only flushing Spaniel that should have a tail set that comes directly off the topline is the Cocker Spaniel, and even that standard faults a straight up, Terrier-like tail. Lately, I have seen an appalling new trend in the Springer ring, that in which handlers are picking these dogs up from above by their tails, exactly as Terrier handlers do. I firmly believe that if you can pick a fifty-pound Springer straight up by the tail, that dog is completely incorrect in hindquarter structure. An English Springer Spaniel with a correctly sloping croup and properly set tail would strongly protest this sort of unnatural action. The opening of the angles of the shoulder and the hip often creates a side gait that many people erroneously call “tremendous reach and drive.” In fact, a dog built in this manner takes long steps in the air, not on the ground, which is a total waste of effort and severely affects endurance in a Sporting Dog. Endurance trotting dogs should take long steps on the ground, keeping the feet close to the ground through all phases of the trot. All that lift and kick just wastes energy. This is not a problem exclusive to the English Springer Spaniel. Rather, it is also seen in a number of other Sport- ing breeds where breeders have taken the “more must be better” approach. There is an enormous difference between “good length of stride that covers a maximum amount of ground with a mini- mum amount of steps” and incorrect, exaggerated side gait. Pow- erful forward propulsion comes from the forceful opening of the hip, stifle, and hock joints when the hind foot is on the ground, not from construction that forces a dog to land its rear foot on the ground and then pop it right back up in the air in order to avoid interference under its body. In some other breeds, structure has been changed by shortening the length of the leg and lengthening the loin, which will give a dog a longer stride at a trot. However, changing structure in this man- ner in a breed that is supposed to be square or slightly longer than tall completely goes against the requirements of breed standards that call for square or just off-square. Some breeders seem to have decided that it is easier to change proportion and leg length than it is to breed a correct front assembly, so they deliberately select for longer cast and shorter-legged. Properly built fronts are the key to correct, breed-specific movement and should be a priority in both breeding and judging. Really good fronts are hard to get and even harder to keep, but once established in a breeding program they are the basis for correct structure in almost every breed. Today’s breeders should consider themselves the caretakers of their chosen breeds. We are not charged with changing or improv- ing our breeds, but with keeping them true to their origins and their standards, and this is how we should safely pass them into the hands of the next generation of breeders, while instilling in that next generation the understanding that they too must honor their breed standards.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kathy Lorentzen has been immersed in the world of Sporting Dogs for 60 years. She has owned and bred a number of different Sporting breeds, but calls Golden Retrievers and English Springer Spaniels her passions. Kathy has been breeding English Springers under the Ocoee prefix since 1975, the last twenty of those years in partnership with her daughter, Melanie King. There have been more than 70 AKC CH’s bred by Ocoee, and the program continues today. They have bred BIS winners, Specialty Best of Breed winners, Parent Club Award Winners and Top Producers. GRCHG Ocoee Dsqd With A Vengeance is the all-time top Specialty Best of Breed winner in the history of the breed with 42 wins, including two Nationals. He won the Top Twenty in 2013, along with the National, and ended that year as #1 English Springer Spaniel and a Top Twenty Sporting dog, breeder/owner- handled by Melanie. Kathy has studied and written extensively on structure and movement, and has created many educational programs for various parent clubs, including the Golden Retriever Club of America and American Spaniel Club. She was one of the co-creators and presenters for the wildly popular Sporting Dog Excellence seminars, in conjunction with Dr. Donald Sturz and Mr. Douglas Johnson. Kathy is approved to judge all Sporting breeds and Bouvier des Flandres. She has judged in Australia, China, The Philippines, and Japan in addition to all across America. She loves judging, but continuing to express herself artistically as a breeder is closest to her heart.
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JANUARY 2021 | 179
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