보더콜리 이해 좋은 보더콜리를 판단하는 기준 (영문판..스마트님 보내주신 내용)

[알렉스]

좋은 보더콜리를 판단하는 기준 (영문판..스마트님 보내주신 내용)
/ 번역은 다 되면 올려드리겠습니다.

JUDGING THE BORDER COLLIE

(From a Working Perspective)

By Janet E. Larson

(About the author: Janet Larson bought her first Border Collie, Caora Con's Pennant-UD from a dairy farm in 1968. He was of Carroll Shaffner, Fred Bahnson and Edgar Gould breeding. She purchased her foundation bitch, Caora Con's Bhan-righ, a grand daughter of Gilchrist Spot and Wiston Cap from Arthur Allen in 1972. Four dogs from this original line graduated from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, many have competed in herding trials, earned obedience and schutzhund titles to include VX-Caora Con's Black Bison-SchH3, CDX, WC and VX, HCh-Caora Con's Black Magnum-BH, SchH2, HX, CDX. Her Group placing, Nationally ranked, Ch.X-Caora Con's Gaidin Lan-HS, CD, BH, TT is also desc! ended from these original dogs. In 1976, while still in high school, she founded the Border Collie Club of America, and edited Border Collie News for 19 years. She wrote The Versatile Border Collie as a senior project in college, and it was published in 1986. The second edition of The Versatile Border Collie has just been released by Alpine Publications. She completely revised the book and expanded it from 140 to 284 pages.)

The Border Collie was developed to be a herding dog. It should be athletic in build and look like it can do the work for which it was intended. It should also be shown in well muscled working condition, not over weight like many show dogs. Today I hear many show breeders talking about side gait, level toplines, bone, coat and how to prop and brace ears. I have no objections to a good looking dog, and actually prefer them, but working ability is still my priority. Some of the dogs I see winning in the show ring have a flying suspension trot like ! a German Shepherd Dog. They wobble coming and going. Bone on some dogs looks like a Bernese Mountain Dog, while coat looks like a Collie. Worst are the dogs with short legs and long bodies reminiscent of a Heeler cross. None of these types are correct in a working Border Collie.

I feel any breeder of Border Collies should go to an ISDS style sheep dog trial and watch the dogs work. The primary gait of the working Border Collie is the double suspension gallop, like a sight hound. The other gaits used are a canter, and a skulking pace or walk when approaching sheep. Rarely do you see a working Border Collie trotting, much less using the suspension or flying trot which seems to be the current fad in show Border Collies.

Show breeders may feel they are improving the breed, but are they? Natural selection on the hill for a thousand years has produced a dog best able to do the work required. Look at the structure of a sight hound, coyote, wolf or working Border Collie closely. The dog should have balanced angulation. The shoulder lay! back is about 30 degrees, not the "ideal" 45 degree layback desired in the German Shepherd Dog, which we seem to be emulating. In addition, the shoulder blade generally meets the upper arm at closer to a 120 degree angle, not 90 degrees, as in the German Shepherd. The angulation in the rear should balance that of the front. The croup in the sight hound, wolf, coyote or working Border Collie is only very slightly sloped, due to a less sloping pelvis. The German Shepherd has a sloping croup because it is a trotting dog. They also have a high rate of hip dysplasia due to the stress put on the hip joint from the unnatural angle. The sloping croup and low tail set leads to a high number of dogs with anal fistulas. Having owned two imported, working German Shepherds, one who developed anal fistulas, I can tell you this is a silent killer. Repeated surgery and incontinence are the end result. The suffering is horrible.
The trot of the working Border Collie should have good reac! h, front and rear, but no wasted motion. As John Holmes says, a good w orking Border Collie should be built like a Thoroughbred Hunter not a Shire or Clydesdale, and should move with a ground covering stride with minimum lift to the feet. In the horse world, this is called a "daisy cutter". High, flashy action or a Flying trot are totally incorrect. Movement coming and going should be sound and true. A dog who wobbles coming or going is not going to last on the hill. I have seen group winning Border Collies with flying side gaits, who "knit and pearl" (weave) in the front, and wobble in the rear- like a German Shepherd Dog! To me, these are serious faults.
When gaiting, the Border Collie should not have high head carriage. Many of the dogs being shown today have high head carriage. The head in the working dog is carried level with the backline in most cases. When "eyeing" stock, it is dropped below the backline. The topline itself is not completely level as some show people think it should be. Being a galloping dog, with many stuctural simil! arities to the sight hounds, there is a slight muscular arch in the loin region. In addition, many working Border Collies are slightly higher in the rear, like a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, due to hind legs that are slightly longer than the front legs. This gives more power to the hindquarters for galloping. Both a roached back and completely level back are not desirable because they tends towards weakness as the dog gets older. Dogs with roached backs may move awkwardly and pace, while a level back will become a sway back as the dog gets older and be prone to arthritis.
The body of the Border Collie should be slightly longer than tall to prevent crabbing or pacing from too short a body, but on the other extreme, not long like a German Shepherd dog. Many winning dogs today are too long in the body. This invites lumbar injuries in an agility or working dog. I know from experience. Many Shepherds end their working careers as a result of lumber injuries. The longer back also ! causes stress on the hips. In the horse world, a Standardbred has a lo nger back, steeper croup and more angulation than a Thoroughbred. A Standardbred is a trotter by design, a Thoroughbred a galloping horse. Standardbreds are generally driving horses, not riding horses. The longer back is weaker. We must be careful not to change the breed from its intended purpose. In addition, as a galloping dog, a Border Collie needs a deep chest, with a slight tuck up. This is like the Thoroughbred Hunter with the "wasp waist" compared to the Standardbred. Bone should be strong, but not over done. I do not think a dog with bone as light as a Saluki would stand up to a hard day's work, nor would a chunky, big boned dog built like many of today's show dogs.

Cow hocks is another area of concern. Many of the top herding trial people in Britain do not like cow hocks. Several who have come here to judge herding trials have commented on the high incidence of cow hocks in American dogs. One person stated they felt we got all the dogs they didn't want. Inter! estingly, cow hocks are common in the Border Collies with the flying trot, just as they are in the German Shepherd Dog. It is disgusting to me to see the German Shepherds wobbling around the show ring like a bunch of cripples. Breeders have given up sound movement for the flying trot. I hope we don't do the same.

The head is another area I see changing. Most working dogs have a head similar in structure to the wolf or coyote. They have a stop, wedge shape, and skull and muzzle of equal length. Some show dogs, especially males, have huge heads with a deep stop, much like a Bernese. This is no more typical of the true British working Border Collie than the narrow collie like head found in other specimens. Moderation is again key. As a working dog person, I find the ear fetish ridiculous. Many Border Collies have large, low ears. As long as there is some lift to allow ventilation, let well enough alone. The lower ear keeps out biting flies and gnats, sleet and snow. Pri! ck ears are OK too. I personally don't like unmatched ears, and would probably try to correct those, but they don't affect working ability. Eye color should compliment coat color. An amber eye in a red is correct, while it might look wolfish in a black and white. Many working dogs have blue eyes. I personally do not like them, but, they again do not affect working ability.

Tail carriage is a big area of controversy. When working stock, the tail should always be carried low, in line with the hocks. It is NOT used for balance, or as a rudder when working stock, as some people with show dogs think. It is held tensely low when working, sometimes even tucked. A wolf stalking its prey would never bark or flap its tail around over its back, since the prey would scatter. The working Border Collie works with a low tail for the same reasons! Remember, herding is an off shoot of the wolf's hunting behavior. A high, flapping tail on stock indicates one of two things: the dog is still playing and the light bulb hasn't turned on yet, or the dog lacks! herding instinct.

Away from sheep, the tail gives an indication of personality. An outgoing, more dominant, energetic male will carry a high tail, while a softer more submissive dog will never raise its tail over its back. A look at the top obedience and agility dogs will show most work with a tail over their back. When jumping, or retrieving, the tail is up and used as a rudder. Many top herding trial dogs carry a high tail away from sheep. By only putting up dogs with low tail carriage in the show ring, we are weeding out all the dogs with working temperaments! A soft dog will not stand up to a three hundred pound ram or a ewe with a lambs, much less a 1000 pound cow. I personally will not keep a weak dog. I expect my dogs to work stock on my farm, plus I do schutzhund. The trend towards a soft dog is not good- for the competitive obedience person who needs a high drive dog that can take pressure or for the person who needs a real stock dog.

The ideal tail ! carriage is low when the dog is relaxed with a slight upward swirl at the end like a shepherd's crook. The tip should reach to the hock or below. When gaiting, it might be raised proudly and waved like a banner, showing a confident personality, but should never be curled over the back like a Husky. I also do not like a kinked tail or a tucked tail showing a fearful or weak temperament. The tail should be able to wag and move. Some show dogs appear to have had the muscles in their tail cut and they hang limply at all times.

I like a lively, alert, confident dog, with an intelligent expression‎. Most Border Collies are a bit aloof, in that they do not greet everyone as their friend, like a Golden. That does not mean they have an excuse to be shy or nasty tempered either. They should tolerate being handled and examined with no resentment or fearfulness. I have heard some judges say they want to see "eye" in the ring. That is crazy, unless you plan to bring a sheep into the ring. Some dogs will eye other dogs moving in the ring, but they are! usually overly strong eyed to begin with. A dog who "eyes" a human being like sheep for no reason is not of a stable temperament, unless the human is wearing a padded suit, and the dog is told to "watch him"!

Coat is another area of big controversy. In the working lines, a medium or short coat are actually preferred to a heavy, rough coat. They are easier to keep clean, require almost no grooming, and do not catch burrs and seeds. In hot climates such as Australia or the American West, working dogs are almost all smooth or medium coated. Today, many show dogs drip coat. Some have belly feathers down to their pasterns! I see this type of dog in my paddock dripping with liquefied sheep manure and mud in the spring. The ideal coat dries, and the dirt flakes off leaving the dog looking clean a few hours later. The extremely long coat, especially if it is fine textured, mats and requires extensive grooming after working in muddy manure. It is not practical, even if it is! pretty. Any coat, rough, medium or smooth, should have course, water resistant outer guard hairs, and a dense, wooly undercoat. A soft silky coat is incorrect, as is a lack of under coat. Straight or wavy makes no difference as long as the texture is course.

Size is not important if the dog has the right temperament and drive. I have seen top working dogs from 18" to 24" tall. What is important is that the dog is structurally balanced and athletic in appearance. No matter the size, the dog should be light on its feet with moderate bone like a Belgian, not heavy bone like a show Australian Shepherd or Bernese Mountain Dog. Light bone like a Saluki is also not desirable. Remember, the Border Collie is built to run 60 to 100 miles a day in its work. It should be built like the Thoroughbred Hunter, not the Shire or Clydesdale.

It is important not to exaggerate any trait in the Border Collie, and sound movement, from the side, front and rear are of utmost importance. A fault is anything that would detract from working ability. The mo! re the fault would detract from the dog's ability to work all day, the more serious it is.