Icelandic Sheepdog Head Profiles

Hello Folks,


The Canadian Icelandic Sheepdog Standard, calls for





"Head : Strongly built with close fitting skin.


"Skull slightly longer than muzzle.


"Triangular when seen from above or the side.


" Skull: somewhat domed.


" Stop: clearly defined though neither steep nor high.

So in keeping with the standard, how would you rate the drawings?? Who has the correct Stop? Who has to steep of Stop? Who is to long in the muzzle? Who has not enough Stop? Which ones are med coated and which ones are long Coated? I wish that I had a drawing for lack of underjaw, as this is something that we are seeing alot in N.A. Answers at the bottom of this writing..

" Nose: black, dark brown in chocolate brown and some cream dogs.


" Muzzle: well-developed, nasal bridge straight.


" Muzzle slightly shorter than skull.


" Tapering evenly towards the nose to form a blunt triangle when seen from both above and from the side.


" Lips: black, close fitting, dark brown in chocolate brown and some cream dogs.


"Cheeks: Flat. Bite: scissor bite. Complete dentition.


" Eyes: of medium size and almond shaped. Dark brown. Slightly lighter in chocolate brown and some cream dogs. The eye-rims are black. Dark brown in chocolate brown and some cream dogs.

"Ears: erect and of medium size. Triangular with firm edges and slightly rounded tips. Very mobile, reacting sensitively to sounds and showing the dog's mood.

How about Ears?? Read the above quote from the standard, and then take a good hard look at the drawings and see what you think.

Which one has the correct eat set and placement to the Breed Standard?

Which one is to large? Which ones is to Wide? Which ones are to close set? To Pointed? Which ones are to low set?

How about a live example, to be on the safe side, I am doing this to my own breeding,

1)Black Pigment, Black nose, Black lips muzzle, no pigment issues

2) Well developed nose, Nice full muzzle, good depth to the underJaw.

3) Med brown eye pigment with almond eye shape

4) a moderate stop (personally I would perfer just a bit more stop)

5) Slightly rounded ears, with good placement, (but I would in fact perfer them to be a tiny bit smaller, this might come with age, we will see)

6) Skull slightly longer then muzzle.

7)Cheeks flat (watch this, some dogs are getting heavy in this regard)

8) Can't see if but full scisser bite

Ok, by the standard, in the first drawing,

First drawing on the left top: Correct to standard Stop, and Muzzle Length, with Correct matching underjaw.

Top right drawing: Too Steep of Stop

Bottom left drawing: Too long in muzzle (often seen in real life with a lack of underjaw)

Bottom right Drawing: Not enough stop.

Left top and Bottom Right are med coated, So what is the dead giveaway?? The shorter hair behind the ear of course!

Ears

1) Correct Ear Size and Placement

2) Too Large and too Pointed

3) Too Wide and too low set

4) Too Close Set and too Pointed

I am aware that everyone has their own thoughts on what is correct, and please be aware that these drawings where done by a CKC Herding judge and where done based on the written FCI standard.

I am the first to admit that I have some personal perferences that would be a bit different then what is the ideal drawing, a perfect example of this, is I like a little more stop to my own dogs, but that is what the Breed Standard is for..

You need to remember that there is no Pick of a litter, if its a poor litter of puppies in Quality, then there they are all poor.. You need to compare ever dog and ever puppy directly to your breed standard.. READ your standard over and over again.. get it out and go over each area of your dog, put your dog on your grooming table and put a mirror on the wall and look at your dog though the mirror, take lots of stack photos and then look at them and read the standard in printed format at the same time..

When you love your dogs, or your puppies, you often get that Ahhh feeling when you look at them.. and I hope you do, I love that feeling but I don't want that happening when I am looking at them for breed type. I want to be as hard on them as I can be, so that I can breed to improve each generation.. Photos will allow you to see things in a removed way..

Good luck and have lots of fun learning more about your breed standard..

Barks

Comment from a Viewer

"Don't forget the aspect of the head that is covered in General Appearance: "expression is gentle, intelligent and happy". For me this has a lot to do with breed type. Eye shape, eyeset and color are crucial here. "

Thanks for the impute Laura35

Here is the whole General Appearance from the Canadian Icelandic Sheepdog Standard

"General AppearanceThe Icelandic Sheepdog is a Nordic herding Spitz, slightly under medium sized with prick ears and a curled tail. Seen from the side the dog is rectangular; the length of the body from the point of shoulder to point of buttock is greater than the height at withers. The depth of the chest is equal to the length of the foreleg. The expression is gentle, intelligent and happy. A confident and lively bearing is typical for this dog. There are two types of coat, long and short both thick and extremely weatherproof. There is a marked difference in appearance between the sexes."