Conformation: The Structure of a Breed; The Foundation for our Love.

All purebred dogs began as mongrels. This is a simple fact- even primitive breeds like Siberian Huskies, Malamutes and Akita were once a much more varied and substantially less finessed version of themselves. Those dogs, of course, were of working origin and the prevailing opinion of this blogger is that the show ring has done a general disservice to working dogs' functionality.  But dog shows do make, in most cases, PRETTY ANIMALS with pristine coats and bright expressions (give me liver while I prance, damn you!) and at the very least are often the doorway through which future dog lovers and dog advocates enter this crazy world. So they can't be ALL bad, even if Bulldogs can't even mate unassisted anymore......

Anyhow, for small companion breeds, Chihuahuas in particular, the physical/temperamental changes that come with a concentrated breeding program have been much less severe. They do not look exactly as they did 100 years but the dog is still easily id'd as a Chi as opposed to say comparing, a Bull Terrier to its forebear. Chihuahuas were always small, they were always feisty and, upon entering the modern world, they were always coveted.
Below we see an example of a vintage Chi, a championed show dog from 1969:

And here is an example of a modern champion, the dog who went Best of Variety at Westminster in 2011:

Not really that radical of a change now, is it? Feasibly, these dogs could travel through time and space and go on to place in each others' rings. I suppose for arguments sake, from 2011, the eyes may be a little larger, the muzzle shorter and the body slightly more cobby, but there is no denying that these dogs are both Chihuahuas.

Conformation plays an important role in the world of purebreds in that it sets a standard for HOW these dogs should appear. By having a standard in place, we are able to determine which animals are the best examples and therefore the most beneficial to breed in order to create exemplary progeny. The concept  is valid in both the show and the working varieties but, as it should be, in the working world it comes secondary to a dogs ability to function and really only serves as far as the animal should be structurally sound to perform its intended task. I'd really enjoy seeing a working Border Collie owner suddenly become deeply concerned with the quantity and length of his dogs' coat, haha!

Therefore, of course, it IS a double-sided coin. When you set in place a thoroughly written account which describes in detail the ideal specimen of your breed, which will always be an unobtainable goal no matter what show people tell you, you open the floodgates of 'type' obsession. "Type" refers to that far away perfection but it seems that preferences truly go in and out of vogue as the years roll on.

An excellent example of this phenomenon is the modern show line of the German Shepherd. At some point in fairly recent history, the "flying trot" for the dog - ie the fluid gait highlighting rear end angulation while the dog is in motion - became the be all and end all of the German Shepherd. Dogs that had more of a slope to their topline (back) seemed to carry this movement more favorably in the eyes of the judges. Other handlers and breeder took note and thus, despite hundreds of years dictating something completely different, a 'type' was born.

As with all matters of aesthetic (think: corsets and plastic surgery), we humans took that idea of 'flying trots' and ran with it. Right in to the ground. And we're still digging!!!! The average show GSD now possesses a topline akin to the finest ski slopes in Aspen. Which goes appropriately with their hocks that now seem to glide horizontally around the ring like an expensive pair of Lacroix. In our perverse quest to make the perfect GSD, we have gone so far beyond the realm of reason and good sense that the current stock is no more than a weak-nerved, oversized and ridiculously shaped parody of itself.

Riddled with a laundry list of genetic issues ten miles long, the AKC show Shepherd is 'trotting' itself into oblivion. And there at least half a dozen more breeds that spring to mind who have suffered the same fate in the name of ring-side glory.

But.

I digress.

Chihuahuas, by and large, are unchanged. They are not wholly unaffected by the show ring but have not been systematically ruined. (Yet). They ARE, however, subject to a much more troublesome problem that I intend to discuss in my next post: unethical breeding practices. For as awful as I find most show bred dogs to look they are at least (usually) health tested and their genetic lineage meticulously recorded. Regrettably, the same can not be said for the booming pet store and BYB industries. But......I will leave that for my next rambling.

So, in closing, I leave you (Sophie, my one reader) with this thought:
“For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.”

 Ivan Panin quotes (Russian mathematician1855-1942)