Hi All,
I have just been reading up on some of the judge's critiques from different show with regard to the Doberman Breed, can anyone explain what is meant when a judge uses the phrase "has to much stop". I understand alot of the terminology they use but his one has got me beat!
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the stop I suppose is the distance between the top of the muzzle and the top of the skull, the step betwen the two features.

Some breeds are meant to have a pronounced stop like Golden retrievers, and some like a rough collie or Borzoi seem to have barely any. Dobermans should not have excessive stop.

In H. Spira's book Canine Terminology the stop is: "A depression or step down in the topline of the head, situated almost centrally between the eyes, at the junction of the frontal bones of the skull with those of the upper jaw(maxilla) nose (nasal bones) in front. Its shape depth width and extent vary according to the structure of the surrounding bones plus the size and postition of the frontal sinuses. The stop is most marked in short facedvtypes such as Bulldogs, Pekinese and is almost undetectable in long faced dogs like Collies and Borzois"

Basically if you run your finger up the nose from the snout to where the nose stops and the skull starts , between the eyes - is the stop.

Ok so what do you make of the term "blousy", I got this about Curtis in a critique last week...."great rear action but a litle blousy in front"

I take it to mean he is slightly loose....anyone any other ideas? I do call him a "big girls blouse" maybe the judge thought so too! ;)

Oh, yeah and what does good curl of tail mean on a totally natural bobtailed dog, that hardly has any tail at all??

Think the blousy action, probably means loose and out of control.

Guess the tail one is a typo, it is a phrase I would use, but that is what my breed should have. Unless you were in a AV class and the judges notes were sparse and jumbled and they were too lazy to check which dog they were writing about.

"Little blousy" - loose and out of control??????? Funny how opinions differ from judge to judge as another judge has written about Curtis "Very good front", nowt as queer as judges! ;)

Depends on the age of the exhibit, when young they change from week to week. A dog may have a good front but still move like a camel.