Could any one tell me what this actually means?
Karen

Conformation is the way the dog is made up - how all the skeletal bits fit together.  It's one thing that makes one breed different from any other. 
The angles of the shoulder/upper arm, the rear angulation, how the neck fits into the shoulders, the length and depth of the body, the topline, the tail set, - all these, among others, are part of conformation.

The most important part of conformation is balance. 

HTH
Debs

Thanks for that.
I guess when somebody says ' that dog has really good conformation' they mean he looks evenly balanced then?
Even when there is none of the breed around to compare to.
Please excuse my ignorance.
Karen :-)

To have good conformation means to be correctly constructed for the breed. :)

I guess when somebody says ' that dog has really good conformation' they mean he looks evenly balanced then

Not really. :) Just to complicate matters a dog can have terrible conformation but still be balanced. For example in my breed straight shoulders are wrong and well let down hocks a desirable. But a dog with straight shoulders and poorly let down hocks (they often go together) can be balanced and still be completley wrong conformationwise.

It means, how well a dog conforms to the breed standard.

Dawn R.

I think it means all three things mentioned in the thread so far :)  Definition.  I think we can forget about the spatial arrangements of atoms :p

Sorry Isabel.  Feeling duly reprimanded.

Dawn R.

:)

So really it was silly of somebody to say, if they dont know the breed then?

I thought is was something that you could get done in church when you are a little older ;) :D

Tsk Lucy! That's 'confirmation' - although from what I've read on here in the past very many people's dogs are churchgoers! ;) :D :D

:D :D

Was it a judge?  Why do you think they have no experience of the breed?  Even if they have not judged them before if they know a breed is entered under them they will generally bone up on the standard or they may have come across it in seminars........or they may just be talking from the general canine construction perspective irrespective of breed type which is fair enough if your interest in dogs is not of the showing variety but, perhaps, from a working or activity dog perspection.

Of course Judges should know breeds entered under them..........but I wasn't filled with confidence when, at our second ever show with Loki (and we were green beginners) in an AVNSC class the judge called for the "Australian collie" to come forward.............I was looking at all the other dogs thinking "gosh - must be similar to ours, then...." when the steward said - it's you!

Margot

:D Yes it certainly happens.  I'm just saying you cannot assume they will not know a breed because there are not many about.

Well, the lady in question does judge, but, I wouldn't think it was very much or particularly 'high level'. Also like very many folk, doesn't particularly know the breed.
The comment was overheard by me but this was not at a show, it was a changeover situation on a training day, junior handlers to seniors at rincraft.
So it was just an 'off the cuff' comment. I assumed it might of been complimentary, just didn't really know quite what it meant.
Karen :-)

Oooh er, not going to fill you much confidence! :rolleyes: (to Margot)

Many breeds are what could be called 'basic dog' where they might be a slightly different shape and certainly have different heads but the front topline and rear requirements are pretty 'standard'. What a judge that does a few breeds has to realise is that some breeds want a different sort of conformation - but to be honest once people grasp the basics the rest should fall into place, provided they are willing to learn. It really isnt rocket science.

Breed type on the other hand is far more difficult.

Completely agree Brainless, and it is often something breed experts dont agree on!