Critique Wording - Page 4

Not going to argue, Ibrahim, but I handled several 100+ times on German and International SV shows,
expression does involve the whole expression, and the head only is a part of it.

I respect your opinion but I see two conflicting interpretations in front of me. I was comfortable with the interpretation I know till I heard yours and Sitasmom's . Now I am not sure which one is the correct.
Again I would love to hear what OTHERS think or make out of both resonings.

Ibrahim

OK here's the answer from one judge, still waiting one the next.

"Expression" has to do with the liveliness and intensity of the GSD's concentration the time he/she is looking at something (concentration, alertness - the look in his eye and general behavior in taking in what's going on around him/her)"

"Temperament" mostly would be connected (when at a show), in the way a dog behaves whilst running and behaving spirited/full of temperament

"Type" has to do with structure outline and how close or not the dog is to the DESIRED TYPE 

 

 

 

 

For type your judge agrees with my understanding of type though the words he/she uses are not very precise. it shouldn't be phrased DESIRED type, correct type or standard type is more accurate phrase.

For expression more or less it is close to my understanding, technically it is related to head which includes the eye. The addition of the term concentration when looking at a thing (alertness) is a tool to spot the expression in the eye + response.
So do we agree that expression is limited and not about every thing in the dog?

Temperament was discussed in detail before, no worries here.

Ibrahim

Expression has to do with "the look in the eye AND behavior of the overall dog"

With "the overall behavior of the dog" is not convincing to me.

A side thing about expression. I once asked a breeder who was fascinated with Carly Policia Slovakia " why do you describe his expression very good and why do you say he improves the expression?"
​He answered me "Just look at the way he carries his head, look at the pride in his eye",maybe that adds to what expression is really about

Ibrahim
 

Behavior of the overall dog is connected to many things/characteristics of the dog not directly connected to or part of the expression. My take on it

Sitasmom,

Without seeing dog's face, ears and eye, would it come to your mind "good expression"?

On the other hand, seeing the gleam of smartness and watchfulness in a dog's eye, wouldn't you immediately say what a beautiful expression!!

Ibrahim

Hi Sitasmom,

It looks like we are all correct somewhere and incorrect elsewhere in various degrees, I received this clarification/correction from a judge friend

Type: Each judge, based on breed standard, evaluates how close a dog is to what standard states, when a judge says that a dog is of very good/good type he/she takes into account dog anatomy; proportions, size, sex characteristics, pigment, expression, temperament and so on. In reality, sometimes what a judge may call an excellent type maybe called by another judge a very good type, it all depends on how the judge evaluates the overall dog at time of show. What is considered a excellent type might vary from one country to another based on variance of preferred type though a correct type should be only one version but that isn't the case. So in short, type refers to all the dog on the breed standard scale. When you see a dog described of excellent type that means it has got a high title VA or V, and when you see a dog described very good type then it has got a V rating and so on, a dog that has a serious fault there will be no praise of its type. Please note that I mentioned pigmentation above but unfortunately some judges limit that to color. When you read expression below you will see it is indeed one important part of the type evaluation. 

Let me explain expression by saying that in general we use phrases like; face expression, body expression, eye expression, reading a dog's expression......... to describe various dog parts or mental/emotion status. But expression in a critique is a little different and difficult to explain but I will do my best.

Expression: in short we say excellent/very good/............ expression, survey worksheet, many give you for the expression evaluation to choose from (noble, alert,  dull and so on), so technically speaking expression is not a part of head critique like the eye, ears, jaws and so on, although it is based on the head itself. More correctly is the fact that you evaluate expression by looking at the head of the dog, all parts of the head contribute to the whole expression, from the eye and face you can see nobleness and alertness, ear erection adds to dog's royal look, face and jaws add to strength. A dog with a fault in its head no matter how minor it is will loose something from expression evaluation. It is also true that a dog may have various degrees of good expression from a day to another, a ill dog would have a sad facial expression.
Expression is limited to the above, it does not include evaluation of the total dog, while a dog might have a very good expression it may yet have a faulty size, be stretched or lack in angulation. Hopefully I managed to be simple and clear.