I, too, after owning three and being in the show world, both performance events (my personal favourite) and conformation have taken considerable time researching the breed.
Coats in the AKC, CKC, UK and FCI (Central Mediterranean) standards call for a silky coat with no undercoat, no woolliness or crimped. Anything other than silky is not permissible. Light tan or lemon on the ears is permissible.
The dog must have black eye rims, lips, foot pads and nose. Also they must have halos around the eyes in UK and FCI (not required in AKC) and FCI requires black nails.
All standards except the FCI require the dog to be under 7 lbs. (4-6 lbs. is ideal). The FCI standard should be 3-4 kg which is 6.6 - 9.9 lbs.
The body length should be: the length is equal to the height from the withers to the ground in all standards except the FCI which states the length from point of shoulder to point of buttocks is 38% more than the height of the withers. That means all standards except the FCI requires the body shape to be square.
An old formula that breeders often use to determine what the adult weight of the dog should be is: 2 x the weight at 12 weeks plus a pound. BUT as all of you know that is only an estimate and individual dogs vary and vary greatly sometimes. That is why breeders will sell puppies at an older age as the weight requirement is turning out wrong....either too small or too large.
There is so much more if you want to get really into standards but these are the starting point if you can expect to show your dog. There is no "paperwork" required to show your dog except on the premium list (entry form for show) you have to be able to state what your AKC number is (if you are showing in the US or Canada) and the name of the sire and dam. You can take your dog in the show if it is 12 lbs. and has a woolly coat and is long in the body as long as you can provide info that can be proven that your dog is registered with the AKC. If you do not do your homework to assess your dog you will not even be considered by the judge for a placement (altho he is required to examine your dog to see what faults it has). Personally I would do my homework first!
I also belong to another forum and did a search on "weight" there and most of the posts were saying there dogs were 6 lbs. up to 12 -15 lbs. SOME
of the posts did deal with dogs under 4 lbs. and quiet often they did have health issues, a liver shunt being very common and you had to make sure the dog ate enough to prevent low blood sugar. Keep in mind that a show breeder is breeding what she considers a perfect specimen of the breed. All other pups will likely be sold as "pet quality" which I suspect all of you were told when you purchased them. I am sure that if you got a dog from a show breeder that you had to sign a contract that you would neuter or spay them. This is to prevent anyone breeding dogs which the breeder considers not up to the standard and having her kennel name in their pedigree. Which is fair. Breeders screen their breeding stock for health issues before ever breeding them and study their pedigrees very closely. Therefore if you bought one of these "pet quality" dogs you got a good deal. They are going to be much healthier and have fewer problems than one you bought from a puppymill etc. Also, cheaper, quiet often cheaper than a puppymill.
I think we all have our own opinions by now from all the posts but I did want to put a little info out there about our precious babies and why they are what they are and what they could be. Some breeders will sell a "show" puppy but they have a lot of hoops you have to jump through to get one. If you do show a puppy I would recommend having your breeder or some other very knowledgeable person "mentor" you. When I was showing my Shih Tzu my breeder was always available and was at all the shows I took him to. I wouldn't have been able to do it without all her good advice. You have to be very dedicated to coat care. The reason my breeder let me have my show puppy is because she knew me from shows as performance events are at conformation shows and I always have keep my dogs in lots of coat. After I got my first from her I let his hair grow out and she was always complimenting me on the quality of care I gave it. So she had no qualms that I would not do the same for a show puppy. Coat care requires hours and hours of grooming and bathing to keep it in show shape.
I think I will step down from my lecture platform now and end this post. I don't mean to sound anything but informative and perhaps there is some info here that some of you are not aware of. Anyone who has a dog who grew more than 7 lbs. do not worry. A high percentage of pet quality are over the weight limit and a lot of owners feel more at ease handling them. They are also better suited to a busy household especially with youngsters. So perhaps you got the best deal of all considering you have a healthy pet and one that is not so fragile. My last eight dogs have come from a show breeder and I have not been sorry. |