AKC Gazette January 1997

Paint Jobs

Most Boxer breeders make their first decisions about which pups to keep when they're but a few hours old by looking for the "flashy ones" in the whelping box. The plain ones are relegated to "pet" status, as are the pups with a mild mismark, such as white beyond the corner of the lip or a slight white line showing along the stifle. This is all well and good, so long as the conventionally marked pups are the best ones in the litter. Sadly, often they're not.

If we refuse to acknowledge that nature may have given us everything we dreamed of in an almost-perfect puppy except a good paint job, we'll continue to sell . some of our best show and breeding prospects. Flash doesn't make a straight shoulder better laid back (although it may camouflage it), a roached back correct or a weak head strong. And a little excess flash shouldn't detract significantly from an otherwise beautiful expression or way of going.

Just as clothes don't make the man, white markings don't define the dog. They merely dress it in attractive patterns. Not every so-called flashy pup is of true show quality.

In the best of all worlds, the beautifully and uncontroversially marked pup will have the best overall conformation and temperament, but it ain't necessarily so! Please remember this the next time you peer into your whelping box and call your fellow breeders with your news. Until we keep and show the stunning plain or sliqhtly less than perfectly marked specimens, judges will continue to discriminate against them. In many ways, judges take their cues from breeders, but the responsibility for the future of our breed is in our hands, not theirs.

Stephanie Abraham
P. O. Box 346
Scotland, CT 06264