‍Ask A Judge Answers By Sid Marx

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‍ “Many breeds are hand-stacked when they first enter the ring, but an experienced exhibitor can often hand-stack a dog into a pleasing silhouette. Often when these animals move, that “pleasing silhouette” dissolves into a poor topline and poor movement.  It seems that there is a lot of emphasis put on the first and last hand-stacked impression given to the judge.  Shouldn’t there be a greater importance placed on the dog's natural carriage and free stance rather than one that we’ve placed into position? How does the importance of a dog’s silhouette play into breed type?”

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‍There are a few questions both asked and implied here – as well as a significant assumption. Although a certain amount of emphasis is given to the standing silhouette of each exhibit, I don’t agree that a greater emphasis is – or should be - placed on this than on any other aspect of judging a dog.

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‍As the name implies, a certain amount of showmanship takes place in a dog show, but at no time should the sizzle be more important than the steak! There is a lot that can be more easily seen when a dog is stacked properly: proportions, silhouette, and balance. When a judge examines a dog his eyes and hands are being used to confirm or negate what his eyes have told him when he looked at the stacked dog. When the dog is moved, an even more in-depth verification of what the judge has seen is made. Judges are aware that we have a great many exhibitors who can stack a dog so well that certain weaknesses are hidden -i.e. topline. When the dog is moved, we can see if the sizzle matches the steak or is just a cover-up.

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‍When I judge, almost always I have exhibits come to the center of the ring and I instruct the handler to let him stand on his own. Very little can then be covered up, because I am judging breeding stock (the steak) and not only the sizzle (showmanship). This is especially true of the dog’s silhouette, which is an important aspect of breed type. The silhouette helps to show some very important elements of breed type: proportions, balance, topline, tail-set, and other factors, and that’s another reason I look at a dog both stacked and free-standing.

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‍Whether stacked or free-baiting, it is a judge’s job to sort through the trade-offs to determine the best representative of the breed.

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‍I hope this helps. Enjoy your dog.

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‍Thank you judge Sid Marx for that great figure of speech using the words sizzle and steak to create a colorful metaphor for sportsmanship and breeding stock to illustrate to exhibitors "it's the judge's job to sort through the trade-offs to determine the best representative of the breed."

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‍You may also enjoy reading other great articles, both current and past, by Sid Marx in his column which appears in Dog News magazine and online, The Judge Marx the Spot at https://www.dognews.com/sid-marx-0