Page 11 - ShowSight Presents- The Beauceron
P. 11
Eldorado 318, walleye in the harlequin.
the left or right. In action The tail can be carried higher, becoming an exten- sion of the topline. DQ: Docked tail or tail carried over the back. ((Some will relax (straighten) their tail when standing still but the “J” will reappear as soon as they move.))
Gait
Movement is fluid and effortless The head is lowered approaching the level of the topline. Dogs with clumsy or ineffi- cient gait must be penalized. They must give the impression that they could cover a lot of ground throughout the day without becoming exhausted.
Coat & Colors
Coat: Short and smooth on head, ears an lower legs. Longer on body 11⁄4"-11⁄2". May be longer around neck. Tail and thighs are lightly fringed. The undercoat
is short, fine, dense and downy, prefer- ably mouse gray, very tight, and does not appear through the coat. The Beauceron is to be shown in its natural state with no trimming or sculpting. DQ: Shaggy coat. (In 30 years, I have never seen a shaggy coated Beauceron.)
Black/Rust color: Black is pure and rich. Rust markings range from tan to rust colored. The French standard (and the AKC standard since it follows the French standard) states the markings should be “squirrel red”. I personally prefer the term rust because even though the squirrels in Europe may be red, the squirrels in the western United States are for the most part gray except the ground squirrels which are a light tan color.
The rust markings are: Spot over each eye, on the sides of muzzle, on chest with two patches preferred over solid breast- plate, throat, under tail and on lower legs.
Pencilling of black on toes and blending of black on the leg markings is allowed. (The rust markings in general tend not to have crisp edges but rather blend in the transi- tion from black to rust. The markings need not be excessive but they need to be there. DQ: Complete absence of markings (solid black dog), clearly marked, solid white spot on chest more than 1 inch in diam- eter. White hairs are tolerable.
Harlequin color: The harlequin is a blue merle. They have the black/rust base color with the blue/gray patches distributed over the body in a balanced pattern. The gray can be light to dark and the black hairs are interspersed within the gray. There can be more black than gray. Rust markings are the same as the black/rust dog. DQ: Head entirely gray (without the blend of the black), too much gray (again without the blend of the black), black on one side gray on the other. Clearly marked, solid white spot on chest more than 1" in diam- eter. The harlequin tends to darken with age. Some more than others. They are born very brightly marked then the gray blends with the black as they get older. Some retain more of the demarcation between the black and the blue/gray blend and oth- ers get more of a roany look to their gray markings but the markings are still there.
Temperament
The Beauceron is self assured with a frank approach, never mean, timid or wor- ried. They can be reserved with strangers but should be gentle and fearless. Any display of fear or unjustifiable aggression is not to be tolerated. Dogs that can’t be examined should be excused.
This article was written based on a
program used presentations.
in judge’s education
Height outside of standard
Split nose, color other than black,
Natural ears carried upright and rigid Docked tail, tail carried over the back
Anything less than double dewclaws
on each rear leg
Shaggy Coat
Any color other than Black/rust or Harlequin
Complete absence of markings
Well defined, solid white spot larger than 1 inch in diameter
In the Harlequin too much gray, black on one side gray on the other, head entirely gray
unpigmented areas
Bite overshot or undershot with loss
of contact
Absence of 3 or more teeth, first pre-
molars not counting
Yellow eyes, wall eye in black/rust
BEAUCERON DISQUALIFICATIONS
