Page 37 - ShowSight Presents The Bullmastiff
P. 37
BULLMASTIFF AT A GLANCE
ESSENTIAL BREED CHARACTERISTICS
Nearly Square/body compact
Back level
Slight arch over loin
Powerful
Moderate matching angles
Reach and drive indicate maxi- mum use of dog’s moderate angulation
Ribs well sprung
Head as pictured
Fearless and confident
HEAVILY WEIGH THESE DEVIATIONS
Long back/long loin
Rectangular
Be wary of dyed masks/ enhanced pigment on muzzles and ears
Short legs
Overangulated rear
Straight/stuffy shoulders
Snipey/long muzzle
Wry bite/grossly undershot/ overshot
Cow hocks/splayed feet
Showmanship should not over- ride breed correctness
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helene Nietsch is a more than 40-year veteran breeder of Bullmastiffs under the “Banstock” prefix. She has bred or owned more than 20 Registry of Merit Bullmastiffs as top-producing dogs and bitches (including 2008/2009’s top-producing sire of the year), more than 100 champions, multiple nation- al specialty winners, and a best in show Bullmastiff in each of the four decades she has been breeding. She co-bred the first multiple best in show Bullmastiff in the 1970s and the top- winning Bullmastiff in the history of the breed, Ch. Bandog’s Crawdad- dy Gumbo, who was also #2 dog all breeds in the mid-1980s. She is on the
board of the American Bullmastiff Association and serves as Chairman of Judges Education and Co-chair of Breeder Education as well as AKC Gazette Bullmastiff columnist for 15 years. She is currently president of Newtown Kennel Club and Coordi- nator for Connecticut Dog Judges. She has judged the American Bullmastiff National Specialty in 2000 and 2011, the Bullmastiff World Cup in Hun- gary, specialties in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Spain and South Africa and is approved to judge all Working and Hound, sever- al Sporting and Non-Sporting breeds, Best in Show, Junior Showmanship and Miscellaneous breeds.
