Good Question

I received this email recently, and thought it was a good topic for a posting.

Hi Sue,
Question for you: Read in your blog about flaws in dogs that are severe, such as extreme cow hocks. This is probably a very silly question but what constitutes extreme? How do you know if it is minor or a big problem? My pup is almost five months old and has just hit a major growth spurt and it was in the midst of said spurt that I began to notice that when he stands a certain way, his hocks go in and his toes point out. Sometimes just a hair, sometimes it's very noticeable. Two weeks ago we met up with two of his siblings and I took the time to compare and they both looked to have perfect back legs...they were also considerably shorter than him. I spoke to my vet who said it could be due to the growth spurt and that he will likely grow out if it. In your experience, what do you think? Is it something they can grow out of or something that improves with age or will he always stand that way? Thanks so much.

We often joke that you should pick your pups at 6 weeks and then close your eyes for the next 8 - 10 months, and it's often true, although I prefer to pick mine at 6 - 10 weeks as some need just a bit more time. IF a pup is sound and well balanced at 6 - 8 weeks it will generally go back to what it was, although there is no guarantee. Some pups grow up as nice little well-proportioned packages, while others go through growth spurts and/or horrendous stages of development, and even littermates do not grow up at the same rate. If the puppy mentioned above was a sound, correctly proportioned puppy, he will most likely be a sound, correctly proportioned adult. It would be better to evaluate his hindquarters when he is stacked or moving. If he can stand with his hocks and stifles correct, and if he can move correctly going away, he's fine. Pups often look gawky when they are relaxed.

On the other hand, there are lots of OTHER things that can go wrong as a puppy grows up. It can go oversize (a Dal over 24 inches tall at the withers is disqualified), its spots can all run together (a nicely marked pup may have spots that grow together - we call that "exploding spots"), or it can develop secondary spotting/ticking, its tail may come up and be carried too high, or its bite can go bad. Overshot or undershot bites are a disqualification. A dog can have no major faults at all and still not be top quality - a lack of faults does not mean the dog has the opposing virtues! Unfortunately many dogs get sold as show quality pups who are only "showable" pups - they have no disqualifications. Show QUALITY pups should excel in the characteristics that make a good Dalmatian. No dog is perfect of course, but merely adequate should not be good enough for the show ring.