UKC Breed Education Presentation

The Essence of the Breed

• A double coated Nordic type working dog, intelligent, strong and powerful for its size.
• Quick and agile.
• Willing to work closely with people.
• Cosmetic flaws (such as a snow nose, or biscuit spots in the coat) should never remove from competition a dog that is sound, well balanced and of correct Nordic type that moves effortlessly and efficiently.

History of the Breed

• The American Eskimo is one of the Nordic/Spitz breeds.
• Widely used as a utilitarian farm and guard dog in Germany, brought to the US by immigrants.
• Recognized by UKC in 1913.
• Name changed from “Spitz” to “American Eskimo” in 1926

Breed Development

• Continued to be used as watch dog and multi purpose working dog of the farm.
• National American Eskimo Dog Association formed in 1969.
• First size divisions were by weight, not height.
• Today excels in agility, obedience, tracking, herding, lure coursing, dock dog diving, just to name a few of its talents.

First Impression – The American Eskimo is a well balanced typical model of a working type Nordic/ Spitz dog. The body is well balanced, proportioned, agile. and strong. appearing neither clumsy or racy. It is a trotting breed with an alert smooth carriage, presenting a picture of natural beauty, alertness, strength, and agility.

The American Eskimo is Not –
A scaled down Samoyed, a Keeshond, or a white Pomeranian.

Instead, it is a unique breed with distinctive type characteristics of its own.

Intelligent, alert and energetic, the Eskie is well suited as a family companion, obedience, agility, tracking, & performance dogs.

May be conservative with strangers, but overly shy or aggressive. (Dogs should be penalized in the show ring).

Eskies have a natural love of water!

The American Eskimo temperament readily lends itself to the UKC Total Dog concept.

Head

• Heads are a defining characteristic of this breed.
• Must be wedge shaped and in proportion to the overall size of the dog.

Head Shape

• Skull is broad and not flat – slightly arched (crowned) from stop to occiput.
• Stop is well defined but not abrupt.
• Muzzle is nearly the same length as skull, full and strong, never narrow, weak or snipey.
• Bite-scissors preferred, level permissible.

Head

• Eyes are dark
• Foreface is high
• Bridge of muzzle is flat
• Corners of mouth reach outer corner of eye, no further

Eyes

• Eyes are medium in size, set well apart and oval in shape.
• Color is dark to medium brown.
• Expression is alert and intelligent.

Eyes

• Here is an eye shape comparison-the dog in the center has round eyes which are incorrect.

Teeth

• A the correct bite is a scissor or level. A full compliment of teeth is preferred

Pigment

• Eyes rims, nose and lips are black to dark brown.
• Many Eskies will snow nose during winter or with age.
• Snow nose is distinctive by having black edges with loss of color in center of the nose.

Ears

• Erect. Triangular in shape

Ears

• Ears conform to balance with size of head

Head Faults

• Lack of pigment.
• Overshot or undershot bite.
• Light eyes.
• Flop ears.
• Saggy flews.
• Snow Nose is not a lack of pigment
• DISQUALIFICATION
  • Blue Eyes

Outline & Proportion

• The American Eskimo is a compactly built, strong dog with an arched neck and a level backline.

Neck

• While you might think that determining neck length under all that hair would be difficult, a look at these two photos; shows that a neck with correct length and arch can be readily seen.

Front Assembly-Shoulders

• The well angulated shoulder, called for in the standard, sets the elbows back under the withers and creates a “lot of dog” in front of a line drawn from withers to ground, as opposed to a straight built front. Straight fronts also create long underlines (from elbow to knee).

Front Assembly-Forelegs

• Legs are straight with elbows held close to body.
• Pasterns are strong yet flexible enough to add spring to movement.

Front Assembly-Forelegs

• Standard defines a 20 degree slope of front pastern.

Front Assembly-Leg Length

• This is a trotting breed, and should have leg length that is one half the height at the withers.
• Coat can create the optical illusion of short legs so you have to feel for correct leg length when judging.

Bone

• The American Eskimo is a swift, agile breed and should have strong yet moderate bone that conforms to body size.
• Again, coat is very illusionary. These photos are of the same bitch, in coat and out. You must FEEL the bone under the coat.

Body Properties

• Strongly built with a broad, level back and a well muscled loin of moderate length.
• Well sprung ribs with slight tuck up.
• Spring of rib is oval, not barrel.

Body Properties-Chest

• Chest is broad, and deep to elbow.
• Please get your hands under the hair when judging this breed and feel for correct body development and strong muscles.

Forequarters

• Well laid back shoulder vs incorrect upright shoulder

Hindquarters

• Thighs are well developed and muscular.
• Hock joint is sharply defined.
• Rear pastern is short.
• Angulation balances with front.

Hindquarters

• A well angulated rear with hocks well let down

Skeleton

• Length of body is measured from the point of shoulder to the ishium (point of buttocks)
• Height is measured from top of withers (scapula) to the floor.

Feet

• Compact with tough, deeply cushioned pads.
• Oval in shape.
• Front dewclaws MAY be removed.
• Rear dewclaws SHOULD be removed.

Tail

• Set moderately high.
• Profusely coated.
• Carried over the back.
• Length to hock joint.
• Faults-tight curl, double hook, or loose “flag” (see bottom photo).

Coat

• Dense, double, and free of curl or wave.
• Length will vary, coat quality is more important that quantity.
• Males will carry heavier coat than females on the whole.

Coat Pattern

• The Coat of the American Eskimo has a distinct pattern of the hair growth.
• May be more pronounced on males than females.
• The coat pattern of the American Eskimo is functional to the dog

Coat is Illusionary

• Differing lengths and amounts of coat can give the illusion of light or heavy bone, long or short legs, large or small ears, long or short bodies, etc.

• You must be HANDS ON when judging this breed.

Color

• Pure white is most desirable.
• White with biscuit cream, and solid cream, are permissible.
• Any color other than those above is a disqualification.

< White with biscuit spots

Gait

• The American Eskimo is a natural, endurance trotter. At the trot he is efficient, balanced, vigorous, light on his feet and maintains a firm level topline.

Sidegate

• The dog will have excellent reach of the forequarters matched by a strong driving rear. Feet are only lifted high enough to clear the ground

• Excellent foot timing is essential for correct reach and drive.

• This dog has correct side gate according to our standard. There is the same distance between the front two legs as there is with the rear.
• Feet are meeting under the body.
• Back remains strong level, and firm.

Gait – Moving Away

• Dog on right is moving correctly, dog on left is moving close.
• The American Eskimo is a single tracking breed.

Gate – Coming

• This dog is moving correctly towards you.

Front Movement

• First if correct
• Elbow out – incorrect
• Padding – incorrect
• Moving wide – incorrect

Scale of Points

What does this mean?

• Basically, that the whole is
  greater than the sum of a dog’s
  parts.
• No one single fault should
  eliminate a dog from
  competition.
• All dogs have faults and as that is true, dog judging should be focused on rewarding virtue, not finding the dog with the fewest “faults”.

The Essence of the Breed

• A double coated Nordic type working dog, intelligent, strong and powerful for its size.
• Quick and agile.
• Willing to work closely with people.
• Cosmetic flaws (such as a snow nose, or biscuit spots in the coat) should never remove from competition a dog that is sound, well balanced and of correct Nordic type that moves effortlessly and efficiently.

Thank you for your attention