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A Study
of the Scottish Terrier Published by the Scottish Terrier Club of America |
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A Study of the Scottish Terrier General Appearance Last update - 1/12/02
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 How to Judge the Scottish Terrier Stand back and take a side view for length of back, topline, and balance. The hindquarters should extend as far behind the tail as the forechest extends in front of the point of shoulder. Examination of the Head Look for a well-balanced, quality head. Feel the bones at the side of the head away from the eye to the ear. These bones should be flat, with no curves. Look for small ears, well placed on the head so that when viewed from the front, they do not look like jug handles. When you run your hands up to the side of the cheekbones, you should be able to go straight up without having to take an outward sweep around the ear. The eyes should be well apart, small, dark and almondshaped. Put your thumb between the eyes. There should be a slight stop. Put your hand beneath the eye and around the muzzle to see if it is well filled up under the eye. You should find a good wide mouth, with a strong square jaw. It should not be undershot or overshot. |
Examination of the Body In checking the front end, run your hands down the neck which should flow gradually and smoothly into the shoulders. The shoulder blade should be well laid back. The upper arm should be of almost equal length and set at an approximate right angle to the shoulder blade. Elbows should be tucked away so that when you move your hands down from the shoulder to pick up the leg, you don't feel the elbow sticking out. Examine the feet, which should be thick and well rounded. Cup your hand around the forechest to ensure that it is wellfilled and extends out beyond the point of shoulder. Drop your hand palm up between the front legs to ensure proper width of chest. Place your fist under the chest. A correct forechest will just touch the top of an overage man's fist. Ribs should be heart-shaped in cross section, well sprung and deep. A Scotrish Terrier should not be short-ribbed. Feel between the rib cage and upper thigh-the loin should be short and muscular. Look for a very muscular double thigh and well bent stifle. Pick up the back feet to see if these are round and thick. Hacks should be no more than 2-3 inches in length and parallel to each other. When you lift the coat to feel texture, you do not want to see skin. The dog should have a dense undercoat with a hard, fight topcoat. Furnishing should also have hard texture and should not be excessive. When the dog is coming towards you, you want to see two front feet, inclining slightly inward around a powerful forechest. Going away, you want to see the whole back foot come up. From the side, you want to see reach in front and extension behind. The topline should remain level with little upand-down movement. Tail should be erect. Movement should be efficient despite short legs and breadth of chest.
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