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When
once in a lifetime one has had the good fortune
to start breeding with a top dog like WITHERFORD
HOT CHESTNUT, one’s eye naturally becomes
accustomed to the type of that dog. Hot Chestnut
was a large, upstanding male with a very expressive
head and an excellent forequarter. His noble
bearing as a result of this caught one’s
eye immediately.
During
my world-wide involvement for more than 30
years as a Boxer judge, I was delighted when
I found one or the other Boxer of this type,
to show with that dog the picture I was looking
for in a Boxer, an eye-catching dog of great
personality with harmonious substance and
elegance. Some dogs of special quality like
PERRY DU CHEMIN DE FLEURY and US-RANUS VON
DER REITERSTADT VERDEN gave me immense pleasure.
They gave me the incentive to continue searching
for this unique type of Boxer. Most of the
breeders and judges today obviously did not
get to know these two dogs and many of the
other good dogs in the boom years of the seventies
and eighties. It may be, that some of us may
well have still experienced the qualities
of one of the last winners of the eighties,
PATRICK VOM STEDINGER HOF. Maybe you have
also compared him to the multi-champions that
dominate today.
On
reviewing the catalogue of the “Jahressieger”
breed show 2007, one notices that quite different
breeding directions were present, mainly from
combinations of foreign Boxers. The overall
picture, in my opinion, was therefore quite
inconsistent. One has the slightly heavier,
short type from the East and France and elegant
Boxers, often with fine bone, that are no
longer square. These originate from inland
breeding. Both directions originate mostly
from Italy. These exhibits have quite clearly
dominated the show scene over the past years.
It appeared that the four officiating judges
often had difficulty in finding harmony between
head and body as called for in the Standard
among the different types of dogs. After all
the placed dogs should give direction to breeders.
It goes without saying that breed type with
its unique head expression is part thereof.
For
a number of years now, due to my retirement
as a breed judge from the Boxer-Klub, I have
unfortunately had little opportunity to participate
on the vision of the Boxer. Many contacts
terminated - friends, who in earlier years
showed their dogs under me, today look for
recognition elsewhere. I tried to motivate
myself and after an absence of several years
I started anew with WITHERFORD COOL WAVE.
With her son, APERITIF VOM SCHÜTTING,
I was fortunate to once again have the type
of Boxer that I was used to my life long.
Proudly he was taken through all the various
working requirements, so that he could participate
in the working class five times this year.
As I am no longer as fleet footed as in earlier
years and also don’t have any other
assistance, I was dependent on hiring a so-called
professional handler.
There
are various reasons as to why, after the “Jahressieger”
breed show 2007, I have decided to no longer
exhibit. One of them was the costly handler.
Another was the fact that I found no support
to go follow the direction of the Boxer called
for in the Standard and that dominated the
breed 30 years ago. Without any doubt major
progress has been made in the acceptance of
the different health examinations. However,
the actual goals to achieve the Standard,
as I could follow, have been pushed into the
background somewhat. In endeavouring to achieve
an even broader and deeper muzzle, heads became
extremely short and powerful. It goes without
saying that accordingly bodies became heavier.
In time the eye adjusts to such a picture,
with the result that dogs of this calibre
are used for breeding, as they are viewed
as being correct. I refer to the excellent
article in the Boxer-Blätter magazine
1/1982, The Head of the Boxer by Peter Holzhausen,
who at the time explained this difficult problem
in the breed and set criterions. Regrettably
these efforts have shown no results.
For
many years I have also worked in the Boxer-Klub
for the improvement of the Boxer and have
to date never given up, even though my opportunities
have been greatly limited. During the last
decades, generations have followed, which
brought about change within the Boxer-Klub,
with which we have to live. Taking cognisance
of the past weeks, during which time disgraceful
conduct was displayed on the internet, was
the deciding factor, for me to withdraw. I
hope for our Boxer, that before too long,
knowledge and respect will again return to
the Boxer-Klub.
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