Glossary
-A-
Almond Eye – Rather a small three-cornered or slit-shaped eye set obliquely with the outer corners pointing toward the ears particularly in the Bull Terrier.
Angulation – The angles of the bony structure at the joints.
Apple Head – A domed or round skull, pronounced in the Toy Spaniel.
Articulation – The joints or junctures of the bones.
-B-
Bat-Ear – Ears rounded at the tip and shaped like those of a bat and held erect.
Beefy – Big, beefy hindquarters.
Blocky – A cube-like formation of head as in the Boston Terrier.
Bossy – Over development of shoulder muscles
Breeching – The tan-colored hair on the inside and back thighs of the Manchester Terrier. Also relates to a profusion of hair on the thighs; culotte.
Brindle – An even and equal mixture and distribution of composite colors.
Brisket – The chest between and just back of the forelegs.
Broken-Up Face – Refers particularly to the face of the Bulldog Toy Spaniel and Pekingese and includes receding nose, projecting jaw, deep stop and wrinkle.
Brush – A bushy tail as in the Collie.
Burr – The irregular inside formation of the ear.
Butterfly-Nose – A parti-colored nose.
Button Ear – Folding forward close to the skull and pointing
-C-
Camel Back – The opposite of sway back.
Cat-Foot – Short, round, deep and compact like that of a cat.
Character – A combination of points of appearance and disposition contributing to the whole and distinctive of the particular breed of dog.
Cheeky – Pronounced development of cheeks as in the Bulldog.
Chest – The front portion of the body framework extending from between the front legs backward to the last rib but not including the shoulders. The area is formed by the ribs.
Chops – Same as flews also relating to the fore face of the Bulldog.
Cloddy – Low, thick-set stature.
Close-Coupled – Short in loins and back.
Cobby – Compact build.
Corky – Compact and active.
Coupling – The term denotes not the length of a dog, but the joining of the body proper by the backbone from the last rib to the hip joint, which forms the rump.
Cowhock – Hocks turned inward like those of a cow.
Crank Tail - Short, resembling a crank handle in shape and also found in the Bulldog; crook tail.
Crest – The upper arched part of the neck, particularly in the Bulldog.
Culotte – The hair on the thighs as in the Schipperke and Pomeranian; breeching.
Cushion – Fullness of the fore face or top lips as in the Bulldog.
-D-
Dew Claws – Superfluous claw inside the hind leg just above the foot.
Dew Lap – The loose skin under the throat.
Dish Face – The nose turned up and the face hollowed out before the eyes.
Double Coat – A dense woolly under jacket and longer harsher outer covering as in the Old English Sheepdog.
Down Face – The entire muzzle tilting downward.
Down In Pastern – The pastern showing a pronounced angle and letting down the forelegs proper near to the ground.
Dudley Nose – A flesh-colored or yellowish nose usually accompanied by light eyes; a disqualification in some breeds.
-E-
Elbow – The joint at the top of the leg where the front leg joins the lower part of the shoulder blade (humerus).
Erect Pastern – Showing no angle at the knee joint.
Ewe Neck – Showing a concave curvature of the top line of neck.
Expression – A combination of color, size and placement of eye together with countenance distinctive of the particular breed of dog.
-F-
Feather – The hair or feathering on the legs as in the Setter and Spaniel.
Fiddle Front – Crooked or bandy forelegs; a combination of out at elbows, in at pasterns, out at feet or bent bone.
Flag – The tail of the Setter.
Flat Sided – Flat ribs.
Flews – The lips, especially referring to the more pendulous lipped breeds as the Bulldog and Bloodhound.
Foreface – That part of the head in front of the eyes. Synonymous with muzzle. Does not include skull or forehead.
Foul Color – Any color not characteristic of a breed as mouse marking in a Harlequin Great Dane or black in a Bulldog.
Frill – The hair under the neck and on the chest as in the Collie.
Frog Face – Extending nose and receding jaw, usually overshot, especially relating to short-faced breeds.
Front – The fore part of the chest and forelegs.
Furrow - The indentation down the center of the top skull from occiput to stop; pronounced in the Bulldog.
-G-
Gay Tail - Carried erect.
Goose Rump – Falling off too abruptly from the top of the hips backward.
Grizzle – A bluish grey color.
-H-
Hare-Foot – Long, deep and dose-toed like that of a hare.
Harlequin – Patched and spotted, particularly relating to the black markings and white field in the Harlequin Great Dane.
Haw – The red membrane inside the lower eyelid; pronounced in the Bloodhound and Saint Bernard.
Height – The vertical measurement from ground to withers or top of shoulder-blades.
Hock – The lower joint of the hind leg.
Hocky – Used to designate faulty hocks.
Hound-Marked – Black, tan and white.
-I-
In Shouldered - Narrow fronted, forelegs too close together.
-L-
Layback – Receding nose as in the Bulldog and accompanied by undershot jaws.
Leather – The ears, especially in Foxhounds.
Level- jawed or level-mouthed – Term applied to a dog whose teeth meet evenly and whose jaws are neither overshot nor undershot. Not one exactly on the other but the upper teeth slightly beyond but tight upon the lower teeth – equivalent to scissor’s bite.
Loins – The portion between the last rib and the hindquarters.
Low Set – The base of the tail is not on the level of a straight line with the back but below that line.
Lumber – Superfluous flesh.
-M-
Mane – The hair around the neck as in the Pekingese and Collie.
Mask – The dark colored muzzle particularly of the Pug and Mastiff.
Merle – A bluish grey color often occurring with black, tan, and white as in the Blue Merle Collie.
-O-
Occiput – The bony bump on the top skull between the ears; pronounced in Setters, Pointers, and Hounds.
Out At Elbows – Elbow joints turning outward from the body due to faulty joint and front formation; loose-fronted.
Out At Shoulder – Shoulders jutting out in relief from the body and increasing the breadth of front, pronounced in the Bulldog; out-shouldered.
Overshot – The upper jaw protruding beyond the lower jaw; overhung, pig jaw.
-P-
Pad – The under portion of the feet.
Paper-Foot – Pads too thin.
Parti-Colored – Variegated in two or more colors.
Pastern – The foreleg from knee joint to foot.
Pencilling – The black marks or stripes dividing the tan on the toes of the Manchester Terrier.
Pile – Thick dense under coat as in the Collie and Old English Sheepdog
PlBD – Large patches of two or more colors, pie-bald, particolored.
Plume – The tail of the Pekingese and Pomeranian.
Prick Ear – Carried stiffly erect.
-R-
Racy – Elongated in legs and body and slight in build as the Whippet and Greyhound.
Rangy – Elongated but indicating more substance than racy.
Reachy – Forefeet and hind feet far apart, covering considerable area; long neck as in the Greyhound.
Ribs Lob Sided – Not flat ribs but narrow chested. The ribs are not well sprung; that is, they do not extend out for some distance from the backbone before they slope down.
Ring Tail – Describing almost or a complete circle.
Roach Back – The convex curvature of the back rising gently from behind the withers and carrying on over the loins and down the hindquarters as in the Greyhound, Bulldog, Dachshund, and Dandie Dinmont Terrier; wheel-back.
Rose Ear – Folding backward and showing part of the inside when viewed from the front – toward the eye as in the Fox Terrier.
-S-
Sable – Outer coat shaded with black over a lighter under color as in the Sable Collie.
Screw Tail – Short, kinky, knotty tail frequently found in the Bulldog and Boston Terrier.
Second Thigh – The muscular development between the stifle joint and the hock.
Semi-Prick Ear - Carried erect with the tips folding forward and downward as in the Collie.
Septum – The perpendicular dividing line between the two nostrils.
Shelfy – A flat underjaw, especially relating to a Bulldog lacking upsweep.
Shelly – Lacking bone and substance; shallow narrow body.
Shoulder – Externally the area on backline at base of neck, where it joins body, plus the front area extending down to elbows. Consists on each side of scapula or shoulder blade ending upwards on backbone, and of humerus, running from breastbone backward and downward to elbow.
Shoulder, Out At – Synonymous with loose shoulders, where the withers are wide, the space on backbone between the upper ends of the two shoulder blades.
Shoulder, Straight In – The scapula runs steeply upward from breastbone to backbone rather than upward and backward at an angle, which is known as Layback of Shoulder.
Short Coupled – Short between last rib and hip joint, causing short loins.
Sickle Tail – upward curve in the tail
Sloping Shoulder - Angulated obliquely and laid back.
Smooth Coat – Short, hard, close fitting hair.
Snipy – A too sharply pointed, narrow, or weak muzzle.
Splay-Foot - Spreading, open toes.
Spread – The width between the forelegs as in the Bulldog.
Spring – Rounded or well sprung ribs.
Squirrel Tail – Curving forward over the back.
Stand-Off Coat - A long, profuse coat with the hair standing straight out from the body as in the Pomeranian and Chow.
Stern – The tail, especially in hounds.
Stifle – The upper or thigh joint of the hind leg.
Stop – The step from the top skull to the foreface.
Straight Hocks – Erect, lacking bend or angulation.
Straight Shoulder – Lacking sufficient angulation of the bony structure instead of oblique formation; not laid back; up-shouldered.
Sway Back – Showing a concave curvature from the withers to the hips.
-T-
Thigh – True thigh, upper thigh, first thigh, thigh proper – from the rump down to the stifle joint. Second thigh is that part of the hind leg between the stifle joint and the hock.
Throaty - An excess of loose skin under the throat.
Thumb Marks – The round black spots on the tan pasterns of the Manchester Terrier.
Tiger Brindle – The same with the darker color describing stripes.
Timber - Bone.
Topknot - The hair on the top of the head as in the Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Bedlington Terrier, and Irish Water Spaniel.
Trace – The dark stripe down the back of the Pug.
Tuck-Up – The belly tucked up under the loins as in the Greyhound ; small waisted.
Tricolor – Black, tan and white.
Tulip Ear – Carried erect with slight forward curvature.
Twist – The curled tail of the Pug.
-U-
Undershot – The opposite of overshot; underhung.
Up Face – The entire muzzle tilting upward as in the Bulldog.
Upsweep – Upturning under jaw as in the Bulldog.
-V-
Varmint Expression – Rather small, dark, beady eyes showing no haw nor white, set about horizontal as in the Fox Terrier and having a keen piercing look.
-W-
Wall Eye – A blue or blue mottled eye frequently found in Blue Merle Collies; watch eye.
Weedy - Lightly formed; slender; deficient especially in spread or depth of ribs.
Wheaten – A pale yellowish or fawn color.
Whip Tail – Stiffly straight, pronounced in the Pointer.
Wire Coat – A double coat with very hard dense outer hair as in the Wire Fox Terrier.
Withers – The point at the top of the shoulder blades where the neck joins the body.
Wrinkle - Loose folding skin over the skull and around the fore-face as in the Bulldog and Bloodhound.
