{"id":510,"date":"2024-04-17T16:13:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T14:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/?page_id=510"},"modified":"2024-04-17T16:47:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T14:47:06","slug":"conformation-evaluation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/conformation-evaluation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pharaoh Hound Conformation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The drawing below is from the PHCA illustrated standard and their version of the \u2018ideal Pharaoh Hound\u2019. In my opinion, although most parts are well portrayed, most judges would not find the topline or upper arm on this dog to be ideal.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Below are my own comments on what is described in the Pharaoh Standard and what I strive for in my breeding.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Front assembly<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is not easy to see the bones described in these drawings, you usually must use your hands to feel for them.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/old.xodogs.com\/images2011\/confor28.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-b9bff772a8fb1c9e86af0d138c4c64ef\" style=\"color:#f58cd0\"><strong>Shoulder and shoulder layback (pink line on the drawing)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong>The shoulder blade should be laid back on a 45 degree angle to the \u2018center line\u2019 (yellow).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a51b415809e5a0ef01cbd388b6e5d687\" style=\"color:#f58cd0\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Keep in mind that what your eye perceives when you look at a dog is what matters.&nbsp;&nbsp; Judges don\u2019t get out a protractor and ruler.&nbsp;&nbsp; They only use their eyes and their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2fdf8c20d5dcfcf01a8059881ebe0621\" style=\"color:#f58cd0\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Feel for the tip of the shoulder blade, this is called the withers, and the other end where it meets the upper arm.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a957822391f1d779be6838e13f56f11e\" style=\"color:#f58cd0\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You should also be able to get 3 fingers in between the tips of both shoulder blades (so that a sighthound can grab a bunny on the run and not have those shoulder blades clash together\u2026 they should not be too close.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4d8299fc0b7959a1ae717bd02e716053\" style=\"color:#f58cd0\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The layback of the shoulder in the drawing appears correct or close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2c17be66c9943c51f2fa99b865478be2\" style=\"color:#f58cd0\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A fault sometimes seen is a \u2018steep shoulder\u2019 which is too upright.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-cefef3108a4d6ae73992ba90cbcfe4cc\" style=\"color:#e92525\"><strong>Upper Arm (red line)<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong>The upper arm should return on a 45 degree angle to the \u2018center line\u2019 (yellow).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c09927bdf98d5781f89ef889f20a90c6\" style=\"color:#e92525\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is from the point of shoulder to the elbow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-40cce5db6aea10dfb9e691f2cffdbd5b\" style=\"color:#e92525\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The upper arm and shoulder blade should be of equal length.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9b4718c8ebd3935bbc73336155daff3f\" style=\"color:#e92525\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The return of upper arm in the drawing appears inadequate.&nbsp; The angle appears greater than 45 degrees and the upper arm looks slightly shorter than the shoulder.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-004eb8a25922de5684bbca363806872c\" style=\"color:#e92525\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A common fault in this area is an upper arm that is too upright and also too short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The total angle between the shoulder and upper arm should be 90 degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The entire front assembly (shoulder and upper arm) should also be placed \u2018well back\u2019 on the rib cage.&nbsp; The dog should appear to be standing \u2018over their front\u2019. Ample forechest should be visible from the side and be well filled in front.&nbsp; The elbow should be near the deepest part of the chest.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Also the front pasterns should be only slightly angled and not too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7fbaa12896b34cc81e6705da87824265\" style=\"color:#135f8b\"><strong>Height Ratio<br><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The distance from the top of the withers to the elbow, should be approximately equal to the distance\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-vivid-green-cyan-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-e36cc24ad57350bc427f114fb0921d8a\">from the elbow to the ground.\u00a0\u00a0 If one is slightly longer, it should be from elbow to ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rear<br><\/strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The rear should balance the front with a 90 degree angle.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The thigh and 2<sup>nd<\/sup>&nbsp;thigh should also be of equal length.<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The hock should be short for smooth drive.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/old.xodogs.com\/images2011\/confor29.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/old.xodogs.com\/images2011\/confor30.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d07131c8f62bcc07e914016fac208736\" style=\"color:#f78de8\"><strong>Thigh &lt;called upper thigh on drawing&gt; (pink line) and&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0afb66be03272e1f1ea455541dcce169\" style=\"color:#ec1b1b\"><strong>Second Thigh (red)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-73e1e65b33dce02ef697a886061cd3e5\" style=\"color:#f78de8\">The dog in the drawing has a 2<sup>nd<\/sup>\u00a0thigh that is too long, causing \u2018over angulation\u2019 of the rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-230d45ec8c17f2bbf61661086a61d67b\" style=\"color:#f78de8\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One visual test for this is draw a line from point of buttocks to the ground.&nbsp; It should fall directly in front of the rear toes.&nbsp; In this case the rear toes are behind the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4217eb99c13b02c522f47cfb978fc2b8\" style=\"color:#f78de8\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The term over angulated is also used if the rear angle is less that 90 degrees.&nbsp;&nbsp; Over 90 degrees is \u2018under angulated\u2019 in rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c715044902677ae7eb82b63835c0250f\" style=\"color:#f78de8\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The most common rear faults are under angulation and long hocks (called rear pastern in the drawing.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Movement<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong>A Pharaoh Hound should have good reach in front and drive in rear and move with each set of legs in a parallel track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There should be minimal lift of feet (called \u2018daisy clipping\u2019 movement), which wastes no movement.&nbsp; There should be no lift or hackney in front, no popping of elbows, no throwing of front legs outward, or crossing over front and\/or rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For the front and rear to work together to create sound movement they must be balanced.&nbsp;&nbsp; Which means of equal angle and power.&nbsp;&nbsp; All the parts of the front and rear assembly will affect how a dog moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The only part of the body that does not affect movement is probably the head!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The length of body is also important.&nbsp; The body must be long enough to allow the front and rear feet to come together underneath and not get in each other\u2019s way.&nbsp; If they touch, a dog will compensate by \u2018crabbing\u2019 which means they move their rear off to the side and will look as if they are moving away on an angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The ratio of the length of the rib cage to the length of the loin is also important.&nbsp; If the loin is too long, the topline may be weak and sag.&nbsp; It should be strong and held level on the move, without sagging, bouncing or rolling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The neck set is also important.&nbsp;&nbsp; A low neck set results in a throaty appearance with a bulging neck in front.&nbsp; Dogs with this neck set often want to carry their head low when they move and this in turn often widens up their front on the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Photo Analysis<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong>Keep in mind the analysis of conformation from a photo is only as good as the photo. &nbsp;The dog must be stacked perfectly, the photo shot dead side-on and at dog height.. which never happens.&nbsp; Look at several photos of the same dog to confirm what you think you see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The drawing below is from the PHCA illustrated standard and their version of the \u2018ideal Pharaoh Hound\u2019. In my opinion, although most parts are well portrayed, most judges would not &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":535,"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/510\/revisions\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xodogs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}