Now is the time to go over the dog with your hands. Particular attention should now be paid to the head.
The Boxer standard, even though explicit in the head qualities desired, is also confusing to many people. It is the head that gives judges and breeders alike, the most trouble. If shown a selection of photographs of different heads, most good judges and breeders would agree which ones were the best. So why is it that head type varies so much?
The blueprint of the Boxer head should be the MUNICH SILHOUETTE. This was the profile of the head as laid down by the country of origin of the breed, and most breeders still regard it to be of excellent type. You can run a ruler on the balance of skull to muzzle and it will come out 1:3. The depth of muzzle is correct and so is the depth of skull. Heavy wrinkles are not evident anywhere on the skull. Note the planes of the head, with the deep stop and tip tilted nose. NB: The standard calls for the tip of the nose to be higher than the root of the muzzle! Note also the rounding out of the upper lip and chin in front of the nose.
How to measure the Head
The head is measured from the TIP of the nose to the STOP, then from the STOP to the OCCIPUT.
At right is a typical head study of a pup taken at 4 months of age. Notice the rise of skull and chin in profile, very similar to the Munich Silhouette's interpretation of an adult dog.
Do not expect a puppy's head to have the same depth or breadth through the skull, amount of stop, tip-tilt of nose or thickness of padding in the muzzle as an adult.
A good Boxer head should not coarsen as the dog ages. Pictured at left is a beautiful head study of a 5 year old bitch.
Now consider the head of the dog in front of you.......
Does the size of the head look in balance to his body?
Looking down on the head, does the skull merge smoothly into the muzzle?
Does the head give you the impression of a smaller square attached to a larger square?
Are the cheeks muscles smooth and not exaggerated?
Does the muzzle look either too narrow or too shallow in relation to the skull?
Is the chin visible, from the front and the side, but not unduly swept up and protruding, yet not hidden by lips and flews?
(Of course no teeth will be visible!)
Can you feel bone and substance in the muzzle, not just heavy padding as you lift the flews to look into the mouth.
When you open his mouth.......
Are the bottom teeth in a straight line, with the canines set wide apart?
From each side, is only one upper tooth visible between the canines?
Look at the expression.......
Do beautiful dark, almost human shaped, tight rimmed eyes, look straight at you at you with confidence?
Are the eyes set well to the front under a definite brow?
Can you fit your thumb into the deep groove between the eyes (stop)?
Is the tip of the nose slightly higher than the stop in profile?
Is the nose large with well opened nostrils?
From the front when holding the head level, does the top of the nose touch an imaginary line drawn between the corner of the eyes?
Unpigmented Third Eyelids
Unpigmented third eyelids (nictitating membrane) can spoil the expression, but are purely a COSMETIC FAULT only, (in the same vein as uneven head markings, uneven brindling, etc).
Some dogs have a large membrane which can look to cover a large part of the eye; others have smaller ones which go almost unnoticed, particularly if the dog has tight eye rims.
(Note:Most breeders prefer a dog to have two dark "haws", but will accept one or both upigmented eyes on an otherwise good dog. Although it is possible to have fully pigmented eyes with white head markings, the incidence of unpigmented third eyelids occuring is more common in these dogs, than in dogs with "plain" faces.)
Therefore as a judge, if the dog in front of you is a better specimen STRUCTURALLY, than the other dogs in the class, the unpigmented eye/eyes should be ignored.
NB: The above two photographs are of the same dog...I have corrected the unpigmented third eyelid only!
Wrinkling on Skull
The head should be "clean", and free of wrinkle. Furrows will appear on the top of the head only, when the dog is alerted. (Wrinkles or furrows appearing on the sides of the skull, should be penalised.)
You will also see wrinkles on each side of the muzzle which fills in the break between muzzle and skull.
(See History and Purpose )
Slight, but not excessive "quilting" is also evident over the bridge of the nose helping to pad out the muzzle.
Ears
If the ears are cropped they should stand firmly erect, if uncropped they are medium sized, and high set, carried slightly lifted and tilted forward towards the side of the cheeks. In both cases the ears are very mobile.
Head Markings
Don't ever let "off centre", or uneven head markings distract you from appreciating an otherwise good head. These markings are very common and quite acceptable on a Boxer.
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