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| Great Lakes Boxer Club UKC Licensed Conformation Club #MI-110 |
| Featured Article June, 2008 |
| Bringing An Italian Import Into A Breeding Program Submitted by Paul and Alla Sikorskii Esteem Boxers |
We are often asked where we imported our dogs from. We did import one, but others are our breeding done here in the United
States from the American stock. In the discussion below, we will talk about and compare our American-bred Colin and our Italian
import Maya. It is our view and interpretation of the standard that drive our breeding decisions, which in turn shape the results in
terms of how our dogs look. The decision of bringing an Italian import into our breeding program roots deep in our vision of the
breed, and that it is really one breed, here in the United States and in Europe.
So what may people find different about Boxers in Europe? A recent article by Jennifer Walker of Newcastle Boxers in the Boxer
Ring has a detailed comparison of the AKC, FCI, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Boxer standards and concludes
that there are no appreciable differences among the standards (an immediate disclaimer on our part is that we bred one of our
bitches to Jennifer’s dog). Verbatim, “A Boxer is a Boxer is a Boxer” – we can not agree more.
Going back 4 years, in the very first conversation we had with Allessandro Tanoni and his son Tommaso of Del Colle dell’Infinito
Boxers they mentioned that when they visited California, they have went to a dog show and their impression was that “Boxers
looked like a different breed”. Setting aside Italian animation and tendency to exaggerate, and given that the standards mostly
agree, where does the difference come from? Are these differences something we see but can not quantify? Perhaps they are; in
what follows we will try to begin to understand the similarities and differences.
One difference may come from the appearance of the head. Even though it is difficult to be precise, the requirement of the length
of the muzzle to be 1/3 of the length of head from the occiput to the tip of the nose is probably satisfied on the lower bound of
approximation for the Boxers in Europe, and on the upper bound for the ones in the US. Our goal is never to go over 1/3; we
would rather err on the short side. Maya with her head is a perfect addition to our breeding program. It appears that puppies in a
litter where one of the parents has a long muzzle will also have muzzles that are long. It really does take two parents to produce
the head hat we had in our last litter: we can’t wait for Henry (one of the puppies) to win at Westminster! We have never been
able to produce that before across the entire litter, even though we were successful in producing some very nice heads.
About ears: in our discussions of getting a puppy, Alessandro insisted that either they have the ears cropped, or we leave them
natural. The rationale was that while in many European countries ear cropping is banned, where it is done, it is done to make the
dog less vulnerable. They crop the ears (and tail for that matter) very short. They can not see the reason why the ears are
cropped so long in the United States. And, of course, dew claws were left alone.
Another visual difference is in the height. While there is a range of heights specified, rarely one can see a 25 inch dog in a
European ring. We do not show very much, so take it for what it is worth, but every time we walk into a show ring with our
American-bred Colin, he is by quite a bit the shortest dog standing at 23 inches at the withers. Even though the desirable
maximum height is specified in the standard, there is no disqualification based on size with the overall balance being very
important. And that leads to the next point.
The new UKC standard agrees with that of FCI and requires the length of leg from elbow is the ground is half of the height at the
withers. AKC standard has a bit different wording, “the depth of the body at the lowest point of the brisket equals half the height of
the dog at the withers”, but gets at the same thing. Visually, one might question this looking at Colin and Maya with the chest
appearing is too deep and powerful. Being disciplinary mathematicians, we defer to a tape measure: 11 ½ inches each for the
depth of chest ad length of leg from elbow down to the ground for Colin, and 11 inches for the length of leg from the ground to
the elbow, and 11 inches for the depth of chest for Maya. All that substance of course, leads to the question of weight.
Neither AKC nor UKC standard specifies the desired weight. The standard by FCI calls for dogs to be over 30 kg (66 pounds) at
23.6 inches at the withers, and for bitches to be around 25 kg (55 pounds) when height at the withers is 22 inches.
Few other characteristics that FCI standard quantifies and UKC and AKC standards do not are angels in the hindquarters of 140
degrees in the hock, and 95-100 degrees in the rear pastern, the former being hard to evaluate with the traditional European
show stack. Our view (heavily influenced by Tina and Joe Camp) is that good rear angulation in the puppy would be due to
American genes rather than European.
With all standard considerations and probability calculations going into the breeding, it was the greatest joy to raise that litter of 11
babies produced by Colin and Maya. We can’t wait for the Specialty at the Premier where well trained Henry and Fergie will bring
smiles to their owner-handlers’ faces, and Uma will bring smiles to the faces of the spectators.
Henry (Esteem’s the Inheritance) is idolized by William Chrzanowski and Pavel Sikorskii
Fergie (Esteem’s Glamorous) is loved by Tina Camp and Pavel Sikorskii
Uma (Esteem’s Time Machine) owns Pavel Sikorskii and Alla Sikorskii
States from the American stock. In the discussion below, we will talk about and compare our American-bred Colin and our Italian
import Maya. It is our view and interpretation of the standard that drive our breeding decisions, which in turn shape the results in
terms of how our dogs look. The decision of bringing an Italian import into our breeding program roots deep in our vision of the
breed, and that it is really one breed, here in the United States and in Europe.
So what may people find different about Boxers in Europe? A recent article by Jennifer Walker of Newcastle Boxers in the Boxer
Ring has a detailed comparison of the AKC, FCI, British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Boxer standards and concludes
that there are no appreciable differences among the standards (an immediate disclaimer on our part is that we bred one of our
bitches to Jennifer’s dog). Verbatim, “A Boxer is a Boxer is a Boxer” – we can not agree more.
Going back 4 years, in the very first conversation we had with Allessandro Tanoni and his son Tommaso of Del Colle dell’Infinito
Boxers they mentioned that when they visited California, they have went to a dog show and their impression was that “Boxers
looked like a different breed”. Setting aside Italian animation and tendency to exaggerate, and given that the standards mostly
agree, where does the difference come from? Are these differences something we see but can not quantify? Perhaps they are; in
what follows we will try to begin to understand the similarities and differences.
One difference may come from the appearance of the head. Even though it is difficult to be precise, the requirement of the length
of the muzzle to be 1/3 of the length of head from the occiput to the tip of the nose is probably satisfied on the lower bound of
approximation for the Boxers in Europe, and on the upper bound for the ones in the US. Our goal is never to go over 1/3; we
would rather err on the short side. Maya with her head is a perfect addition to our breeding program. It appears that puppies in a
litter where one of the parents has a long muzzle will also have muzzles that are long. It really does take two parents to produce
the head hat we had in our last litter: we can’t wait for Henry (one of the puppies) to win at Westminster! We have never been
able to produce that before across the entire litter, even though we were successful in producing some very nice heads.
About ears: in our discussions of getting a puppy, Alessandro insisted that either they have the ears cropped, or we leave them
natural. The rationale was that while in many European countries ear cropping is banned, where it is done, it is done to make the
dog less vulnerable. They crop the ears (and tail for that matter) very short. They can not see the reason why the ears are
cropped so long in the United States. And, of course, dew claws were left alone.
Another visual difference is in the height. While there is a range of heights specified, rarely one can see a 25 inch dog in a
European ring. We do not show very much, so take it for what it is worth, but every time we walk into a show ring with our
American-bred Colin, he is by quite a bit the shortest dog standing at 23 inches at the withers. Even though the desirable
maximum height is specified in the standard, there is no disqualification based on size with the overall balance being very
important. And that leads to the next point.
The new UKC standard agrees with that of FCI and requires the length of leg from elbow is the ground is half of the height at the
withers. AKC standard has a bit different wording, “the depth of the body at the lowest point of the brisket equals half the height of
the dog at the withers”, but gets at the same thing. Visually, one might question this looking at Colin and Maya with the chest
appearing is too deep and powerful. Being disciplinary mathematicians, we defer to a tape measure: 11 ½ inches each for the
depth of chest ad length of leg from elbow down to the ground for Colin, and 11 inches for the length of leg from the ground to
the elbow, and 11 inches for the depth of chest for Maya. All that substance of course, leads to the question of weight.
Neither AKC nor UKC standard specifies the desired weight. The standard by FCI calls for dogs to be over 30 kg (66 pounds) at
23.6 inches at the withers, and for bitches to be around 25 kg (55 pounds) when height at the withers is 22 inches.
Few other characteristics that FCI standard quantifies and UKC and AKC standards do not are angels in the hindquarters of 140
degrees in the hock, and 95-100 degrees in the rear pastern, the former being hard to evaluate with the traditional European
show stack. Our view (heavily influenced by Tina and Joe Camp) is that good rear angulation in the puppy would be due to
American genes rather than European.
With all standard considerations and probability calculations going into the breeding, it was the greatest joy to raise that litter of 11
babies produced by Colin and Maya. We can’t wait for the Specialty at the Premier where well trained Henry and Fergie will bring
smiles to their owner-handlers’ faces, and Uma will bring smiles to the faces of the spectators.
Henry (Esteem’s the Inheritance) is idolized by William Chrzanowski and Pavel Sikorskii
Fergie (Esteem’s Glamorous) is loved by Tina Camp and Pavel Sikorskii
Uma (Esteem’s Time Machine) owns Pavel Sikorskii and Alla Sikorskii
Colin
Maya
Uma
Uma
Henry
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Fergie