I firmly believe that we can never stop learning. Siberian's fascinate me in every way and because of this I have decided to show my male, Cato. He has faults, they all have faults. But he is my baby and is perfect to me. I would like to point out a few good points and bad points on Cato's conformation, as I believe that people could greatly learn from it. Please keep this discussion civil and kind, as we can learn greatly from our dogs!!

I don't have the best pictures available, but here is what I have. These are from Cato's first show.

Cato in a free stack after his Group 2 win, Mimzy is next to him.




And this is before Cato mastered his stack, when I was learning:



Here's one that is just cute. Yes, that is a cat condo.


Faults (according to standard): Weak stop, long muzzle, shorter legs (than I prefer ), straight bottom teeth (they should be curved) and he used to have a gait that was odd because he had a tendon issue in his right paw.

Advantages: Nice markings, thick coat, nice curvature on thighs and front, long tail, small and dark eyes, small ears, happy demeanor.

Ceara is on her phone and can't post, so I told her I would post for her!

Here is Bella:

oh man i just adore cato!
and how old is bella?
ill post some of my girl.

Thanks! He is a special one

oh man :/ i posted my photos but they didnt show up?

Thanks for posting those for me Megan! <3

Bella's major faults (present from first picture to second and to present day): Straight front. Poor temperament.

Minor faults: Tail set/carriage. Too large ears. Too short coat. Straight rear [note: her straight rear may not be genetic but could be her body's way of compensating for her front] (bit too straight in stifle - not as big a fault as straight front). Short upper arm. Short neck in regards to length of body. Too round eyes/not set properly. There are others - but I am less qualified and learned to make those judgements

Advantages: Nice topline (second picture to present day), nice head, nice muzzle, nice length of leg for her length of body. Bomb-proof

Sorry! I didn't see your question until after I posted! She's turning two in February.

I love Bellas muzzle.


How does she do in harness, Ceara? I know that at one point you and I discussed how uncomfortable it would be because she is straighter in front.

She actually does really well. Her body has compensated for her straight front and her gait is good because of it which is what we think her straight rear comes from - so she doesn't overreach and step over/on her front feet. She doesn't show any signs of discomfort working in harness.

Her heart would stop her before she broke down from conformation. That's not saying it's correct or proper - because she wouldn't be able to even come close to doing what the original Siberians did in harness. But for what she did do before I stopped working her in harness (which wasn't much admittedly but more than what many people do) it didn't affect her.

Note the long, sharp muzzle. Stop isn't insufficient, just not as prominent as I would like. Nice dark nose.

ok let me try this again

I never get great stacking photos because i never have anyone around to take a pic of me actually stacking her. so all i have pretty much is her free stacking and if i made her hold a stack. im going to have to get my boyfriend to help me get some good shots on tuesday when were both off work.

zizzy at 12 weeks



zizzy at 5 months


and some throughout the last few months

A comparative photo between Cato and Bella.

heres the best i have of zizzy right now

I will comment in a few minutes, swamped at work!!

Zizzy is a red, correct?

Okay, I hope you don't mind if non-show dogs join in just for fun and education.

Dakota is a rescued stray and far from show quality, but would anyone care to take a look at him and point out his faults and good points if he has any? For starters his bite is off (undercut) and his ears are a bit large and don't look correctly placed to me, plus his stop is not right but I don't know how to describe what is off about it...I'm guessing his muzzle is probably off too although again I don't know how. I know he's got more faults than just that but I am not up on all that stuff. He'll always be 'perfect' in my eyes, but just for the fun of it what other faults would you say he has from looking at him. I do think he's got nice tail carriage even if I haven't got a good picture of it.

Sorry for the lack of quality pics, I don't show obviously so you'll have to make due with the candids from over the years. He's never been stacked so this is the closest he's done freely.





Profile with mouth open up ears up


Profile with mouth shut but ears back

zizzuki wrote:

ok let me try this again

I never get great stacking photos because i never have anyone around to take a pic of me actually stacking her. so all i have pretty much is her free stacking and if i made her hold a stack. im going to have to get my boyfriend to help me get some good shots on tuesday when were both off work.

zizzy at 12 weeks

Zizzy appears to be a nicely colored light red - at first I even thought a splash coat. Is she in the sun alot? You may want to consider a dog sunscreen, as reds are so sensitive to the sun.

Faults: She is very leggy and has very straight angles. Leggy isn't bad, just depends on preferences. Some judges will love it. Her tail appears short, but in another picture looks long. I really can't decide on her front - feel it. Does it feel straight? Long ears.

Advantages: Nice stop. nice color and Markings. I like the nose and the eyes, although blue, are not at all too round. Tail appears to be set nicely in most pictures. I'm not a huge fan of open faces, but your girl looks very nice.

Huskyluv wrote:

Okay, I hope you don't mind if non-show dogs join in just for fun and education.

Dakota is a rescued stray and far from show quality, but would anyone care to take a look at him and point out his faults and good points if he has any? For starters his bite is off (undercut) and his ears are a bit large and don't look correctly placed to me, plus his stop is not right but I don't know how to describe what is off about it...I'm guessing his muzzle is probably off too although again I don't know how. I know he's got more faults than just that but I am not up on all that stuff. He'll always be 'perfect' in my eyes, but just for the fun of it what other faults would you say he has from looking at him. I do think he's got nice tail carriage even if I haven't got a good picture of it.

Sorry for the lack of quality pics, I don't show obviously so you'll have to make due with the candids from over the years. He's never been stacked so this is the closest he's done freely.

Of course all Siberians are welcome! There are plenty of "show quality" dogs that I wouldn't think belong in shows and many rescues who could hold their own!!

Dakota:

Faults: Long Ears, could be tighter together on top of head. round eyes (could be due to them being blue!), very thick chested, can't tell if tail is short or not. He could use a little more angling, but I am sure he would do well in harness.

Advantages: Cute nose. Nice markings. Nice coat, not TOO dense. Nice free stack.


Dakota, actually seems to have a very prominent stop, this is a good thing. I'll post a pic of a nice stop soon!

Okay I'll post So I don't think Ares is too bad, when he was younger he had a nice ear set, but I don't know, he's not really growing into them

Ares gaiting


7 months


his front


and a self stack at 10 months

And then Zoey, I really wanted to show her, but she has that damn snapped tail, and long legs


a few self stacks



and then her stupid tail, this was at 18 months old


her muzzle

I never really considered showing Embry since I opted to not get his papers when I bought him, but for fun
self stack at 6 months


self stack at 3 years


and muzzle

mheath0429 wrote:

zizzuki wrote:

ok let me try this again

I never get great stacking photos because i never have anyone around to take a pic of me actually stacking her. so all i have pretty much is her free stacking and if i made her hold a stack. im going to have to get my boyfriend to help me get some good shots on tuesday when were both off work.

zizzy at 12 weeks

Zizzy appears to be a nicely colored light red - at first I even thought a splash coat. Is she in the sun alot? You may want to consider a dog sunscreen, as reds are so sensitive to the sun.

Faults: She is very leggy and has very straight angles. Leggy isn't bad, just depends on preferences. Some judges will love it. Her tail appears short, but in another picture looks long. I really can't decide on her front - feel it. Does it feel straight? Long ears.

Advantages: Nice stop. nice color and Markings. I like the nose and the eyes, although blue, are not at all too round. Tail appears to be set nicely in most pictures. I'm not a huge fan of open faces, but your girl looks very nice.

Zizzy is a splash coat. And shes in the sun a decent amount, but I havent had to use sunscreen on her yet. Why do you say that? Jw. I mean I havent had reasons to yet lol.
Her tails not short hahah i have another pic where her tail looks sooo stubby hahaha.
Photos really dont do her justice.
I want to take a video of us practicing so itll be almost like youre there.

Red's who are in the sun have their coat get "sunburnt" or "bleached". Red coated dogs are hard to care for in that way because even longer than 15 minutes in the sun a day can start the bleaching.

Niraya wrote:

Red's who are in the sun have their coat get "sunburnt" or "bleached". Red coated dogs are hard to care for in that way because even longer than 15 minutes in the sun a day can start the bleaching.

Oh. Well no her coats always been this color since she was a pup. Its never been a true red. At a show i went to I spoke to breeders about it and they all agreed shed be considered a red sable, but simply just red.

Ok guys, what do you think about Juneau? for funs! (For the record, she looks bald in some pictures, I have her deshedded a couple times a year)