capellalayla wrote:

I can't really comment on the conformation aspect, but I will mention briefly that if you do plan to breed her that you don't do it any time soon, at least not before she's 2 years old. Seven months is WAY too soon to breed a dog. Has she even had her first heat yet?

no she doesnt heat yet, and if i going to breed her, sure i will wait until she's 2 years. thanks for your advice.

Personally I wouldn't breed a dog with a front like that or a bad rear. Rears are easier to fix than fronts...providing they're not dysplastic...which if her femoral head does not sit well in her pelvic socket, even at 7 months, I'd be extremely concerned and would not make ANY plans until the hips were OFA'd and determined to be at MINIMUM Good.

Straight fronts, once you breed a straight front into your lines....might as well just plan on producing straight fronts. You'll pretty much never be able to breed that out and it is absolutely detrimental to the longevity of a working dog-

Also, remember, OFA hip and eye testing only cover about 10% of the total dog. There is a lot more to understand in breeding. Having OFA certified good hips does not mean a rear is assembled correctly, or that the dog has overall balance, or even that there are no other faults overall. It only means there is no sign of dysplasia.

Even as such, once you feel you understand your own dogs faults...then you have to be able to identify the faults of any and every potential stud dog. You do not want to double up on faults, which could exasperate the fault. You'd want a stud dog that would complement her structure and would blend well into her lines.

Hello all :]

I'm new to the forum. If anyone experienced with conformation could take a look at my girl Ziva, I'd really appreciate it! We're starting to dog scooter and I want to be aware of anything conformation-related that might make her more prone to injury.

She's 60lbs, but it's just length and height. She's not as bulky as builds that I've seen before.

Are you only interested in safety-related issues with her body, or conformation to the breed standard, generally?

I'm most interested in safety-related issues, but also curious about conformation to the breed standard. I know she's much too tall/large, but what else?

Thanks!

Well the most obvious beyond disqualifying weight is the snapped tail, which is a major fault.

Ohh right! That's only allowed for malamutes, right? Given her size and other things, I wouldn't be surprised if she were mixed with mal.

She appears to be standing slightly cow hocked in the rear, not surprising given the tail fault- however given her size, and I'm assuming you are interested in or participating in harness sports of some variety, watch her closely for overheating. Over sized/over standard Siberians tend to overheat faster and take longer to cool down.

HuskyMom09 wrote:

She appears to be standing slightly cow hocked in the rear, not surprising given the tail fault-  however given her size, and I'm assuming you are interested in or participating in harness sports of some variety, watch her closely for overheating.  Over sized/over standard Siberians tend to overheat faster and take longer to cool down.

Lani - that brings up a question I've been mulling over the past few weeks.  As you may know, Ami is a wooly - not hugely so through the body but most definitely a wooly and he is over standard in height - somewhere between 24.5 and 25.5 at the withers (as best I can measure the squirrelly beast).  He runs about 63 pounds.

I want to get him a backpack to carry his water on walks.  Husband is concerned that will make him too hot.  Even in the 30's Ami is panting on walks and always gravitates to the shady side of the road and prefers the woods.  

Do you think a backpack with 2 liters of water is too much for a wooly in spring/summer/fall.  Our walks are generally 3 miles at a time with hikes in the woods sometimes 5 miles.  We stop whenever Ami does or when we need a break - hills are always involved around here, usually 3-6% grade, though the gorge trails can be significant.

Since the woolie coat is less efficient in letting the heat out and cool air in I'd closely monitor activity especially with a pack. Which it sounds like you already do. You should be able to build up endurance and tolerance but with caution to ambient temperatures and humidity.

Thanks, Lani. It's a good thing I knew nothing about wooly coat and Ami had lost most of his coat due to malnutrition and neglect so I didn't recognize him as a wooly. Otherwise, I might have passed on him and he is such a perfect dog for us. Except that I blythely told my husband - oh, siberians don't need a lot of grooming (except during coat blow) A quick brushing once a week, they groom themselves like cats...not a problem

HuskyMom09 wrote:

She appears to be standing slightly cow hocked in the rear, not surprising given the tail fault-  however given her size, and I'm assuming you are interested in or participating in harness sports of some variety, watch her closely for overheating.  Over sized/over standard Siberians tend to overheat faster and take longer to cool down.

Thanks!

Does she have any redeeming conformation? hahaha

idirae, well of course she does; she's obviously got a heart of gold (under all that fur). I think you kind of opened yourself up to some comments when you said (roughly) fitness for sports and conformation to breed standards.

If you're mostly concerned about her physical conformation for the sports you want to indulge in then bearing in mind that she's not fully developed yet (I don't think) you just need to exercise caution as you train - just like humans, you can't expect her to take off from day one on a 25mile cross country.

It would also help us, in cases like this, if you'd go back and fill in a bit of your profile ... a location would be of value. If you're in the South of the US then you need to be more concerned about temp/humidity than if you're in the Yukon territories, for example.

Hi, I'm relatively new to the forum and this has been an extremely educational topic! My husky Echo is 13 months old and I was wondering if anyone could point out his faults and strengths (if he has any!). These pictures aren't the best so let me know if better ones are needed.











He was only about 8 months old in this one:

Vanessa, you don't have to keep reposting this. There are only a few members who can/will do evaluations on this thread. Give it time and they will come and give you some advice. Echo is a very cute pup though!

So sorry! It wasn't on purpose! This is one of my first times posting and I'm still getting the hang of how to do it. It's kind of hard posting pictures from my phone!

great dogs tnxxx all of you....

Echo's_mom wrote:

Hi, I'm relatively new to the forum and this has been an extremely educational topic! My husky Echo is 13 months old and I was wondering if anyone could point out his faults and strengths (if he has any!). These pictures aren't the best so let me know if better ones are needed.











He was only about 8 months old in this one:

I don't know much about conformation but his face looks off me me. Like the ears are to long and the face to narrow but it will be interesting to see what the people who know more have to say.

I was thinking the same thing Elise. His muzzle shape almost looks more GSD-type to me. I don't think that means he's not purebred though, just a long face! He's beautiful regardless.

I was thinking his head looked odd and then realized that it might just be his mask ... most of ours don't have full masks once they're past the puppy stage and I think that may be throwing us off. Avalanche (my Alaskan) has a full mask at 4+ so I'm a little used to seeing it.

The second picture (standing facing right) actually - to my untrained eye - looks good!

Thanks guys! He's definitely purebred, just not very photogenic! He hates having a camera pointed at him I think it's his dark mask and his parti-eye that make his face look a little off balance. I don't have many good pictures of his head.

Here are some different angles:

Since he's only a year you can expect the head not to be fully mature- I don't see an issue at this point there.

Structurally I like his front, he looks balanced front to rear, nice coat quality, overall I like him a lot.

Vanessa - coming from HuskyMom, that is a reply well worth waiting for

I respectfully disagree about the "not photogenic" - I think he photographs very well. Wish Ami had such a beautiful curve head to neck.

Thank you HuskyMom. Just some background info I forgot to add: he's from Karnovanda kennels, his sire is Karnovanda's Aizik Wolf and his dam is Karnovanda's Miss Congeniality. I don't think he got his ears from his dad And Amy, don't fluff his ego! He already prances around like he's the hottest dog at the park!

Echo's_mom wrote:

Thank you HuskyMom. Just some background info I forgot to add: he's from Karnovanda kennels, his sire is Karnovanda's Aizik Wolf and his dam is Karnovanda's Miss Congeniality. I don't think he got his ears from his dad And Amy, don't fluff his ego! He already prances around like he's the hottest dog at the park!

I won't tell him, but I wouldn't disagree with him either