Measure, Don't Guess!

If in doubt about whether an animal is within the 12 to 14”, measure the dog. Never put a good dog to the back of the line because you think it may be oversize. It makes the judge look foolish to the spectators, and you may have overlooked a good, insize dog because of an optical illusion.

Grooming and body proportion can also fool the eye into assuming an incorrect height for a dog. A cobby, well-boned dog may appear larger than one the same height, who is lankier and longer backed. Then again, if the lanky dog has little chest, he may appear large because of the length of his legs (the air under his body) in proportion to his body thickness.

Color can also make a difference in the appearance of size, as can the height of the dogs who happen to be competing that day. A dog that is top of the standard may look oversize if the other dogs competing are on the small side, or the converse, a small dog will look even smaller if his competition is all at the top of the standard (or more).

Don’t trust your eyesight. Experienced breeders and judges may be able to tell on the exam table, but 1/4” accuracy is difficult to guess correctly.
A 14¼" dog can measure in because of the natural tendency for the dog to duck just a little when the weight of the wicket rests on their shoulders and there's nothing a judge can do about that. But a word of caution - it is also possible to measure a 12¼” dog as undersize because they also have a tendency to shrink down under the weight of the wicket.

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