# Criticize Nia's Conformation (Papillon conformation)



## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

*Critique Nia's Conformation (Papillon conformation)*

Edit: I meant critique, not sure why I typed criticize...

I've been away for a while! 2 weeks in London and 1 week in NYC but I'm back!

There's a lot of people here that understand conformation very well and just for fun I'd like some criticisms on Nia's conformation.

Sorry, I'm not sure how to stack her but this is what she does by herself and I just took a couple pics.

*She's a bit wet because I just bathed her but didn't wait for her to dry...*
Body













































Head




























Just for fun 

Wink!










Few more!


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Yes? Did you call me?









Take some time out of your busy day to smell the roses!









End


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

It's hard to tell too much without her stacked to be honest. Overall though I quite like her. She seems well balanced and seems to have a level topline. She does not look overdone in any way. It's hard to tell angulation but it -looks- okay to me. I like her neck- it's very well arched. And her tail set is just great.

She could have larger and more fringed ears but her ear set and shape is very nice and at the correct angle. Head type in papillons is really a personal preference thing for the most part. She looks very papillon and elegant. There is something about her head type that isn't quite what I prefer but it's hard to articulate. I almost think she might have a touch too much stop. Length and width of muzzle looks pretty much ideal (unlike Miss Mia Longnose here lol) 

Her front feet could use some trimming.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Yup she needs trimming all over LOL. I've been away for about a month and she didn't get any grooming in that time. I just bathed her today, will trim potty parts, feet and nails later.

Hmm I'n not sure why her ears look quite small, it could be because they are wet. When I picked her out I thought she had very nice ears. Hmm weird..I never noticed until you mentioned it. Does her ears look any better in here?




























I think she's a little butt high honestly, not 100% sure though.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Yeah they look better here. Keep in mind I have Summer who is giant ears. She has Miafringe... aka most the fringe is on the bottom of the ear. I'm hoping Mia's get more uniform. 

She looks bum high in some pics but in others looks fine. Summer is fairly butt high.

Btw the first pic in this post is adorable.


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## Papilove (May 20, 2010)

It's tough to really know for sure with any long-haired breed without being able to put your hands on them, AND unstacked, although she's standing nicely for free. I would have said butt high too, but just a little, and I was hesitant because that little bit could easily be because she isn't standing right. Her angulation 'looks' okay but again, hard to see exactly, and not standing square makes it hard to judge too. I sure do think she's lovely. I love her expression.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

Head type really is personal preference. I prefer Nia's type, with that little bit more stop (and her head comes from her father's side; her dad's/Crystal's breeder told me she specifically breeds for that look). Stacking's not too hard if your dog's co-operative -- her front legs need to be straight down from the shoulder (which she's naturally doing in most of those pictures), and in the back, her hocks need to be perpendicular to the floor. Look at this doberman -- see how you could lay a ruler down her hocks, they're so straight? You can use your middle finger as a ruler when positioning Nia's back legs; that makes it easier to tell when they're straight.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Also noticed she looks slightly east-west in the front in all the pics. I noticed a lot of dogs at reliant with similar head types. It's just not what I'm used to I think. I like less stop and a more pointed muzzle. 

This is what Brandi (mia's breeder) says about heads:



> Here you can compare Monkey's head and stop from 20 weeks (above) to 11 months and notice how well it came back together. The other example shows a lovely boy with a very pretty head. Heads are in many ways a personal preference in papillons. Some people will prefer a little more stop than others, but all are correct as long as there is enough stop to keep the head and muzzle from appearing flat or long and not too much as to leave it looking like a Chihuahua. Proportions are everything in structure so as long as the head, foreskull/stop and muzzle are proportiante the over-all appearance will be lovely.



ETA: Have you all read this?

http://www.judgesl.com/Papillon/index.html


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Thanks for the stacking advice. I can't really stack her because for some reasons she gets upset when I try to stack her and her tail ends up flopping so I have to hold it in place but no one wants to help me take a picture lol.

She doesn't have my favorite type of head either. I like the head to be more refined with a little longer muzzle and a little less stop too. Nia's breeder hasn't fully established her own line yet so heads vary quite a lot from breeding to breeding.

And yes her front has always been a bit east/west and I worry a bit about it when she's doing lots of extreme exercise. It doesn't seem to affect her at all though  I just worry too much lol.

She was supposed to be kept for conformation but she didn't grow out the way her breeder wanted. Do you guys think she would've had a decent chance at finishing her Ch. if her temperament was more showy and less reserved? I always wonder about this.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

I think she could finish... I see a lot of much less quality dogs finish around here at least. I'm pretty sure all of mine could have finished too. I had people tell me at Reliant that I should have shown Summer and that she would have finished easily. 

Summer flips if I stack her too... she'll roach her back pretty bad. (She has a bad topline to begin with but she accentuates it when she's unsure of what I'm doing.)

I wouldn't worry about her being east-west on the front.


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

Nia roaches her back when I stack her too. Then if I try more, she just sits down and refuses to get up. I guess that's one of the reasons why her breeder sent her to a pet home lol.


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