The Science of the Art of Affen

"Be an independent thinker rather than a follower of the crowd ... Read, think and be Challenged"
Thelma R Brown and Edward M Gilbert Jr.

Taken for the preface of one of my all-time favourite books - "K-9 Structure & Terminology" This book book was based on the original work by Curtis M and Thelma R Brown. I have a list here of books which I really think are a must to read before you can start to begin to understand the complexities of the structure of the affenpinscher.

Brown, Curtis M., Dog Locomotion and Gait Analysis, Hoflin publishing Ltd 1986
Elliot, Racheal Page, The New Dogsteps. New York:Howell Book House Inc 1983
Gilbert Jr, Edward M & Thelma Brown, K-9 Structure and Terminology. New York:Howell Book House Inc 1995
Spira, H.R., Canine Terminology. New York:Howell Book House Inc 1982

It goes without saying that the affenpinscher standard is another must read but without the knowledge contained in these books, it can be very difficult to extract from the concise and at times implied content of the very brief standard. The FCI and the American Standard are also useful cross-references for the more obtuse omissions in the UK standard.

There are a couple of books i am still looking for which have been recommended by a couple of authors - Sari Brewster Tietjen's The Dog Judge's Handbook and George W Trimberger's Dairy Cattle Judging Techniques.

Affenpinscher Anatomy and Conformation

Why does the affenpinscher standard say what it does? My view is that the standard represents the blueprint of a functional affenpinscher, but what is a functional affenpinscher?

The main difficulty in establishing the function of the breed is that in FCI countries affenpinschers are classified in group 2 (section 1) Pinscher and Schnauzer type ( a working watch dog and vermin catcher) whereas in the rest of the world, including the UK where I am based, the breed is a toy breed (so an appealing companion).

Should form be put over fancy in a toy breed? Should the original function still uphelp in the country of origin be ignored?

Thinking from a functional point of view, we need a quick turning, agile dog with fast intial speed, to catch vermin in the small area of a Farmyard/Farm buildings. Does everyword in the standard have a functional reasons for being there?

My thought for the blog is to go through the different part of the standard (of course the UK standard to start with) and explore why the standard says what it does, compare it to what definative texts on canine conformation and anatomy says about the requirement of a quick turning/high intial speed breed and also look at what other countries standards say on the subject and where there is a difference explore why that is.