I never really understood the concept of “show weight”, especially when this is the second line of our standard: “compactly built, muscular and powerful, for great endurance and speed.” I’ve never had a judge comment on weight/condition so I just keep my dog as he is.
He’s handsome! I asked a long-time Doberman person about the “show weight” vs “sport weight” stuff once. She said a little surface fat will round out a dog and help the eye flow over each area and can help hide minor faults. I am not a conformation person at all. In the last three years in Dobermans I’ve become better at seeing a correct dog, but when I see a poorly bred dog with major faults I’m not yet good enough to say what exactly is “off.” I can just tell something isn’t quite right, sometimes I can tell if it’s the front or the back, but sometimes I’ll see a dog and be like “is that a bad rear?” and someone will say, actually the rear angulation is fine but the front is off so it makes the rear look funny too.I never really understood the concept of “show weight”, especially when this is the second line of our standard: “compactly built, muscular and powerful, for great endurance and speed.” I’ve never had a judge comment on weight/condition so I just keep my dog as he is.
This is him now and I wouldn’t like him heavier than this. I’m showing in two weeks so we’ll see if I get any comments.
