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Author: Jasminko Kormoš – Buco
Translate: Gordana Visković
In this work, I will discuss different results of the measurements of the height and length of the Croatian Shepherds, from the initial measurements (Stjepan Romić 1935 – 1975, Otto Rohr - 1960, a group of authors (Milivoje Urošević, Boris Špoljarić, Zlatko Skalicki, Mijo Fury) 1988, Boris Špoljarić 1990, Jasminko Kormoš – Buco 2005). I intend to present the mean values found through all the measurements undertaken to this day. Let me begin by saying that they show that the Croatian Shepherd has not substantially changed, but the dog has changed and is still changing.
Let's look at the photographs of the Croatian Shepherds from the times of Romić and Rohr, and especially the head of the dog included in Professor Romić's book MY DOG /MOJ PAS/. Frankly, this dog would be judged as „very good“ at a dog show and considered less than excellent both in conformation and in breeding.
It should be borne in mind that the Standard expressly refers to a „lighter“ bone of the Croatian Shepherd. Contrary to the Standard, however, heavy-boned dogs prevail among modern-day Croatian Shepherds, even though this discrepancy has been brought up repeatedly since the 90's.
I am not implying that a breed cannot or should not change. However, if we are to consider modifications of any kind, first we need to agree on what to change and how to go about it. We must clearly understand what we want to achieve and make it official through staging panels and through the work of a central Croatian Shepherds Breeders' Club – which we will first need to establish.
The first official measurements were taken between 1935 and 1975 by Professor Stjepan Romić and his team. It was on the basis of his measurements that the breed standard was drafted. It should be stressed that the drafting of the Standard was based on the physical measurements already taken, and not on a projected ideal of the breed.
On numerous occasions I have discussed the Croatian Shepherd and its built. I believe it is wrong to let anyone interpret the Standard in a manner which best suits his needs. While a short dog may be the preferred variety in a region, a dog of heavier built may be sought after in another, or a medium to tallish dog of a lighter built may be preferred somewhere else.
Many are the elements that can impact the actual body size of the breed, from club politics to judges making more or less informed decisions at dog shows, to breeding politics carried out by breeding monitors appointed by the clubs, to maintenance and nutrition of individual dogs. When we put all these elements together, it cannot surprise us that a dog in the city and a dog in the country are often not of the same size. As a rule, the city dog tends to be a larger dog, but this is not always the case.
I think that some wrong choices were made in selecting sires, that the breeding politics was responsible as well as the poor organisation in the breed clubs and more recently a lack of involvement of the Croatian Kennel Club in the preservations of this native breed. A preference for a large dog or a heavy-boned dog in breeding and an overall lack of control or ill-considered selection (including penalizing different breeding ideas) led us to where we stand today in the breed: we have large Croatian Shepherds with a heavier to heavy head, and dogs that are either too complacent or aggressive. In other words, we have departed from the correct breed type.
If you mate a large bitch to a large dog, then mate their large-sized offspring to another large dog, you cannot expect the Croatian Shepherds produced by this kind of breeding to remain within the normal measurements. Club breeding monitors should have put a stop to such practices long ago, but they did not. To make things more complex, the Standard determines the size of the Croatian Shepherd of either sex as being within the range of 40 cm and 50 cm, meaning that a breeder can mate a 40 cm male to a 50 cm bitch and stay within the rules. Yes, it is according to the rules, but …
It is not good practice. The Standard does not differentiate the sexes in terms of height, as it should, but makes mention of an ideal height for both sexes instead.
A male of 40 cm and a male of 50 centimetres cannot have the same bone structure. Naturally, the same is true for females.
A single value of 20 centimetres given as the length of head by the Standard cannot be proportionate to the body size of a small and that of a large dog.
The same is with the body length: they are never the same in a male and in a female even when so defined by the Standard.
A large dog is a heavy dog. It cannot stand on its hocks and it spreads the paws to distribute the burden. This then effects both the posture and the movement of the dog, as pointed out by the Club of the Friends of the Croatian Shepherd from Karlovac, mentioning also the high incidence of a heavy bone and heavy head in the present-day breed that differ from its description in the Standard. All these «small details» contribute to the process of changing the dog. If they are found on a single specimen, that particular dog has significantly departed from the breed type.
In this text, I will discuss only the measurements of the body height, with a brief comment of other body proportions. The height of the body and the heaviness of the bone are the key features if we wish to determine how close or how far our dogs are from the standard type, and what we need to do about it. The first official measurements were taken by Professor Stjepan Romić, DVM with his team (they are not named but he always used „we“ rather than „i“) in 1935. They mark the beginning of the standardization of the breed, even if it was Professor Rohr who first published his own measurements of the Croatian Shepherd.
I will try to explain the data presented in the tables in a summary fashion.
Measurement of Croatian Shepherds through different periods:
Professor Stjepan Romić, 1935-1977
Males
Mean
39.87
Small type
Deviation
.
Females
Mean
39.16
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
47.16
HEIGHT
Large type
Deviation
.
AT THE WITHERS
Females
Mean
46.97
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
43.51
Mean
Deviation
.
(Mean value of both small and large types)
Females
Mean
43.06
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
42.68
Small type
Deviation
.
Females
Mean
41.80
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
51.10
LENGTH OF BODY
Large type
Deviation
.
Females
Mean
49.84
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
46.89
Mean
Deviation
.
(Mean value of both small and large types)
Females
Mean
45.82
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
17.74
Small type
Deviation
.
Females
Mean
17.69
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
19.60
LENGTH OF HEAD
Large type
Deviation
.
Females
Mean
19.48
Deviation
Males
Mean
18.67
Mean
Deviation
.
(Mean value of both small and large types)
Females
Mean
18.58
Deviation
.
In his studies, Professor Romić distinguished between two types of the Croatian Shepherd: the small type (short) and the large type (tall). I have maintained his distinction here, but for ease of reference, I will be using the mean value of both types jointly rather than separately (and making reference to the two types when necessary in order to explain the data in the tables).
Therefore, the measurements concern both types of Croatian Shepherds and the total range of height is between 35 and 55 cm. Throughout this text, the mean value of both types of dogs considered together has been used as the height parameter.
The mean height of the male dog measured at the withers was found to be 43.51, and of the female dog 43.06 cm. The length of the head did not exceed 19 cm in either sex. Dogs of both sexes were described as elongated in shape, with the length of the body making 109% of the dog's height measured at the withers.
It follows from the data that the height at the withers did not exceed the medium value of the range provided by the Standard, and that the length of the body did not exceed the height + 10% mark allowed by the Standard.
Professor Romić also presented an overview of the parameters relating to the dogs measured between 4 and 8 years of age. The average height of the small herding dog was given as 41.48 cm, the average height of the large herding dog as 50.93 cm (with a substantial 8-9 cm difference between the two mean values), and the average height among the large city-type dogs was found to be at 50.70 cm. The mean height of all the three types considered together was established at 47.70 cm.
The mean values of the measurements made among the two groups of dogs, with the large herding dog averaging at 50.93 cm and the large city-type dog averaging at 50.70 cm defy a rather popular theory whereby puppies raised in urban settings grow into taller dogs because they are better fed than their cousins in the country.
Small
Large
Large
Together
BODY MEASUREMENT
herding dog
herding dog
urban dog
n=778
OF 8 YEAR OLDS
n=126
n=131
n=134
n=127
n=128
n=132
n=388
n=390
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
Height at the withers
42.36
40.61
51.15
50.72
51.16
50.25
50.71
50.70
Body length
47.54
46.18
53.27
50.72
55.04
53.47
53.07
53.86
With regard to the body length, the measurements suggest that the male dog of the small herding type is by 12.29 % longer than it is tall, while the female of the small type is 13 % longer than it is tall.
With regard to the body length of the large herding type, the male dog is by 8.10 % longer than it is tall, the female by 7.09 %; the average percentage of the body length exceeding the height at the withers comes down to 7.59 %. With regard to the large city-type dogs, the male dog is 7.58 % longer than it is tall, the female dog 6.41 %, with the average percentage of the body length exceeding the height at the withers by 6.99 %.
These findings seem to suggest that taller dogs will have shorter bodies.
Professor Otto Rohr, DVM was the first to publish his historical research and the results of his measurements of bodily proportions of the Croatian Shepherd. In his contribution to the understanding of the Croatian Shepherd which he published in 1960 (”Prilog poznavanju hrvatskog ovčara”,Veterinaria, Vol. IX, Sarajevo, 1960), Professor Rohr reported that 570 dogs were examined and 75 dogs measured (36 males and 39 females between 3 and 5 years of age) between 1949 and 1955. Professor Rohr was the first scholar to publish his measurement data, but the first body measurements ever were collected by Professor Romić. Because of a more complex approach he had adopted, Professor Romić needed more time to collate his data, but it was Romić’s measurements, not Rohr’s, that were finally used by drafters of the Standard.
Professor Otto Rohr, DVM
Data published in 1960
Mean
36 males
Mean
46.88
height
Deviation
0.64
at the withers
39 females
Mean
44.29
40-50 cm
Deviation
0.53
36 males
Mean
51.26
Body
% of height at withers
9,.4
length
39 females
Mean
48.93
% of height at withers
10.48
Head
36 males
20.40
length
39 females
20.39
Professors Rohr and Romić measured the dogs at about the same time and concurred in many findings, with Rohr's results showing a slight deviation from Romić's, particularly in regard to the height at the withers. The difference can be attributed to the fact that Professor Romić population sample was larger and included shorter dogs (Rohr did not include small dogs).
Professor Rohr found the average height at the withers to be at 46.88 cm for male dogs, 44.29 cm for female dogs. The length of body generally corresponded to the value determined by Romić, except in female dogs (Romić's female dogs have longer bodies).
Rohr's height data remained close to the middle of the height range prescribed by the Standard, but the length of the dog's head was more than Romić's measurements showed.
Milivoje Urošević, Boris Špoljarić, Zlatko Skalicki, Mijo Fury, Stočarstvo, 1988
(the following 2 tables)
Description:
Format index: If = length of the body x 100 / height at the withers
Substance index: Im = girth x 100 / height at the withers
Compactness index: Ik = girth x 100 /length of the body
Length of head index: Ig = length of the head x 100 / height at the withers
AVERAGE AND VARIANCE OF
EXTERIOR PROPERTIES (cm)
Element
Sex
n
/x
S /x
S
V(%)
Variance
Height at
Males
14
47.43
1.08
4.03
8.5
39 - 53
withers
Females
13
44.54
0.94
3.41
7.65
40 - 49
Length
Males
14
50.14
1.08
4.03
8.05
43 - 56
of body
Females
13
47.31
0.85
3.07
6.48
43 - 52
Length
Males
14
21.21
0.42
1.57
7.38
18 - 23,5
of head
Females
13
19.54
0.47
1.70
8.71
18 - 22
AVERAGE AND VARIANCE OF
EXTERIOR PROPERTIES' INDICI
(% OF
HEIGHT AT WITHERS)
Index
Sex
n
/x
S /x
S
V(%)
Variance
1
Males
14
105.82
0.94
3.51
3.32
100.00 – 109.80
Females
13
106.37
1.17
4.21
3.95
102.38 – 115.00
2
Males
14
126.22
2.94
10.99
8.71
110.20 – 157.14
Females
13
129.98
2.66
9.59
7.37
115.22 – 144.19
3
Males
14
119.30
2.63
9.85
8.25
108.00 – 146.67
Females
13
122.35
2.09
7.56
6.18
110.42 – 137.78
4
Males
14
44.70
0.49
1.85
4.15
41.86 – 48.72
Females
13
43.86
0.45
1.63
3.73
41.30 – 46.81
Compared to Rohr's measurements, the measurements taken by this group of scholars showed a degree of deviation that can be reasonably explained by the size of their sample, which consisted of 27 specimens, and its location (Rijeka and Županja).
The height at the withers determined by this group of authors showed a slight increase of 0.55 cm for the males and 0.25 cm for the females.
The increased body height compared to the one measured by Rohr is not significant, considering that 28 years of breeding elapsed between the two measurements.
However, the average height at withers of male dogs did increase, even if slightly, and was now at half the range, while the average height at the withers of female dogs still did not reach the middle mark of the range envisaged by the Standard.
On the other hand, body length was now decreased by 1.12 cm for male dogs, and by 1.63 cm for female dogs.
At a Croatian Shepherd specialty show that took place on 24 June 1990 at the Federal All Breed Show in Zupanja, 41 dogs were brought before the judge Boris Špoljarić. In his report, published in «ZOV» magazine (No.167/1990), Boris Špoljarić commented:
«Four years ago we saw specimens mostly from limited breeding and a small number of dogs that were inconsistent in type. Those were mostly heavy-set dogs with broad (massive) skulls, incorrect ear carriage (wide at the base and almost completely folded), poor movement, with white spots at the croup, in the hind legs fringes and on the legs (none of these allowed by the Standard), and a pronounced sharp temperament that is not characteristic for the breed. Four years ago one could reasonably say that future breeding and preservation of the breed was seriously challenged.
What has been done to change it? The only thing possible: Dogs were identified and registered in the JUR Register in the areas where Croatian Shepherds are still utilized as unsurpassed herding dogs. Croatian Shepherd fanciers from two breed clubs, KD «Županja» and KD «Brod» from Slavonski Brod, played a major role in this undertaking. About 50 dogs in all have been registered in the JUR Register.
Today the Register includes a number of offspring of those dogs. The registration of new specimens and the subsequent enlargement of the breeding pool soon began to produce good results, as evidenced by the dogs exhibited at the show in Županja. When registering dogs with the JUR Register, care was taken to exclude dogs with heads that were too broad or too heavy, to avoid a problem that was very much in evidence before.»
Boris Špoljarić continued with a comment on body measures:
«With respect to bodily proportions (height and length), the situation is more than satisfactory. The average height of the dogs presented was 46 cm, and of the bitches about 43 cm. Two specimens had bodies that were somewhat longer than envisaged by the Standard, and only one dog had a body that was shorter than described in the Standard (he was approximately 5% longer than he was tall). All the other dogs presented were by about 10% longer than they were tall.
No problems with topline or the back and croup alignment were spotted and only one presented dog had a sagging back.»
Boris Špoljarić, 1990
Mean
Males
Mean
46.00
height
Deviation
.
at the withers
Females
Mean
43.00
40-50 cm
Deviation
.
Males
Mean
50.60
Length
% of height at withers
.
of body
Females
Mean
47.30
% of height at withers
.
These Špoljarić's measurements showed a decreased height at the withers which still exceeded, by about 3 centimetres, the height as established by Romić. The average height of the male was slightly over the middle mark in the Standard, and females were slightly shorter than those measured by Romić (by about 0.3 cm).
A draft for a new Standard was prepared for a panel on the Croatian Shepherd that took place on 9 December 1995 in Zagreb. At the panel, the representatives of the Croatian Native Breeds Club from Slavonski Brod stressed, as they have continued to do until the present day, the importance of keeping the height within the Standard range, and indicated a number of problems which have emerged in breeding with popular sires, most notably «a large and heavy head, a heavy set body, departure from the type . . . «, stressing that the desired head type should be a light vulpoid head.
The height section of the Draft Standard presented on 9 December 1995 at the panel in Zagreb described the height in the following terms:
«HEIGHT: The ideal height measured at the withers is 45 cm for both male and female dogs.» However, Šandor Horvath and his group proposed that the «…height range allowed by the Standard be expanded to include everything from 35 to 55 cm) since the Shepherds today, thanks to a better nutrition, are much taller than they used to be» and said that « … in the evaluation of the Croatian Shepherd, the emphasis should not be on its height but on the correctness of type and structure.»
In his booklet «CROATIAN SHEPHERD as it was, is and shall be» («HRVATSKI OVČAR jučer, danas, sutra», 2001), discussing the height of dogs as part of his commentary of the Standard No. 277, Jasminko Kormoš – Buco speaks for the shorter dog, saying that they are about to «vanish» since «large» dogs are always considered better than small dogs even if the actual use of dogs with stock, as the ultimate standard of proof, has shown that the opposite is in fact the case. According to this writer, the ideal height is the average height according to the Standard, and the ideal structure a lighter body with a lighter head.
The head of the Croatian Shepherd, therefore, should be a light head. The writer reiterates this proposition in all his writings. The writer is also a breeder of Croatian Shepherds, breeding from lines descending from JAN, a handsome dog of the smaller type who has returned a large number of quality dogs through linebreeding (2-3 and 3-3), dogs that are true representatives of the breed in both confirmation and temperament.
The record of a panel on the Croatian Shepherd that took place on 11 May 2002 in Đakovo also makes a reference to the ideal height for both sexes being 45 cm; the wording came from the new Draft Standard presented on 9 December 1995. in Zagreb.
The height and the need to alter the Standard in that respect was the subject of much discussion at the panel («the height should certainly be more than it is in the present Standard of the Croatian Shepherd, but its actual language is unclear or not well chosen». The same participant who proposed an alteration of the Standard height later in the discussion said that «the Standard should not be changed but its wording adjusted in line with the recommendations »).
Members of MK «Hrvatski ovčar» from Đakovo were also in favour of a greater height and a stronger bone but did not advance any proposals to that effect at the panel.
The proceedings of the Assembly of the ASSOCIATION OF FRIENDS OF THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD FROM KARLOVAC document were concerned with similar problems: «The Standard describes the head of the Croatian Shepherd as «relatively light», «wedge shaped» and «lean», how come there are more and more «BIG HEADS» among the Croatian Shepherds examined by experts, dogs that deviate from the type prescribed by the Standard?»
In 2005, Jasminko Kormoš – Buco took measures of all bodily proportions using specimens from the Brod-Posavina County. Part of the parameters established are presented here.
A total of 63 dogs were measured, including 33 males and 30 females, ranging from 1 to 13 years of age (most dogs being between 2 and 3 years old).
The average height of the male specimens was found to be 47.50, or 4 centimetres more compared to the measurements taken by Professor Romić approximately 30 years earlier.
The average body length was found to be 49.37 cm, exceeding the dog's height at the withers by 4%.
MALE DOGS n = 33
MEAN
MAXIMUM
MINIMUM
Overall length of head
19.92082111
22
16
Height at the withers
47.49951124
54
41
Length of the body
49.36852395
58
45
The measurements of female dogs produced similar results.
Length of head in female specimens was by 1.3 cm less than that of males and made about 42% of the height at withers; body length of the female dog was less than the male's by 3 cm, exceeding by about 2 cm, or less than 5%, the mean height of the female dog.
FEMALE DOGS
n = 30
MEAN
MAXIMUM
MINIMUM
Overall length of head
18.682
20
16
Height at the withers
44.56266667
49
39
Length of the body
46.59266667
52
40
The following table presents the parameters, measurements of height at the withers taken in different periods. What this data shows is that the height of dogs throughout this time period substantially has not changed!
SUMMARY OF INCREASED/DECREASED HEIGHT AT THE WITHERS
AS DETERMINED FROM THE EARLY MEASUREMENTS UNTIL PRESENT DAY
Date of measurement
Measurements taken by
n
Height
at the
withers
Males
Females
Mean
1935 – 1975
Stjepan Romić
224
43.51
43.06
43.30
1960
Otto Rohr
75
46.88
44.29
45.58
1988
Špoljarić, Fury, Skalicki, Urošević
27
47.43
44.54
45.98
1990
Boris Špoljarić
41
46.00
43.00
44.50
2005
Jasminko Kormoš - Buco
63
47.48
44.06
45.77
1935 - 2005
All of the above
430
46.26
43.79
45.03
The summary of the increased/decreased height at the withers measured at different periods shows that the mean value of all measurements was 46.26 cm for the males, and 43.79 cm for the females, and that the average height throughout this time remained at the middle mark of the height range prescribed by the Standard, or at 45.02 cm.
It should be stressed that dogs measured by Romić and Rohr, as well as part of the dogs measured by Špoljarić and Kormoš, were previously unregistered dogs and that city-based breeders or show judges had no or extremely limited impact on their breeding.
This would mean that dogs in the country and city dogs presented at dog shows are two different types of dog. This would also mean that we can avoid further deviation from the true type and preserve the original form of the dog only through the registration of all dogs that confirm to the Croatian Shepherd and the introduction of new bloodlines into the breeding pool. If we fail to do that, the large dog (taller and longer) will only grow further apart from the breed type.
In conclusion, we bring you a table showing all the measurements referred to above and their relation.
Measured by
Sex
n
By sex
Mean value
Increase/decrease (cm) in relation to:
A
1
2
3
A
Height/
Male
224
112
43.51
.
ROMIĆ
withers
Female
112
43.06
.
(1935-1977)
Body
Male
224
112
46.89
.
length
Female
112
45.82
.
Height
Male
75
36
46.88
3.37
.
1
withers
Female
39
44.29
1.23
.
ROHR
Body
Male
75
36
51.26
4.37
.
(1960)
length
Female
39
49.93
4,11
.
2
Height
Male
27
14
47.43
3.98
1.45
.
Špoljarić, Fury,
withers
Female
13
44.53
1.47
0.24
.
Skalicki, Urošević
Body
Male
27
14
50.14
3.25
-1.12
.
length
Female
13
47.31
1.49
-2.62
.
Height
Male
41
20
46.00
2.49
-0.88
-1.43
.
3
withers
Female
21
43.00
-0.6
-1.29
-1.53
.
Špoljarić
Body
Male
41
20
50.60
3.17
-1.20
-0.80
.
(1990)
length
Female
21
47.30
1.57
-2.57
-0.01
.
Height
Male
63
33
47.48
3.97
0.6
0.05
1.48
4
withers
Female
30
44.06
1.00
-0.23
-0.47
1.06
Kormoš
Body
Male
63
33
49.42
2.53
-1.84
-0.72
-1.18
(2000-2005)
length
Female
30
46.31
0.49
-3.62
-1.00
-0.99
Height
Male
430
215
46.26
3.45
0.39
-0.69
1.48
6
withers
Female
215
43.78
0.77
-0.43
-1.00
1.06
MEAN
Body
Male
430
215
49.66
3.33
-1.39
-0.76
-1.18
VALUE
length
Female
215
47.33
1.91
-2.90
-0.50
-0.99
When we put together all the data concerning 430 dogs of both sexes, the mean height at the withers for both sexes is 45.02 centimetres, and the mean body length for both sexes is 48.49 centimetres, making the dog a bit more than 8% longer than it is tall.
Sources:
FENOTIPSKA VARIJABILNOST POJEDINIH EKSTERIJERNIH MJERA HRVATSKOG OVČARA
Urošević, Špoljarić, Skalicki, Fury (Stočarstvo, 42/1988)
MOJ PAS
MOJ PAS, special edition, 1977, Professor Stjepan Romić (Moj pas, 1977)
STANDARD 277.
FCI (FCI, 1969)
ZOV - HRVATSKI OVČAR - PREPOROD PASMINE
ZOV br.167/1990, Boris Špoljarić
STRATEGIJA I UNAPRIJEĐENJE RAZVOJA HRVATSKOG OVČARA
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco (Slavonski Brod, 2001)
HRVATSKI OVČAR jučer danas, sutra
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco (1st edition, Slavonski Brod, 2001)
HRVATSKI OVČAR jučer danas, sutra
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco (2nd edition, Lulu, USA, 2007)
HRVATSKI OVČAR
Jasminko Kormoš – Buco, (Lulu, USA, 2007)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE PANELS ON THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD (ZAGREB, 1995 AND ĐAKOVO, 1992)
Author's files
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE CLUB OF FRIENDS OF THE CROATIAN SHEPHERD, KARLOVAC
Karlovac, ____________
DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO THE STANDARD
Klub Hrvatski ovčar» Zagreb
Matični klub «Hrvatski ovčar» Đakovo Kinološki klub Hrvatskih autohtonih pasmina pasa – Slavonski Brod