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What do we mean for “beauty” in a dog

In Cinognostics, a subject is more beauty the more its morphology and behavior make it suitable to the function that the subject itself has to work; in other words, the idea of beauty is tightly related to the function, consequently, in zootechniques it has always been taken in high consideration. Beauty comes from the addition of all the values that may be found in an animal.

In Cinognostics there are 4 different kinds of beauty: Psychic, Utilitarian, Harmonic and Conventional (or aesthetic);

§ ● Psychic: Taking its behavior in consideration, establish the right balance in the animal itself. It’s fundamental in any animal.

§ ● Utilitarian: represents the harmony between appearance and function; so, it is indispensable for the animal to work its function;

§ ● Harmonic: consists in the balance of proportions. Is very important and wanted. The complete conformation’s harmony of the animal is more important than the singular peculiarity.

Harmony is requested for any canine race and the possible disharmonies go to make serious faults. Anyway, there are some races in which the disharmonies are requested by the standards, for example Basset Hound, British Bulldog, several kinds of Terriers, etc. Is important to underline that many race standards accentuate the disharmony of the profiles, like, for example, in the Boxer.

§ ● Conventional (or aesthetic): is the one requested by the current fashion. Every day, commercials, films and mass media exert a strong impact on today’s trend using animal’s fascinating images.

While “beauty” expresses, according to the previous classification, the peculiar values of a subject, the “Type” characterizes the typical peculiarities of a particular race. It represents not only the whole morphological characteristics of a race but includes the psychic qualities too, that is, those indispensable qualities to the optimal accomplishment of a function.

According to this concept, surveying that a dog is “in Type” allow us to understand that we are facing a subject that not only has – appropriately built – the suitable physical characteristics for a function, but that, “incarnating the race spirit”, is able to translate those potentialities in optimal performances.

Not following these principles – that should always accompany the work of a conscious breeder – means resign to the decadence of race and to its substitution with another one more suitable to the task.

For the “Cane Corso” the decadence process is accelerated by the effects induced by the beauty shows (See Notebook: “Beauty shows in the opinion of a Great Master of the Cinophily“) on the selection strategies used by the breeders; in these shows the CC is judged just upon the suitability to the morphological characteristics described by the standard. Very seldom who judges values the conformity of the dog’s characteristics to the functions of the race and so fails to comply with the postulate “Function ßà Type” increasing selective choices based upon useless morphological criteria and uprooted from its purposes according to which “the race is born and existed”.