Page 43 - JRT Magazine - 2023 Issue 2

Balance also must exist between the fore and overlooked in our breed in exchange for awarding
hind limbs when looking down from above. smaller details, sort of like missing the forest for the
trees. Breeders and judges alike should look at the
When looking down on the dog, the width of the ‘forest’ first…the overall balance and symmetry of
hindquarters is equal to the width of the shoulders. the dog.

Scapulae that are ‘pinched’, meaning that the top The breed standard for the Russell Terrier does
of the shoulder blade tilts inwards toward the not specify numbers or ratios for the various
spine with the shoulder forced out, can create a proportions that create the desired symmetry. It just
wider-appearing forequarter than hindquarter. Of says balanced--- balanced image, balanced dog,
course, a Russell Terrier with a barrel chest (round) balanced lengths of bone, and balanced angles.
or a slab chest (narrow and flattened) instead of Can we better elucidate what balance means by
the correct oval shape are likely to lack balance considering the general biomechanics of dogs?
with the hip when comparing the fore and hind
from above. Eugene Yerusalimsky, dog judge and researcher
of canine biomechanics, first presented a theory
A mismatch in forequarters and hindquarters is of the biomechanical model of the dog in 1964
not uncommon in Russell Terriers (Fig 6a, b). in which the arrangement of body proportions
This general imbalance is too frequently fits a harmonic model. (Dog Conformation and
Its Evaluation, Moscow 2008) He explained how
much of nature finds harmonic chords called the
Unbalanced ‘Golden Section’ and he postulated that the ideal
arrangement of body proportions (ratios) in the dog
also follow this unifying principle and that it applies
to the overwhelming majority of dog breeds. His
intent was to show that nature’s default is to always
create balance. How do his theories fit the ideal
construction of the Russell Terrier?

Yerusalimsky’s postulate #1 states that the spine
from the withers to the root of the tail is divided into
thoracic, lumbar, and sacral sections in a constant
correlation of 2:1:1 (Fig 7).

Fig 6a
The spine from the withers to the root of the
tail is divided into thoracic, lumbar, and sacral
section in constant correlation of 2:1:1
Yerusalimsky's Postulate #1

Fig 7

Fig 6b

A Worldwide Magazine for the Jack Russell Terrier / Russell Terrier • Issue 2/2023 | 43