"Eyes Gazing Into the Distance As If in Memory of Ages Past"

The breed standard describes a Platonic ideal?here is what a perfect German shepherd, or Siberian husky, or Finnish spitz would look like. And act like: In addition to listing physical attributes, the standard also describes the breed's personality. The result is a delightful hybrid, part eugenicist's handbook and part love poem. Characterizing the gaze of the pugpar excellence, for instance, the authors of its breed standard write: "The?eyes?are dark in color, very large, bold and prominent, globular in shape, soft and solicitous in?expression, very lustrous, and, when excited, full of fire." (All italics in the original.) Though ostensibly written without literary aspiration, the best breed standards belong alongside Thomas Mann's Herr Und Hund, Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows, and this Tony Hale sketch in the canon of works that truly capture the special relationship between man and his most loyal companion.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=324ea011b62b260b1b68e0a28a7dfdda

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