Sugar Six Week Evaluation

 Grizelda Laffee Taffee (AKC) and ClarkeBar Grizsold (AKC) produced a fine litter of eight puppies for the second time in two years.  

Sugar is a healthy 7.4 pounds at six weeks old.  Her personality is fearless and playful, sweet and mild tempered. She is completely weened, and in fine shape. But it is her form which decides her quality. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with the criteria we us to make these Six Point Evaluations.

Sugar seems to have it all when set against the AKC Standard.  She will likely not become a smaller formed Basset Hound we are after but this will almost certainly become a fine example of the American Basset Hound.

Sugar earns full marks for her head characteristics with her nearly comically long ears perfectly set back so that they appear against her neck. Her very well proportioned head is nicely domed, but not overly much. Her nose has a nice box shape which supports tremendous few that cover a perfect jaw set. 

Beginning at the fore quarters, Sugar seems to be quite heavily built with thick foreleg bones that end in very well proportioned feet. Her body seems to flow smoothly from front to back through her rib cage. Stance, the way a dog stands when simply standing still, is very strong and her weight sits slightly forward of her forelegs with her rear legs posed well back of her hips. If seen from above, the hips are well defined in a wasp shape which gives a good impression of an athletic build. Stance, particularly in the rear end, can often indicate how her hips will do on the longer term and Sugar seem well prepared for a long healthy life. 

Sugar moves through her world easily and has no clumsiness in her gait. Sugar receives five of the five American Kennel Club points and compares closely to the Standard. The American Kennel Club. The AKC Standard contains little guidance for appearance, but we do.

Sugar's skin wrinkles and folds show much of the European good looks her mother carries so well. Her fur is silky smooth, but it is really too early to tell how it will turn out in a few years. Sugar's coloring is a lovely tri-color which is at present evenly divided in black and white along the length of her body. We expect quite a bit of her black fur to eventually change to a rich sort of brown as well. She is  likely to keep much of her white fur as she grows, but we expect any new areas to be covered in brown but remaining fairly symmetrical.

Her head is becoming a caramel brown with red highlights. Sugar gets the full point for pretty. There simply is nothing wrong with her.

Because Sugar's parents carry no visible negative traits (and we have a previous litter to judge) it can be assumed that Sugar will not display negative traits either. She conforms to the AKC Standard very well and gains all five of the five AKC points. She is a lovely puppy and gets the one point for aesthetics as well.

Six of six points for a girl who will likely make a great family pet. She may be bred, but care should be exercised since both parents stem from the same kennel without being closely related.