03/27/2026
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In profile, a Pekingese’s face is flat, but head on, the skull is wider than deep. There is a unique descriptive for this appearance of the head and, to our knowledge, among the many AKC breed standards, the Pekingese standard is the only one to use the word “envelope.” Specifically, the large, short‑muzzled head is described as a wider‑than‑long, “envelope‑shaped” rectangle.
This “envelope” characterization is widely attributed to the late Mrs. Beatrice H. Godsol, a California sheep breeder who became one of the early women assigned to judge Best in Show at Westminster, and who, together with her husband, is counted among the very small number of husband‑and‑wife pairs to have judged Best in Show there. It was she, it is believed, who vividly likened the desired Pekingese head to a “number ten envelope.”
Nigel Aubrey Jones, author of The New Pekingese, observed that “the Pekingese head is the stamp of the breed and no matter how wonderfully conformed a Pekingese is or how typically it moves, without a good enough head, its progress will be minimal.” A massive, broad, and flat topskull between the ears; an undershot and broad lower jaw; a flat, broad muzzle; a shallow forehead; and the wrinkles that separate upper and lower areas of the face are all hallmarks of this singular headpiece.
We close with another well‑known saying widely attributed to Mrs. Godsol, one that has little to do with the topic but is worth remembering: “All dogs have faults, but the great ones wear them well.”
Image: Depositphoto
