Looking Around With Lee – Searching For The Stars

As we near the end of arguably the worst year most of us have ever lived through, we have hope that the future will be far kinder, happier, and safer for all of us.

Being homebound for so long, one starts thinking about everything–work, family, finances, the future–and in the case of the dog show family, where will our path lead in the dog show world. Indeed, it has been “different” and challenging during the last months. I think that as the country recovers from its many current problems, so will the dog shows.

One aspect that concerns me is the judging situation, and the repercussions of the same. During the last year we have lost many within our judging family. We mourn these losses to the sport, and we also experience a more emotional, personal sense of loss of longtime friends and compadres. Many of the stalwarts of our world have been lost to us, and many others are not up to the dangers and conditions of our current times. It is unknown to what extent the sport will be impacted if many of the great minds in the fancy decide this is the time to take a bow and leave center-ring. The current crop of multiple group and all breed judges is giving it their best to fill the demands of the current show scene. Having done it at a level that might have included weeks on the road at a time, what these “diehards” are doing is just short of amazing to me. The importance of their sacrifices might not be fully understood until after things start to rebound in a normal fashion.

I sit home and think, “Could I wear a mask all day long while judging? My nose used to run at times; how would I handle that now? I know I would enjoy doing my beloved German Shepherd Dogs because I wouldn’t have to worry about who’s double handling… There’s no way I could tell if anyone was doubling with everyone wearing a mask!

My thoughts are, WHERE ARE THE ANNIE CLARK’S, the FRANK SABELLA’S, THE MIKE BILLINGS AND WILLIAM TAYLOR’S, AND OTHERS OF THIS ILK?

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62 – The Annual, 2020-21

Posted by AnthonyA on Jan 1 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.