By the time you read these words, another Morris & Essex Kennel Club show will be in the books. This year’s entry topped 4,100 dogs; a significant increase over the 3,000+ dogs entered in 2005. This quinquennial show has become the hottest ticket in dogs over the past 15 years for many reasons.
When I started in dogs, I was taught that “improving the breed” was a primary reason for breeding. The goal was to always see improvements in the pups on both parents.
As their parent club emphasizes, the Toy Fox Terrier is both a toy and a terrier, small-sized but with a “big dog” attitude. It was developed in the United States using small Smooth Fox Terriers crossed with several other toy breeds, such as the Miniature Pinscher, Chihuahua, and Italian Greyhound. The breed was first recognized by the United Kennel Club in 1936 and achieved full AKC recognition in 2003.
Granted it’s an effort to get your terriers across the Atlantic to compete in the World Dog Show. First you have to find an accredited vet to fill out the USDA paperwork; then have that stamped and finalized within the ten day time limit before departure by APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service). That’s just part of it.
Pack a room full of Chinese Crested and you can expect a giant heap of sleeping dogs. Pack a room full of Crested fanciers and wait for the fireworks. It’s ironic that a breed famed for its sociable, placid nature inevitably sparks such contentious battles. Quite possibly, their single point of agreement is the fact that Crested type is all over the map. Of course, this situation is not unique to the Crested world. But the drastic nature of this case provides a sterling example of the extreme polarities that evolve under the heading of purebred continuity.
Conformation shows and clubs are struggling with declining entries. Exhibitors and club members seem to be older now than they used to be, purebred registrations are a third of what they were 20 years ago, and there are few newcomers to the scene. These are all clear indicators that our culture has changed. Prevailing cultures and societal values generally drift slowly, but sometimes single events or factors at the right time lead to a more sudden paradigm shift. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book on this phenomenon, The Tipping Point. Was there some single event that turned the tide of change in the public’s attitudes towards purebred dogs?
Breed standards are written with the purpose of describing, in as much detail as possible, the mature dog. I believe we would all be hard pressed to find any fault with that assumption. But let me ask, have parent clubs been remiss in not addressing the need for breed standards for puppies? Most dogs are purchased at ages far younger than where they could reasonably be expected to have achieved the maturity described in the breed standard.
